NARAL Pro-Choice America to FDA: 'Women Are Waiting'

Rockville, MD - Yesterday Nancy Keenan, president of NARAL Pro-Choice America joined by members of NARAL Pro-Choice America delivered 5,000 hourglass timers and petitions to the headquarters of the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) with this timely message: "Women are waiting." NARAL Pro-Choice America asked the FDA to end the three-year delay on over-the-counter access to Plan B®, an emergency contraceptive, often referred to as the "morning-after" pill. The FDA refused to accept the petitions.

Several thousand NARAL Pro-Choice America activists participated in the campaign to send petition signatures and the hourglass timers to the FDA.

"Pro-choice Americans are telling the Bush FDA you are out of time," said Keenan. "We are asking the FDA to listen to its own experts and allow women easier access to this safe, effective form of birth control. It is unacceptable that the FDA is catering to the politics of the radical right. It is time to prevent unintended pregnancy and reduce the need for abortion through more timely access to the 'morning-after' pill."

It will be three years since Barr Laboratories' submitted their application for over-the-counter status for Plan B®. The FDA's own experts and scientists have overwhelmingly recommended making the emergency contraceptive accessible over the counter. Plan B® is most effective if taken within 72-120 hours of unprotected sex. In August 2005, the FDA once again announced another delay, breaking a September 1 deadline promised to Sens. Hillary Rodham Clinton (D-NY) and Patty Murray (D-WA). President Bush has since nominated Dr. Andrew von Eschenbach to be FDA's commissioner. Sens. Clinton and Murray, along with other leaders in the Senate, have vowed to block the nomination until the FDA makes a decision on the Plan B® application.

Contact:
Ted Miller, 202.973.3032