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The most overturned appellate court has teed up another case for the Supreme Court to consider — and likely soon. The 9th Circuit overturned an injunction in a district court case, allowing the state of Washington to force a pharmacy to stock and dispense morning-after pills, which causes the abortion of an embryo in the early days of a pregnancy. The pharmacy owners had objected, claiming that the law violated their religious practice:

Washington, DC (LifeNews.com) -- A pro-life legal group has filed the papers necessary for a pro-life organization to challenge a federal court order that required the Food and Drug Administration to allow the Plan B drug to be sold to minor girls. The Alliance Defense fund filed the papers to intervene in the case. The group is acting on behalf of Concerned Women for America, the Christian Medical and Dental Association, and Christian Pharmacists Fellowship International.The pro-life organizations contend that the order disregards parental rights and the safety of teenage girls. Matt Bowman, a top attorney with ADF, talked...

The Louisiana Supreme Court Friday declined to hear an appeal by St. Tammany Parish Hospital in a nurse’s lawsuit filed by ADF attorneys and an ADF-allied attorney. A trial judge had ruled against issuing summary judgment in favor of the hospital, so that decision will stand. The nurse, Toni Lemly, sued the hospital in 2005 after it refused to grant a reasonable accommodation for her religious beliefs. “Pro-life medical personnel shouldn’t be penalized for their beliefs,” said ADF-allied attorney Brian Arabie of Lake Charles. “The hospital acted unlawfully when it refused to make a reasonable accommodation for Ms. Lemly and...

(CNSNews.com) – A federal court in New York on Monday expanded teenagers’ access to Plan B – also known as the morning-after pill or emergency contraception. The court gave the Food and Drug Administration 30 days to make Plan B available over the counter to 17 year olds. Right now, the pill is available over the county only to those 18 years and up. Pro-life groups are dismayed that 17-year-old girls will now have unrestricted access to a drug that can produce abortion by preventing a fertilized egg from implanting in the uterus. But abortion rights groups celebrated the ruling,...

A federal judge on Monday ordered the Food and Drug Administration to make the Plan B morning-after birth control pill available without prescription to women as young as 17. The judge ruled the agency had improperly bowed to political pressure from the Bush Administration when it set 18 as the age limit in 2006. The F.D.A. has 30 days to comply with the order, in which the judge also urged the agency to consider removing all restrictions on over-the-counter sales of Plan B. The drug consists of two pills that prevent conception if taken within 72 hours of sexual intercourse....

Illinois pharmacists who object to dispensing emergency contraception won another day in court to fight a rule they claim forces them to choose between their livelihood and conscience. The Illinois Supreme Court on Thursday said the circuit court must consider a lawsuit brought by two pharmacists who claim they should not be required to dispense emergency contraception because it violates their religious beliefs. Lower courts had dismissed those claims and refused to hear the case. Gov. Rod Blagojevich in 2005 issued a rule prohibiting pharmacies from turning away women seeking emergency contraception, sometimes called the morning-after pill.

Washington, DC (LifeNews.com) -- A new national survey shows the Plan B drug, as known as the morning after pill, is more available across the United States following a 2006 FDA decision to sell it to adults over the counter. However, anecdotal stats from other places where it is readily available show it not reducing abortions.Dr. Rebekah Gee of the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine conducted the study, which involved surveys of pharmacies in Atlanta, Boston, and Philadelphia in 2005 and again in 2007.Some 1,087 pharmacies participated in the first round of surveys while 795 were involved in the...

The Brazilian city of Recife is to distribute morning-after pills to women during carnival after public prosecutors on Tuesday rejected a Catholic Church lawsuit claiming the initiative promoted sex and provided "abortions." "The pill has no abortive effect, as the archdiocese claims, and its distribution is in no way an incentive to have sex," the prosecutor who made the decision, Ivana Botelho, told AFP. On top of its legal defeat, the church has come under fire from the Brazilian government for attempting to sway public health policy. "The (Recife) mayor's office is right and the church is wrong, again," Health...

