Wisconsin Files Suit Against FDA
Kelda Helen Roys, JD
Executive Director
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
March 15, 2006
WISCONSIN FILES SUIT AGAINST FDA FOR BLOCKING EMERGENCY CONTRACEPTION ACCESS
Madison, WI – NARAL Pro-Choice Wisconsin joined Wisconsin Attorney General Peg
Lautenschlager this morning for a press conference, announcing the filing of a lawsuit
against the federal Food and Drug Administration for their refusal to make emergency contraception (brand name Plan B, also known as the morning-after pill)available over the counter.
“This lawsuit says that politics should not be allowed to trump science, and that women’s
health is a priority for the state of Wisconsin,” said Kelda Helen Roys, executive director of NARAL Pro-Choice Wisconsin. “Emergency contraception is an important form of birth control in cases of contraceptive failure or sexual assault.”
Despite two expert FDA panels concluding that emergency contraception should be
available without a prescription, the Bush appointees heading FDA blocked the expert
recommendation in an unprecedented and highly criticized move.
“We applaud the Attorney General and Governor Jim Doyle for their principled stance.
This is not a pro-choice issue – it’s just common sense to prevent unintended pregnancy and reduce the need for abortion,” continued Roys. “Birth control should be the common
ground, yet anti-choice extremists try to block access to contraception at every step – by letting pharmacists withhold it, by pressuring the FDA to deny access, and by attempting to ban in at UW health facilities.”
Emergency contraception is a high dose of ordinary birth control pills which, when taken within 120 hours of unprotected intercourse, is highly effective at preventing pregnancy. It is more effective the sooner it is taken, however, with the ideal time frame being within 12-24 hours of sexual contact, which underscores the need for access without a prescription.
Emergency contraception cannot harm an existing pregnancy and has no serious side effects. Wisconsin’s complaint asserts that the “FDA has, through the actions challenged in this case and in ways violative of applicable federal laws and regulations, improperly erected and maintained significant barricades to safe and effective methods through which all Wisconsinites may choose to avoid pregnancies in Wisconsin by using Plan B® pills.”
Contact: Kelda Helen Roys, (608) 213-4502
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