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Catholic World News News Feature

Morning-after pill to get approval says new FDA head March 22, 2005

The nominee about to take charge of the US Food and Drug Administration, speaking at a Senate confirmation hearing, said the FDA is poised to approve the Plan B abortifacient "morning-after" pill for over-the-counter sales.

"The science part is generally done," Lester M. Crawford said, responding to committee member Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, D-New York, who the Washington Post described as pressing him on the issue. "We're just now down to what the label will look [like]. This is going to be a very unusual sort of approval."

Although much scientific evidence has been compiled pointing to the risks for women associated with the abortifacient pill, Clinton criticized FDA hesitation to approve the drug for unfettered access saying, "I am hopeful that we will reverse what appears to be a dangerous slide into political opinion rather than scientific evidence."

Plan B's manufacturer, Barr Laboratories, was denied a first attempt at over-the-counter status last year. The FDA said they would reconsider Barr's request if the company restricted sales of the chemical abortifacient to girls age 16 and older.

In related news, the FDA warned Barr in January for misleading consumers, after television commercials failed to warn of frequent and sometimes substantial bleeding associated with its Seasonale abortifacient birth-control pill.