Madison, WI, Jan 25, 2008 / 04:23 am (CNA).- The Wisconsin State Assembly has passed legislation mandating that all Wisconsin hospitals, including religiously-affiliated hospitals, must inform any self-described victim of sexual assault of “emergency contraception” and must provide it upon her request.Emergency contraception, as defined by the bill, includes both the morning-after pill and the intrauterine device (IUD).  The morning-after pill can alter the lining of the uterus so that a newly conceived embryo cannot implant in the womb, leading to its death.  The IUD always blocks implantation, also causing the death of any newly conceived human being.“It is a...

Schoolgirls can get morning after pill wit.hout uttering a word by flashing 'modesty' cardSchoolgirls can now get the morning after pill by handing a request form to a pharmacy to avoid embarrassing conversations. In a pilot scheme being trialled in pharmacies in Weymouth, Dorset, girls under 18 can get the pill simply by filling in a small card, without speaking to staff or answering any awkward questions. It means teenagers don't have to undergo the "daunting prospect" of walking into a busy chemists and explain in front of strangers they have had unprotected sex. The request cards have been printed...

VATICAN CITY, Oct 30 (Reuters) - Politicians and pharmacists in Italy responded angrily on Tuesday to an appeal by Pope Benedict for pharmacists to refuse to dispense drugs such as the "morning after pill" if they object on moral grounds. The Pope told an international conference on Monday that pharmacists should be guaranteed the right to conscientious objection in cases where medicines they distribute can block pregnancy, provoke abortion or assist euthanasia. Health Minister Livia Turco said that while the Pope had the right to urge young people to be sexually responsible, he could not tell professionals such as pharmacists...

Barr began distributing the over-the-counter version of the morning-after pill last November, and all national pharmacy chains now stock it. Barr projects that sales of Plan B will total about $80 million for 2007, almost double the total for 2006 and up eightfold from 2004, when Barr acquired the product as a prescription-only drug. In the year since it was approved for over-the-counter sales, the morning-after pill has become a huge commercial success for its manufacturer, but its popularity and solid safety record haven't deterred critics from seeking to overturn the milestone ruling. The pill, marketed by Barr Pharmaceuticals Inc....

Washington, DC (LifeNews.com) -- Abortion advocates haven't given up their quest to remove the age restrictions the Food and Drug Administration placed on the morning after pill. Because the maker of the Plan B drug couldn't prove the pill is safe for teenagers, the FDA ruled that no one over the age of 18 can get it without a prescription. The Center for Reproductive Rights, a New York-based pro-abortion law firm, filed a lawsuit against the FDA last October in an attempt to force the agency to extend the sales to younger teenagers. CRR, representing several pro-abortion women, filed a...

THE morning-after pill is being given to Suffolk schoolgirls - with pupils as young as 13 able to access the emergency contraception without the knowledge of their parents. In the 11 months between April last year and February this year, 68 morning-after pills were handed out to girls in the county's schools. The news emerged amid national concerns that thousands of girls - some as young as 11 - could be given the emergency contraception at school without parental knowledge. But last night Suffolk Primary Care Trust stressed health professionals in the county were sticking to national Government guidelines. These...

Thousands of girls as young as 11 can obtain the morning after pill at school without telling their parents, it was disclosed last night. Sexual health clinics are being set up in secondary schools in England as part of a Government drive to cut teenage pregnancy. Figures show that in some areas, up to half of schools now offer children a range of services, including free condoms, pregnancy kits and emergency contraception. One school has admitted handing out 345 morning after pills in the past four years. In a new development, further education colleges have been issued with guidance recommending...

Harrisburg, PA (LifeNews.com) -- Pro-life advocates in Pennsylvania are working to defeat a bill that would require health care facilities to promote the morning after pill to women who are victims of rape. They say the bill also repeals part of a Pennsylvania law that limits abortions and redefines the definition of birth in a way that could undermine pro-life protections. Pro-life groups were successful in getting enough phone calls to the statehouse yesterday so the measure, H.B. 288, was pulled from consideration. However, the bill is back on the docket for today. Peg Luksik, director of Public Affairs for...

Charlotte, NC (LifeNews.com) -- Abortion advocates in North Carolina are upset that a survey they conducted found nearly half of the pharmacies there don't stock the morning after pill. That's after the Food and Drug Administration approved over the counter sales last year. NARAL's North Carolina affiliate conducted the survey, in which it claims 40 percent of all pharmacies in the state don't carry the Plan B drug, which can cause an abortion in some circumstances. The group says the high figure is due to confusion and moral and religious opposition to the drug by pharmacists and pharmacy owners. Melissa...

