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Top Planned Parenthood Official ‘Disappointed’ Plan B Hasn’t Changed Unplanned Pregnancy Rate

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Photo Credit: LifeSiteNews “Plan B,” the “morning-after” contraceptive pill, which can be taken up to 72 hours after sex, was supposed to be the “magic bullet” for women who failed to plan ahead.

But Planned Parenthood’s chief medical official admitted this week to NPR that despite the widespread availability of “Plan B,” the rate of unintended pregnancy in the U.S. has held steady, representing about 50 percent of all pregnancies.

“While there’s a lot of data to show it can prevent pregnancy in individual women, we’ve all been disappointed that on the population level, it just hasn’t had the effect we hoped,” Deborah Nucatola, senior director of medical services at the Planned Parenthood Federation of America, told NPR. “The unintended pregnancy rate hasn’t changed at all.”

Previously, Nucatola and others at Planned Parenthood had touted the high-dose hormone pill – which prevents pregnancy by blocking ovulation, or prevents a fertilized egg from implanting – as the definitive answer to stopping unintended pregnancy.

Forgot to take your birth control pills? No problem. The condom broke? No problem. You’re twelve years old and afraid to talk to your parents about sex, but you’ve been having it anyway? No problem. “Plan B” was supposed to have you covered.

Read more from this story HERE.

Major Drugstore Chains Now Selling Abortion-Inducing ‘Plan B’ Off the Shelf

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Photo Credit: CNSNewsThree major drugstore chains–CVS, RiteAid, and Walgreens–have moved “Plan B,” a drug that can induce an abortion, onto the open shelves in their stores, where it is now sold like aspirin or other non-prescription drugs.

In April, Judge Edward Korman of the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York, ordered the Food and Drug Administration to make the drug available on a non-prescription basis to women “of all ages.”

On June 20, the FDA announced that it had approved the non-prescription sale of Plan B to all women who have “reproductive potential” no matter what their age.

“On June 10, 2013, [FDA] notified a United States District Court judge in New York of its intent to comply with the court’s April 5, 2013 order instructing the FDA to make levonorgestrel-containing emergency contraceptives available as an over-the-counter (OTC) product without age or point-of-sale restrictions,” said the announcement.

However, the Food and Drug Administrations also says it does not have any authority to require retailers to carry specific products, including Plan B. Thus, stores remain free to sell or not sell the abortion-inducing drug.

Read more from this story HERE.

FDA Lowers Age for Buyers of Plan B Pill to 15

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Photo Credit: APIn a surprise twist to the decade-plus effort to ease access to morning-after pills, the government is lowering the age limit to 15 for one brand – Plan B One-Step – and will let it be sold over the counter.

Today, Plan B and its generic competition are sold behind pharmacy counters, and people must prove they’re 17 or older to buy the emergency contraception without a prescription. A federal judge had ordered an end to those sales restrictions by next Monday.

But Tuesday, the Food and Drug Administration approved a different approach: Plan B could sit on drugstore shelves next to condoms, spermicides or other women’s health products – but to make the purchase, buyers must prove they’re 15 or older at the cash register.

Manufacturer Teva Women’s Health, which had applied for the compromise path, said it planned to make the switch in a few months.

The question is whether Tuesday’s action settles the larger court fight. Earlier this month, U.S. District Judge Edward Korman of New York blasted the Obama administration for imposing the age-17 limit, saying it had let election-year politics trump science and were making it hard for women of any age to obtain emergency contraception in time for it to work.

Read more from this story HERE.

Federal Judge Orders that Morning After Pill Be Given to Young Girls Without a Prescription or Parental Consent

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A federal judge in Brooklyn, New York, has ordered the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to make the morning-after birth control pill available to people of any age without a prescription.

The order overturned a 2011 decision by Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius to require a prescription for girls under 17.

The FDA said it couldn’t comment on an ongoing legal matter. But the U.S. Justice Department indicated an appeal of the ruling was under consideration. “The Department of Justice is reviewing the appellate options and expects to act promptly,” department spokeswoman Allison Price said.

The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists recommended last year that oral contraceptives be sold over the counter in an effort to reduce the number of unintended pregnancies in the United States. Opponents of prescription requirements say prescriptions can delay access to the drug.

In 2011, Teva Women’s Health Inc., maker of Plan B One-Step, had asked the FDA to make the drug available without prescription to all sexually active girls and women. Sebelius overruled the FDA’s recommendation, saying, “I do not believe enough data were presented to support the application.”

Read more from this story HERE.

Boehner Abruptly Scraps Fiscal Cliff ‘Plan B’ Vote After GOP Defections

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Facing a rank-and-file GOP revolt, House Speaker John Boehner abruptly canceled a vote Thursday night on a plan to raise taxes for the wealthy, bringing the country closer to a plunge down the “fiscal cliff.”

The House then recessed until after Christmas. The development raises questions about whether Boehner could muster support among Tea Partyers in the GOP-controlled House for a broader deal to avert the automatic tax hikes and spending cuts on Jan.1.

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid said the sudden development showed that Boehner must now work with Democrats to try to avoid the cliff.

“Speaker Boehner’s partisan approach wasted an entire week and pushed middle-class families closer to the edge,” Reid said. “The only way to avoid the cliff altogether is for Speaker Boehner to return to negotiations, and work with President Obama and the Senate to forge a bipartisan deal.”

According to a GOP source familiar with the vote coun, “the veto threat and opposition from the White House and the Senate Majority Leader made some members feel like they were taking a risky vote for no reason, even though the bill did not actually include a tax hike. Now, the President and Senate Majority Leader must find a solution to this crisis.”

Read more from this story HERE.

NYC schools give out morning-after pills to students — without telling parents (+video)

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The Department of Education is giving morning-after pills and other birth-control drugs to students at 13 high schools, The Post has learned.

School nurse offices stocked with the contraceptives can dispense “Plan B” emergency contraception and other oral or injectable birth control to girls without telling their parents — unless parents opt out after getting a school informational letter about the new program.

CATCH — Connecting Adolescents To Comprehensive Health — is part of a citywide attack against the epidemic of teen pregnancy, which spurs many girls — most of them poor — to drop out of school.

While Big Apple high schools have long supplied free condoms to sexually active teens, this is the first time city schools have dispensed hormonal birth control and Plan B, which can prevent pregnancy if taken up to 72 hours after unprotected sex.

It might be a nationwide first as well. The National Association of School Nurses could cite no other school district supplying Plan B. Read more from this story HERE.

Here’s an NYC news report that provides additional detail about what the Department of Education is doing: