U.S. Drops Bid to Limit Sales of Morning-After Pill

*Source: The New York Times

WASHINGTON — The Obama administration has decided to stop trying to block over-the-counter availability of the best-known morning-after contraceptive pill for all women and girls, a move fraught with political repercussions for President Obama.

The government’s decision means that any woman or girl will soon be able to walk into a drugstore and buy the pill, Plan B One-Step, without a prescription. 

The Justice Department had been fighting to prevent that outcome, but said late Monday afternoon that it would accept its losses in recent court rulings and begin putting into effect a judge’s order to have the Food and Drug Administration certify the drug for nonprescription use. In a letter to Judge Edward R. Korman of the United States District Court for the Eastern District of New York, the administration said it would comply with his demands. 

The Justice Department appears to have concluded that it might lose its case with the appeals court and would have to decide whether to appeal to the Supreme Court. That would drastically elevate the debate over the politically delicate issue for Mr. Obama. 

Women’s reproductive rights groups, who had sued the government to clear the way for broader distribution of the drug, cautiously hailed the decision as a significant moment in the battle over reproductive rights but said they remained skeptical until they saw details about how the change will be put into practice.

The drug prevents conception if taken within 72 hours after sexual intercourse. 

“We will not rest in this fight until the morning-after pill is made available without delay and obstruction,” said Mara Verheyden-Hilliard, a lawyer and the executive director of the Partnership for Civil Justice Fund, which represented the plaintiffs in the case. 

Cecile Richards, the president of Planned Parenthood said: “This is a huge breakthrough for access to birth control and a historic moment for women’s health and equity.” 

The F.D.A. issued a statement Monday night saying that it planned to drop its appeal. “To comply with the order, the F.D.A. has asked the manufacturer of Plan B One-Step to submit a supplemental application seeking approval of the one-pill product to be made available O.T.C. without any such restrictions,” the statement said. “Once F.D.A. receives that supplemental application, the F.D.A. intends to approve it promptly.” 

The decision is certain to anger abortion rights opponents, who oppose letting young girls have access to the drug without the involvement of a parent or a doctor. For Mr. Obama, the decision could rekindle a high-intensity, politically turbulent debate about contraceptives even as he is already dealing with a series of distracting controversies and national security leaks. 

Mr. Obama had expressed personal concern about making the drug more broadly available last year and offered support to Kathleen Sebelius, his secretary of health and human services, when she blocked a decision by the F.D.A. that would have cleared the way for nonprescription distribution to all girls and women regardless of age. He said that as the father of two young girls, the idea of making the drug available to them without a prescription made him uncomfortable. 

But a federal judge angrily accused the administration of blocking the drug because of politics, not science, and ordered Ms. Sebelius to reverse her decision. Last week the Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit in New York City partially refused the Justice Department’s request for a delay in the judge’s order while the government appealed. 

In its letter to the court, the Justice Department outlined the procedural steps that the F.D.A. plans to take. It said the maker of Plan B One-Step, Teva Pharmaceuticals, has been asked to “promptly” file an application asking for no age or sales restrictions, and that the “F.D.A. will approve it without delay.” 

Once that is done, the F.D.A. expects makers of generic versions of Plan B One-Step — the most popular of those is Next Choice One Dose — to ask for a similar arrangement. The F.D.A. will evaluate those requests, based on whether it decides to give Plan B One-Step any type of market exclusivity, but most likely generic pills will also eventually be available without restrictions.  

The Justice Department said it would not remove restrictions from two-pill emergency contraceptives because it is concerned that young girls might not be able to adequately understand how to take two separate doses. But two-pill versions are a diminishing fraction of the market. 

The fight to make emergency contraceptives universally available without a prescription is more than a decade old. Plan B, the trade name for the morning-after pill, was approved in 1999 as a prescription-only product. In 2001 the Center for Reproductive Rights filed a citizens petition for it to be made available over the counter or without a prescription. 

By December 2011, after years of pressure from women’s reproductive rights groups and the companies selling the drug, the F.D.A. was poised to lift all age restrictions. By then the F.D.A. also said it had determined that the drug was safe. But in an unprecedented move Ms. Sebelius overruled the agency. She said at the time that she had based her decision on science because she said the manufacturer had failed to study whether the drug was safe for girls as young as 11, about 10 percent of whom are physically able to bear children. 

In April, Judge Korman once again ordered the government to make all morning-after pills available without a prescription and without any sales restrictions. In a stridently worded ruling, Judge Korman wrote that Ms. Sebelius’s decision to overrule the F.D.A. “was politically motivated, scientifically unjustified, and contrary to agency precedent.” 

He also accused the federal government of “bad faith” in dealing with the requests over more than a decade to make the pill universally available. 