Washington, DC (LifeNews.com) -- A new study published in the medical journal Fertility and Sterility finds that the Plan B drug, known as the morning after pill, can work to cause an abortion of a human being after her life has started. Abortion advocates have claimed the drug only prevents conception but the study appears to contradict that claim. Dr. Rafael T. Mikolajczyk of the School of Public Health at the University of Bielefeld in Germany and Dr. Joseph B. Stanford, who teaches public health at the University of Utah, are the senior authors of the paper. Combining data from...

TORONTO, May 28, 2007 (LifeSiteNews.com) – In a recent article in Fertility and Sterility R.T. Mikolajczyk and J.B. Stanford proposed a model experiment that estimated the effectiveness of the disruption of ovulation by Levonorgestrel used as an "emergency contraceptive," based on the prevention of fertilization. They also demonstrated what was termed the "effectiveness" of levonorgestrel with or without "mechanisms acting after fertilization." If disruption of ovulation were the only significant mechanism of action of levonorgestrel, its "effectiveness" could not be much more than 50% if given immediately after intercourse. With delays in its administration, it would be substantially less....

CNA STAFF, May 25, 2007 / 11:33 am (CNA).- The most recent scientific study on Levonorgestrel, the essential component of the “morning-after pill” or “emergency contraceptive,” confirms that the drug does indeed have a third effect on users, which consists in preventing the implantation of a fertilized ovum in the womb of the mother. The promoters of the drug in Latin America, where most countries have laws against abortion, have argued that the there is no scientific basis for the “third effect,” and that therefore the drug should be legalized. Dr. Horacio Croxatto, professor at the Chilean Institute of Reproductive...

Spanish Doctors Oppose Over-the Counter Sales of Morning-After Pill Stats show large increase in abortion rate paralleling emergency contraception distribution By Gudrun Schultz BARCELONA, Spain, May 25, 2007 (LifeSiteNews.com) - The College of Physicians of Barcelona is opposing plans to allow the distribution of the abortifacient morning-after pill in pharmacies without a prescription. Saying greater access to the pill will lead to more surgical abortions and more risks for the health of women, the College is opposing an effort by the Catalan Department of Health to make the pill available for over-the-counter sales, according to a report published by Spanish...

In what Bill O’Reilly refers to as the “Culture War” between Conservatives and Liberals, there are those on both sides of the fence that stray so far to the left or the right, they actually help the “enemy”. On the left we have Rosie O’Donnell with her anti-American rants which give Conservatives ammunition to shoot back at all liberals by associating them with Rosie. On the right, we Conservatives have our own villains which supply ammunition to the enemy. They are commonly referred to as the religious right...

 The Connecticut state Senate overwhelmingly approved a bill Wednesday April 25 that would require all hospitals — including the four Catholic facilities — to provide the Plan B emergency contraceptive to rape victims. The abortifacient drug is also known as the morning after pill.“This bill is a violation of the separation of Church and State,” wrote Bishops Henry Mansell of Hartford and William Lori of Bridgeport in a letter to lawmakers on Wednesday. “The Catholic Bishops of Connecticut are responsible for establishing and determining what moral guidelines Catholic institutions should follow; not the Connecticut General Assembly.” “Senate Bill 1343 should...

London, England (LifeNews.com) -- A new study in England find that widespread use of the morning after pill has done nothing to cut either abortion or pregnancy rates there. The research also shows that the use of the Plan B drug also did not lower the rates of sexually transmitted diseases. Conducted by the Cochrane Library Review, the study looked at eight surveys of women conducted in the United States, India and China. The survey found that the promotion of the morning after pill increased its use but did not lower the abortion and pregnancy rates as abortion advocates have...

