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State wants FDA to release 'morning after' pill Gov. Jim Doyle (D, WI) has authorized the state to sue the federal Food and Drug Administration for delaying approval of over-the-counter sales of Plan B, the so-called "morning-after pill."The "FDA's postponements in making a decision is the result of politics, not science, and negatively impacts the health of women," Doyle wrote in a letter Wednesday to Attorney General Peg Lautenschlager. Lautenschlager wrote Doyle last week asking for permission to file suit. Kelda Helen Roys, executive director of NARAL Pro-Choice Wisconsin, applauded the governor's move. "His authorization recognizes that women's health should...

(KSDK) — Walgreens put four Illinois pharmacists on unpaid leave Monday for refusing to fill prescriptions for the "morning after pill." The pharmacists say they're standing up for their beliefs. Walgreens says they're violating state law. The "morning after pill" is also called Plan B. It is often prescribed to prevent or terminate pregnancy. But pharmacist John Menges says it is the one prescription he won't fill, "I can advise people what pharmacies to go to. I mean, I can help them in every way. But I can't actually fill them because of my religious belief." For this reason, Walgreens...

Emergency birth control pills require no prescriptionWomen and teenagers 14 and older soon will be able to get "morning after" contraception pills from hundreds of Hawaii pharmacists without prescriptions or appointments. Some may offer the service as early as tomorrow. "It's a great day for Hawaii," said Don Downing, a clinical associate professor at the University of Washington School of Pharmacy. He saw emergency contraception dramatically reduce abortions and unintended pregnancies in his state. He has helped Hawaii and other states establish programs offering emergency contraception services by pharmacists under collaborative agreements with doctors. Alaska, California, New Mexico and Maine...

Gov. Bill Owens, a Roman Catholic who has campaigned on conservative values, could face a tough choice when he decides whether to sign a bill that would force hospitals to tell rape victims about emergency contraception. His fellow Republicans say the bill, given final legislative approval Tuesday, violates Catholic hospitals' freedom of religion by forcing them to offer information about abortion. Democrats say the bill is not about abortion but offers help to women whose bodies have been violated. In the middle is Owens. He refused to take a position on the bill Tuesday, but his spokesman, Dan Hopkins, said...

ANNAPOLIS, Md. - Maryland senators narrowly and unexpectedly defeated Thursday a bill that would have allowed pharmacists to administer morning-after pills without a prescription. The bill, in its third year before the General Assembly, garnered more support this year and had enough votes to pass - until several pro-choice senators changed their votes to "no" because of concerns that the pills would be available to underage girls, said Sen. Sharon Grosfeld, D-Montgomery, the bill's sponsor. The legislation was killed with a 22-24 vote after debate on the floor. "I'm for a woman's right to choose," said Sen. Sandra Schrader, R-Howard....

We have all heard the saying, “Fool me once, shame on you; fool me twice, shame on me.” We are about to see if large numbers of Catholics are going to fall into the “shame on me” category. Many of us bought into the repackaging of Bill Clinton in his two runs for the presidency. He got the majority of the Catholic vote in both elections. Hillary Clinton is involved in a similar attempt to redefine herself, especially on the abortion question. We’ll see if Catholics bite this time. The New York Times praised her recently for working to...

ASHINGTON, March 17 - Senate Democrats on Thursday questioned Dr. Lester M. Crawford, President Bush's choice to lead the Food and Drug Administration, about why the agency had so far refused to allow over-the-counter sales of the morning-after pill Plan B. "What has disturbed many of us is what appears is political interference in a scientific process," said Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton, Democrat of New York. "We rely on the F.D.A. for everything we take, and I am hopeful that we will reverse what appears to be a dangerous slide into political opinion as opposed to scientific evidence." Senators Edward...

NEW YORK - Scores of advocacy groups, including the American Civil Liberties Union and Planned Parenthood, assailed new Justice Department guidelines for treating rape victims Thursday because the detailed procedures make no mention of emergency contraception as an option that could spare some women an unwanted pregnancy....

WORLAND (AP) -- The family of a teenage girl who was allegedly given emergency contraception pills under the supervision of a school counselor has filed a claim against Washakie County School District No. 1. The claim included a dollar amount, but the family's attorney, Larry Berryman, declined to reveal it, the Northern Wyoming Daily News reports. Berryman said in a prepared statement that the Worland High School student, 15, confided in the ninth-grade counselor that she had sex with a 23-year-old and was afraid of being pregnant. The counselor made an appointment with the public health office in Worland and...

The first of possibly several bills seeking to let Texas pharmacists "just say no" to filling prescriptions for emergency contraceptives has been filed before the legislative session that begins in January. Groups opposing the bill, as well as the bill's author, said its language will probably change during the legislative process to accommodate concerns people have. In its current form, the bill would allow pharmacists to refuse to dispense some birth-control pills. The definition in the bill of emergency contraceptives, commonly called the morning-after pill, also fits some nonemergency contraceptives, or birth-control pills. That would not sit well with members...