“The F.D.A. has engaged in intolerable delays in processing the petition,” the judge wrote. “Indeed, it could accurately be described as an administrative agency filibuster.”

Chemical Abortion Advocates Wanted FDA To Legalize Morning-After Pills For Girls As Young As Seven.

*Source: Natural News



(NaturalNews) If you ever doubted the extreme left-wing radicalism of abortion advocates, their latest push to allow even pre-teen girls to have immediate, unfettered access to abortifacients - over-the-counter "morning after" medications that chemically induce abortions - should put those doubts to rest.

"Reproductive rights groups" - which is a blatant misnomer, since these groups have never been interested in reproduction, only abortion on demand - are pushing the Food and Drug Administration to comply with a previous federal court order instructing the agency to make over-the-counter abortifacients available to "women of all ages" (another misnomer, but I'll get to that in a moment).

What is wrong with this picture?

Per Reuters:

The groups, which include the Center for Reproductive Rights and the Partnership for Civil Justice Fund, said the FDA must remove all age limits and point-of-sale restrictions on emergency contraception, also known as the "morning-after" pill...

If the agency doesn't comply, the groups said they would file a motion with a federal judge in Brooklyn that seeks to hold the FDA in contempt of an April 5 order giving the agency 30 days to make abortifacients available over the counter to girls of all ages.

"[A]s the leader of the reproductive rights organization that sought the elimination of limits on the over-the-counter sale of emergency contraception, I feel it's my duty to ensure that the broader point of this effort - to expand access to a safe and reliable means of preventing unintended pregnancy for women of all ages - does not get lost," Nancy Northrup, president and CEO of the Center for Reproductive Rights, wrote in a recent USA Today column.

"As the federal judge who decided this case wrote, the issue of teen sexuality is a red herring that the U.S. government has used for more than a decade to impose restrictions motivated purely by politics - not science - that have placed barriers between women of all ages and the emergency contraception of which they sometimes find themselves in urgent need."

The groups' threatened action comes on the heels of an FDA decision April 30 to lift restrictions on "women" as young as 15, a ruling with which President Obama - himself, the father of two young daughters - has no problem.

Speaking in Mexico, Obama said he was comfortable with the FDA's decision because, after all, it was based on "solid scientific evidence" - as if that has anything to do with anything.

Co-opting our language

It's unclear whether the FDA will seek an injunction against Korman's ruling, but it is an option under consideration by the Department of Justice, Reuters reported. Either way, there are underlying issues here the mainstream media - which is happy to cover a story allowing kids to buy abortifacients but which largely ignores the horrors committed by abortionist Kermit Gosnell over a 30-year period in Philadelphia - is completely ignoring:

Gee, kids, how about you try to just wait to have sex? So much for parents trying to educate their children on the pitfalls and dangers of sexual intercourse - the mental and psychological damage and feelings of regret girls often suffer later in life for having abortions; the threat of contracting an incurable disease (which is already rampant); the physical risks of taking an abortifacients; and so on.

Sex - at any age. The left-wing extremism of groups who use misleading words like "reproductive," "rights," and "justice" in their titles to push for allowing kids - not "women of any age" - unfettered access to abortifacient medications without parental consent or knowledge is appalling, and it has no place in our society.

Why? When did America begin condoning child sex? By merely advocating for "unlimited access" to abortifacients for females "of any age," these same groups are essentially condoning child sexual intercourse. Otherwise, what's the point of trying to lift the age restrictions?

Kids are kids. Left-wing extremists love to co-opt language, and they are attempting to do so again. Note to Ms. Northrup: A 15-year-old is not a "woman," she is still a child. "Woman" implies that she is an adult, and - legally and physically - that is simply not the case with teenage girls.

Further, did you notice how the friendly mainstream media isn't asking Ms. Northrup and her allies to define the phrase "at any age?" So I will ask in their absence: "Ms. Northrup, is there any age in which abortifacients should be denied to girls?"

I'll wait for her answer.

Finally, let's talk about the "science," Mr. President. Barack Obama - who, as a state senator from Illinois and since, as president, has supported even late-term and partial-birth abortions of the type Gosnell is accused of performing (he's charged with murder, by the way) - is not interested in whether the "science" does or does not support the FDA's decision to allow girls as young as 15 to buy abortifacients. His past and present positions on abortion at any stage and at any time belie his position. But let's talk about that so-called "science." What, exactly, is the science that says young girls taking abortifacients is safe? Where is the proof? Are we to simply believe the president - a known abortion advocate - without challenging him on his statement?

And what about a young child's mental health? How would that be affected by a traumatic sexual and abortifacient event? Does the president care? He hasn't said so.