WASHINGTON, April 16, 2007 (LifeSiteNews.com) - A lawsuit was filed April 12 in Federal Court seeking to overturn the Food and Drug Administration's (FDA) unprecedented approval of the morning-after pill, Plan B, as both non-prescription and prescription based on the age of the buyer. The lawsuit was brought by the American Association of Physicians and Surgeons (AAPS), Concerned Women for America (CWA), Family Research Council (FRC) and Safe Drugs for Women. The suit argues that the FDA committed numerous violations to approve the drug due to extreme political pressure exerted specifically by Senators Hillary Clinton (D-NY) and Patty Murray (D-WA)....

Washington, DC (LifeNews.com) -- The nation's largest abortion business has launched a new campaign to push the morning after pill on every American community. Pro-life advocates oppose the use of the drug because it fails to lower abortion rates and can lead to risky sexual behavior by teenagers. It may also cause an abortion in some circumstances. In an email Planned Parenthood sent to LifeNews.com late last week, the group said its signing up activists to go to every pharmacy in the country. "Every day in America, women are forced to play the lottery when they walk into their neighborhood...

Catholic Colorado Governor Signs Bill Mandating Catholic Hospitals Provide Abortion Drug By Gudrun Schultz DENVER, Colorado, March 16, 2007 (LifeSiteNews.com) - Colorado Catholic hospitals must offer abortifacient drugs to victims of rape under a controversial new law signed by Gov. Bill Ritter Thursday, the Denver Post reported earlier today. Although Senate Bill 60 contains an exception allowing physicians or medical practitioners who object to the drug on religious or moral grounds to opt out of recommending it, all hospitals, including Catholic, are required to retain staff that will offer information on so-called "emergency contraception." Colorado Right to Life opposed the...

NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - More than 90 percent of women between 15 and 24 years old consider contraceptive "morning after pills" to be safe and effective, according to a new report. However, the findings also show that easy accessibility to emergency contraception influences whether it is used promptly. Morning after pills, which are taken after intercourse, consist of hormones that prevent a pregnancy from occurring. Since they can be taken immediately after intercourse (instead of waiting until the "morning after"), some doctors prefer the term "emergency contraception." To evaluate the acceptability of emergency contraception among young women, Dr. Corinne...

Washington, DC (LifeNews.com) -- A new study reported in a prestigious medical journal confirms that the morning after pill does not reduce either abortion or pregnancy rates. The survey, published this month in the Journal of Obstetrics & Gynecology, covers the use of the Plan B drug in 10 countries. Authors Elizabeth Raymond and James Trussell, advocates of the morning after pill, conducted a meta-analysis of studies conducted in 10 countries. They conclude that “increased access to emergency contraception pills enhance use but has not been shown to reduce unintended pregnancy rates." The authors note that “no study has shown...

New York, NY (LifeNews.com) -- A pro-abortion law firm has filed a lawsuit against the Food and Drug Administration over its recent decision to allow over the counter sales of the morning after pill. The Center for Reproductive Rights filed a legal complaint in an attempt to force the agency to extend the sales to teenagers under the age of 18. When the FDA entered into an agreement with Barr Laboratories, the maker of the Plan B drug, it prohibited anyone under 18 from purchasing the morning after pill without a prescription. That hasn't gone over well with abortion advocates...

Washington, DC (LifeNews.com) -- A Utah doctor who was a member of a Food and Drug Administration's advisory panel says the morning after pill will not reduce the number of abortions and pregnancies that its supports claim it will do. He also indicated that the Plan B drug can work as an abortion agent in certain circumstances. Dr. Joseph Stanford, associate professor of family and preventative medicine at the University of Utah School of Medicine, said the morning after pill won't be as effective as its maker claims. He told the Deseret News that studies he and fellow researchers have...

By any reasonable measure, this is truly the golden age for men who prey on underage girls for sex. Instead of referring to abortion as "a woman's right to choose," it would be more accurate to label it "the pedophile's get-out-of-jail-free card." The first evidence of this was a Life Dynamics undercover investigation into America's growing epidemic of underage girls being sexually exploited by adult men. The results documented that family planning clinics associated with Planned Parenthood and the National Abortion Federation are operating a nationwide pedophile protection ring. (Read the complete report at ChildPredators.com or call 1-800-800-LIFE for...