A pharmacist refused to sell the morning-after pill to a mother-of-two - because he's a Catholic. Kerrie Gooch, 24, who has a nine-week-old baby and a two-year-old was forced to go to a clinic instead, reports the Daily Mirror. She plans to sue if she falls pregnant and asked: "What gives him the right to play God? "Everyone is entitled to an opinion but I don't want someone making a decision like this for me. Kerrie's problem began when the condom she and her long-term partner, aged 22, were using split. Kerrie then went to a Lloyds Pharmacy in Swindon,...

ARLINGTON, VA - Today, Bush-Cheney '04 announced the release of the campaign's newest ad, "Family Priorities."  This ad continues a dialogue with the American people about the priorities of American families. John Kerry has said that he represents "conservative values," but his claim ignores a long history as the most out of the mainstream member of the United States Senate.  Kerry voted against parental notification for teenage abortions and in favor of letting schools distribute the morning after pill without telling parents.  The ad will run in select spot markets.Script for "Family Priorities"President Bush:I'm George W. Bush and I...

Last week, another pharmacist came under fire for refusing to fill a highly controversial prescription, while three others already lost their jobs for doing the same. This is one way advancing medical technology is creating new controversy over a long-standing debate. Specifically, abortion pills are now available through prescription. The prescription drug is called the "morning-after pill," which is a newly available abortifacient often confused with RU-486. For clarification: The "morning-after pill" is also called the "emergency contraceptive." The reason for the pseudonym (an obvious misnomer) is presumably to address the "oops" factor. You know – "Oops, I didn't take...

Contraception controversy continues Conservative views delay morning-after pill’s availability to concerned women By Jennifer Martinez Titan Staff Writer -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- There may come a time in a woman’s life when she wakes up, recalls the previous night and then smacks herself in the forehead. It may be that the woman is lying in bed, cold and wide-awake, staring at the ceiling after a sexual assault. It could be that she has missed two birth control pills this month, the condom broke or just a feeling that her first plan of protection has failed. Whatever the situation, it deals with unprotected...

Why put the brakes on the 'morning-after' pill? Posted: February 19, 20041:00 a.m. Eastern © 2004 WorldNetDaily.com For years, men and women have wished for a magic pill to take away an unwanted pregnancy – better still – a pill a woman could pop the morning after an evening of unplanned sex, which would completely eliminate the possibility of becoming pregnant. Isn't it interesting that the abortion pill, RU-486, and the "oops" pill – the so-called "morning-after" pill – were approved for sale during the administration of the serial philandering Bill Clinton. If something sounds too good to be true, often it...

Eckerd Corp. has fired three pharmacists who declined to fill an emergency contraception prescription for a woman who had been raped, one of the pharmacists said Wednesday. Gene Herr, 33, of Denton said he and two co-workers were fired on Jan. 29, six days after refusing to fill the prescription. Eckerd has declined to comment on their employment status. Joan Gallagher, the vice president of communications for Largo, Fla.-based Eckerd only would say the company had taken the appropriate disciplinary action. Herr said he declined to fill the prescription for the so-called "morning-after pill" because he believes it could have...

The House of Delegates revived legislation Tuesday requiring public schools to instruct students that emergency contraceptives can be used to prevent pregnancy after a rape. A day after killing the measure by one vote, the House voted 56-44 to bring the measure back for reconsideration later in the week. The bill, sponsored by Del. James H. Dillard II, R-Fairfax, would add the use of the "morning after" birth control pill in response to sexual assault to the state's Family Life Education curriculum guidelines. Del. Terrie Suit, R-Virginia Beach, said a rape victim who seeks a prescription for the pill "will...

<p>DENTON, Texas (AP) -- About 40 people gathered outside an Eckerd pharmacy Monday, protesting what they said was a decision to deny a rape victim a prescription for the morning-after pill.</p> <p>A spokesman for the Florida-based company confirmed that Eckerd has taken disciplinary action in response to an incident at the store.</p>

MEXICO CITY -- Mexico's Roman Catholic bishops have expressed outrage over the Fox administration's decision to hand out the controversial "morning-after pill" at government-run family planning clinics In a series of statements this week, the bishops said the pill is a method of abortion comparable to murder. Some said women who use the pill are effectively excommunicating themselves from the church. "Contraception and abortion are both products of an anti-life mentality, which comes from the culture of death," Bishop Rodrigo Aguilar, head of the Mexican Bishops Conference's Family Committee, said in a statement. The morning-after pill has been available in...

Reproductive rights advocates, many physicians and several medical groups are celebrating the fact that Plan B, also known as emergency contraception or the morning-after pill, soon might be available without a prescription. "Let's face facts: Accidents happen," said Vivian M. Dickerson, MD, president-elect of the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, explaining that the change would help reduce unwanted pregnancies and abortions in this country. The concept, of course, is not new. Since the 1960s, concentrated doses of birth control pills have been prescribed off label for use after unprotected intercourse, primarily for sexual assault victims. But the Food and...