Also, I notice the president has not responded to perverts like Northrup who are indicating that kids "at any age" should be able to have sex and then buy an abortifacient - all without parent consent or knowledge. Shouldn't an American president have a position on such issues?

Decades ago, when the U.S. Supreme Court, out of whole cloth, crafted a "legal justification" for killing unborn children, a number of people warned then that abortion would get out of hand, and it clearly has.

Judge Orders Morning-After Pill Available Without Prescription.

*Source: CNN

 

(CNN) -- 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."

On Friday, U.S. District Court Judge Edward Korman said in his order, "The decisions of the Secretary with respect to Plan B One-Step and that of the FDA with respect to the Citizen Petition, which it had no choice but to deny, were arbitrary, capricious, and unreasonable."

Friday's order came in response to a lawsuit launched by the Center for Reproductive Rights. The group was seeking to expand access to all brands of the morning-after pill over the counter, such as Plan B One-Step and Next Choice, so that women of all ages would be able to purchase them without a prescription.

"Today science has finally prevailed over politics," Nancy Northup, the center's president and CEO, said in a statement. "This landmark court decision has struck a huge blow to the deep-seated discrimination that has for too long denied women access to a full range of safe and effective birth control methods."

In a press briefing, Northup said that according to the order, within 30 days, the pill would be available over the counter without "point of sale restrictions," such as needing to show identification or being a certain age.

There may be other settings besides drugstores where the morning-after pill will be sold, Susan Wood, associate professor at the George Washington University's School of Public Health and Health Services, told reporters.

"We no longer have to find, on a Sunday morning or a Saturday night, an open pharmacy counter with a pharmacist on duty," she said.

The American Society for Reproductive Medicine also supported the decision, applauding the stance that "science should guide policy."

But other groups, including the Family Research Council, expressed concerns about the order.

"There is a real danger that Plan B may be given to young girls, under coercion or without their consent. The involvement of parents and medical professionals act as a safeguard for these young girls. However, today's ruling removes these common-sense protections," Anna Higgins, director of the organization's Center for Human Dignity, said in a statement.

Bill Donohue of the Catholic League for Religious and Civil Rights also disagreed with the ruling, citing what he sees as a "contempt shown for parental rights."

"A 12-year-old girl in a New York City school cannot be given an aspirin by her teacher, even if she has a fever. The same girl cannot buy a large soda during lunchtime because Mayor Michael Bloomberg has decreed that it is not good for her. But she can be given a pill, unbeknownst to her parents, that could arguably abort her baby," he said in a statement.

The FDA approved Plan B in 1999. The key ingredient in Plan B is a synthetic hormone called levonorgestrel.

This drug stops an egg from being released from the ovary, or preventing fertilization of the egg by sperm.

If there has been fertilization, Plan B may prevent a fertilized egg from embedding in the uterus. But if the egg has already been implanted in the uterus, the morning-after pill will not work.

Emergency contraceptives are intended for use within 72 hours after sex but are most effective if taken within 24 hours.

Many developed countries require a prescription for oral contraceptives, including Canada and most of Europe, but other countries sell the pill without a prescription even formally or informally.

A 2012 study in the journal Pediatrics found that there is misinformation about emergency contraception, including about what age women can obtain it without a prescription, and who can take it in general.

As far as pricing, the morning-after pill goes for about $50, said Susannah Baruch, interim president and CEO of Reproductive Health Technologies Project.

CNN's Miriam Falco and Jacque Wilson in Atlanta and Terry Frieden in Washington contributed to this report.

DOJ Memo: Outlaw and Confiscate All Guns

*Source: InfoWars


DOJ memo states: “Buybacks are ineffective unless massive and coupled with a ban.”

The National Rifle Association has obtained a Department of Justice memo calling for national gun registration and confiscation. The nine page “cursory summary” on current gun control initiatives was not officially released by the Obama administration.

The DOJ memo (downloadable here as a PDF) states the administration “believes that a gun ban will not work without mandatory gun confiscation,” according to the NRA, and thinks universal background checks “won’t work without requiring national gun registration.” Obama has yet to publicly support national registration or firearms confiscation, although the memo reveals his administration is moving in that direction.
The memo stands in stark contrast to the administration’s public stance on so-called gun control. White House spokesman Jay Carney said last month that laws proposed by Obama would not “take away a gun from a single law-abiding American.”

The NRA declined to explain how it obtained the document. The memo was written by the acting director of the Justice Department’s National Institute of Justice, Greg Ridgeway. It is dated January 4, two weeks before Obama mounted his attack on the Second Amendment following the Sandy Hook massacre. Ridgeway came to the Justice Department from the RAND corporation.

The memo says universal background checks on firearms purchases may help the government push to control and eventually outlaw firearms, but it would lead to an increase in illegally purchased guns.
It pointed out that banning high capacity ammunition clips would be ineffective due to the fact there is a large number of them already in circulation.