Washington, DC (LifeNews.com) -- The Food and Drug Administration may have approved sales of the morning after pill over the counter, but some pharmacists are reluctant to sell the drug. The agency's move to sell Plan B without a prescription may expand the nationwide debate about a conscience clause for pharmacists to allow them to opt out of dispensing the drug. In Washington state, Jim Ramseth, the owner of Covington Pharmacy, doesn't want to sell the morning after pill because he believes it can work as an abortion drug. Ramseth says he and many of his colleagues believe the drug...

There have been a good number of items in the news about life recently -- and one that should have been, but hasn’t. Last week the FDA caved in to political pressure and created an unprecedented new procedure for handing out the morning-after pill (MAP) without a prescription. After the Constitutional Court of Colombia in May abrogated that nation’s democracy on the issue of abortion and legalized it in certain cases, the first legal Colombian abortion was performed. Scientists confused the public further on the issue of embryonic stem cells with more lies. Perhaps the major media consider August the...

There’s got to be a morning after…pill, that is. If you are an acting director of the FDA awaiting Senate confirmation, a radical feminist at NOW or Planned Parenthood, or a statutory rapist who loves to prey on young girls, today is your day. It is hard to believe that President Bush, a former Texas governor who once ran on a platform as a moral conservative, could utter the following statement: “I believe that Plan B ought to be – ought to require a prescription for minors, is what I believe. And I support Andy’s decision.” But utter he did....

WASHINGTON, D.C., AUG. 21, 2006 (Zenit.org).- President George Bush said he supports restricted access to the "morning-after" pill for minors, disturbing some pro-lifers who want the potentially abortion-causing drug banned altogether. "I believe that Plan B ... ought to require a prescription for minors. That's what I believe," Bush said at a news conference today. The president's comment was his first direct public statement on the issue that has delayed a Senate confirmation vote on his nominee to head the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, Andrew von Eschenbach. Von Eschenbach, as acting FDA commissioner, has supported non-prescription sales of the...

(CNSNews.com) - President George W. Bush said on Monday he believes minors ought to have a prescription for emergency contraception, rather than obtain it without a prescription. Bush also said he supports his nominee for FDA commissioner, Andrew Von Eschenbach, who - as the current acting commissioner -- is under fire for supporting over-the-counter sales of the "morning-after pill" known as Plan B. Asked if he supported Von Eschenbach, and how he feels about Plan B in particular - Bush responded, "I believe that Plan B ought to be -- ought to require a prescription for minors, is what I...

President Bush Approves Over the Counter Early Abortion Pill, Pro-Life Base Decries MoveBy John-Henry Westen WASHINGTON, August 21, 2006 (LifeSiteNews.com) - For his pro-life supporter base, President George W. Bush stepped into one of the biggest political landmines of his Presidential career today with his approval of over the counter status for the abortion-causing morning after pill Plan B. A press release by Human Life International underscored the seriousness of the move as it was titled, "President Bush Files for Divorce with Catholic Base." Rev. Thomas J. Euteneuer, president of Human Life International commented, "President Bush's implied support for the...

President Bush Files for Divorce with Catholic BaseCatholic Pro-Life Leader states: “President Bush’s implied support for the abortion-causing drug Plan B is completely inconsistent with his recent veto of the embryonic stem cell research funding bill”FRONT ROYAL, Va., Aug. 21 /Christian Newswire/ -- The Rev. Thomas J. Euteneuer, president of Human Life International, issued the following response to President George W. Bush’s statements today regarding his support for Andrew von Eschenbach and his recent decision to seek over-the-counter (OTC) status for the abortifacient drug Plan B. When asked by reporter Bill Sammon about the situation, Bush stated: “I believe that...

...It makes no sense, says Concerned Women for America, that a low dose of a drug for anyone requires medical oversight -- but that a high dose of the same drug would be available without a prescription. Yet that is exactly what the acting commissioner of the Food and Drug Administration is pushing for, says the group; and that is why CWA is calling on Andrew von Eschenbach to withdraw his name from consideration to head up the FDA on a permanent basis. Von Eschenbach is pushing through a drug approval that would make Plan B, also known as the...

