Democrats (Clinton, Murray) Want FDA Answers on 'Morning-After' Pill

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Bush's pick to run the U.S. Food and Drug Administration needs to explain why regulators have delayed ruling on Barr Pharmaceuticals Inc.'s over-the-counter "morning-after" pill, Senate Democrats said on Thursday.
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Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, a New York Democrat, said politics rather than science appeared to be the basis for an earlier FDA ruling against over-the-counter sales, which many conservatives oppose.

"It's deeply disturbing to me. We rely on the FDA for everything we take. I'm hopeful we will reverse what appears to be a dangerous slide into political opinion," Clinton said.

Crawford said politics would not affect the decision, which should be made within weeks.

Sen. Patty Murray, a Washington Democrat, said it was "troubling" the ruling apparently would not be made before a vote on the nomination. She insisted Crawford meet with senators privately.

http://www.reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml?type=politicsNews&storyID=7937991&src=rss/ElectionCoverage

I really think people are too hard on her- she's one of the most reliable pro-choice Senators we have now.

demonstrates beyond a shadow of a doubt that they're not at all interested in preventing abortion. If anything shows up the rank hypocrisy within the ranks of the GOP political appointees, it's this particular issue.

The FDA is between a rock and a hard place, though. They know the morning after pill is safe and effective and that it will prevent abortions if women of all ages can simply buy it over the counter the day after the condom ripped or a selfish male refused to wear one at all. They also know they will outrage all the rabid antichoicers out there by approving it. Let's see, ethics and prevention vs. annoying a political bloc.

Their decision should be interesting, to say the least. My guess is that they'll leave it prescription only, thus ensuring that the women who need it the most won't be able to get it on time and that the number of abortions will stay relatively high.

After a condom breakage this pill saved me and my girlfriend from facing a very very tough situation.

We had to jump through some hoops to get it, but because I live in one of the few states (CA) that allows some pharmacists to dispense it on the spot after a brief form filing - we got it.

But it would have been much nicer if we could have just run to the store right after this incident and slept well that night (instead of worrying through the night if we would even be able to get this thing within the required 72 hours)

The whole point of emergency contraception is to take it as SOON as possible.