Not long ago, in an act of near-adolescent abandon, my wife and I had unprotected sex. We were not trying to have a baby; rather, in the heat of the moment, we never quite got around to using birth control. When we realized what had happened, . . . my wife called her doctor and asked for a prescription for Plan B, the "morning after" birth-control pill. ***** Of course, I'm not immune to emotion either, especially For my wife and me, the decision to use Plan B was hardly casual. Although we both support abortion rights and favor the...

RICHMOND, Aug. 8 -- A leading conservative antiabortion group has joined Democrat James Webb in criticizing Republican Sen. George Allen for opposing abortion while owning stock in the manufacturer of the morning-after pill. Chris Freund, policy director for the Family Foundation in Richmond, said social conservatives should be troubled by Allen's investment in Barr Laboratories Inc., maker of the pill, Plan B.

A heated argument about the "morning-after" birth-control pill left co-host Elisabeth Hasselbeck in tears on "The View" yesterday on ABC. The 31-year-old was so distraught she had to be comforted by "View" den mother Barbara Walters, 74, who was seen holding Hasselbeck in her arms after the show returned from a commercial break.

Abortion advocates claim that making the "morning-after pill" available over the counter would be safe and reduce pregnancies and abortions. The real-world experience shows just the opposite. The morning-after pill is a high dose of the birth control pill, which requires a prescription to guard against serious complications such as blood clots. The Food and Drug Administration has never allowed a nonprescription status for a high-dose drug when a low dose of the same drug needs a prescription. The FDA first declined over-the-counter status, concerned it would harm adolescents. Now the FDA is negotiating a scheme for any "woman over...

DENVER (AP) - Planned Parenthood said they it will distribute free "morning after" contraceptives at state clinics Friday to protest Gov. Bill Owens' veto of a bill that would have let pharmacists prescribe the pill. Owens rejected the measure in April, saying that spreading prescription power beyond doctors and specialized nurses "strays radically from the accepted norms of medicine." "Every woman should have it in their medicine cabinets, in case of birth control failure, or worse, sexual assault," Vicki Cowart, president of Planned Parenthood of the Rockies, said in a statement. The contraceptive, called Plan B, uses a high dose...

OLYMPIA, Wash. – Activists are planning a monthlong boycott of two grocery stores here after the owners said they won't stock morning-after contraceptive pills. The controversy may affect business at the two popular Thriftway stores owned by Stormans Inc., but that won't change the policy, co-owner Kevin Stormans said. "We've made our decision, and it's what we have determined. We're not going to change our position based on what happens. It's not a negotiable issue," he told The Olympian newspaper in Wednesday's editions.

In a June 12 letter to the House Subcommittee on Criminal Justice, Drug Policy and Human Resources, Monty Patterson, the father of 18-year-old Holly Patterson, who died in 2003 after taking the abortion pill RU-486, has accused a former official of the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) of deliberately leaving out her associations with pro-abortion advocacy groups in her testimony on RU-486. “I question if there are ethical issues and a potential conflict of interest surrounding Susan F. Wood, Ph.D., testifying at the Subcommittee Hearing on May 17, 2006,” Patterson wrote. Formerly Assistant Commissioner for Women’s Health at the...

GALWAY, Ireland, May 18, 2006 (LifeSiteNews.com) – Doctors in Ireland believe over-the counter availability of ‘Plan B’ contraception would encourage young girls to be promiscuous, reported the Irish Medical Times today. Research by general practitioner registrar Dr. Fionnula Murphy found that two-thirds of GP’s did not support easy access to emergency contraception. Dr. Murphy questioned 106 GP’s in Cork, with a 66% response rate, and 170 female patients. 96% of physicians questioned said they prescribed the so-called morning-after pill. The four percent who did not said it was a moral issue for them. The morning-after pill acts as an abortifacient,...

EDITORIAL Morning after in America March 26, 2006 PRESIDENT BUSH'S UNEASY relationship with science and policy is about to hurt him as much as it has already hurt American women. For years now the Food and Drug Administration has failed to make the morning-after contraceptive pill, commonly known as Plan B, available over the counter. This despite numerous studies (including ones by the FDA) showing that the medication is effective and as safe as Tylenol. The result? Millions of women have been deprived of easier and cheaper access to an important product. And the agency has seriously damaged its reputation...

Should The State Require That All Pharmacies And Hospitals Carry The Morning After Pill?