A Justice Department official said the memo is an unfinished review of gun violence research and does not represent administration policy.

The DOJ memo arrived a few weeks prior to a letter sent out by the Department of Veterans Affairs. “A determination of incompetency will prohibit you from purchasing, possessing, receiving, or transporting a firearm or ammunition,” the sent to military veterans states. “If you knowingly violate any of these prohibitions, you may be fined, imprisoned, or both pursuant to the Brady Handgun Violence Prevention Act, Pub.L.No. 103-159, as implemented at 18, United States Code 924(a)(2).”

“US veterans are receiving letters from the government informing them that they are disabled and not allowed to own, purchase or possess a firearm. If the veteran does decide to purchase a firearm he will by fined, imprisoned or both,” the Gateway Pundit remarked. 

NRA’s Chris Cox talks about the DOJ memo:


California Democrat senator Dianne Feinstein reveals the government agenda — confiscation:

President Obama Falsely Claims Fast and Furious Program "Begun Under the Previous Administration"

*Source: Yahoo News 



Reuters/REUTERS - U.S. President Barack Obama and co-anchor Maria Elena Salinas (R) takes part in a town hall hosted by Univision at the University of Miami in Coral Gables, Florida September 20, 2012. REUTERS/Kevin Lamarque

Asked about the Fast and Furious program at the Univision forum on Thursday, President Obama falsely claimed that the program began under President George W. Bush.

"I think it's important for us to understand that the Fast and Furious program was a field-initiated program begun under the previous administration," the president said. "When Eric Holder found out about it, he discontinued it. We assigned a inspector general to do a thorough report that was just issued, confirming that in fact Eric Holder did not know about this, that he took prompt action and the people who did initiate this were held accountable."

In actuality, the Fast and Furious program was started in October 2009, nine months into the Obama presidency.

Previous programs involving ATF agents allowing guns to "walk" across the border so as to trace them were run during the Bush presidency, but not this particular "field-initiated program."

White House officials did not respond to a request for comment after the falsehood was pointed out to them.

As for President Obama's discussion about the Justice Department Inspector General's report on Fast and Furious, it's true the Inspector General "concluded that although Attorney General Holder was notified immediately of (Border Patrol) Agent (Brian) Terry's shooting and death, he was not told about the connection between the firearms found at the scene of the shooting and Operation Fast and Furious.

We determined that Attorney General Holder did not learn of that fact until sometime in 2011, after he received Sen. Grassley's January 27 letter. Senior Department officials were aware of this significant and troubling information by December 17, 2010, but did not believe the information was sufficiently important to alert the Attorney General about it or to make any further inquiry regarding this development."

But this was not entirely an exoneration of the Justice Department run by Mr. Holder. "We found it troubling that a case of this magnitude, and one that affected Mexico so significantly was not directly briefed to the Attorney General," the report stated.

In addition to specific disciplinary measures, the Inspector General "made six recommendations designed to increase the Department's involvement in and oversight of ATF operations, improve coordination among the Department's law enforcement components, and enhance the Department's wiretap application review and authorization process. The OIG intends to closely monitor the department's progress in implementing these recommendations."

Read the Inspector General's report HERE.

-Jake Tapper

SHOCKER! Obama's DOJ Won't Say Free Speech Towards Religion Will Remain Legal In US!

Assistant Attorney General Thomas Perez of the Dept. of Justice refuses to answer the question on whether free speech towards criticism of any religion shall remain legal. Do you see where this is headed?



PPSIMMONS
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'We Are legion': Anonymous Hacks French Presidential Website.

Source: Russia Today

A group of hackers known as ‘Anonymous’ attacked the French president’s website on Friday, apparently in retaliation of the country’s official support of an American clampdown on the popular file-sharing website, Megaupload.

­Anonymous inserted their online slogan "We are legion" into the website’s navigation bar, where it stayed until the end of the day.

The French government reiterated its stance on the issue and denounced the people behind Megaupload.com as criminals and their actions as massive violations of copyright law.

"It is delinquency, it is theft," AFP quoted the French Culture Minister, Frederic Mitterrand, as saying. "The truth is that they are stealing on a large scale."

The US authorities have indicted seven people for "massive worldwide online piracy of numerous types of copyrighted works, through Megaupload.Com and other related sites."

An international crackdown has led agents to serve at least 20 search warrants across the globe. Four of the company’s senior figures have already been arrested in New Zealand, and Washington is now demanding their extradition to the US to be prosecuted for alleged online piracy, racketeering and money laundering.

“In retaliation for Megaupload,” Anonymous operative Barrett Brown earlier told RT, the group shut down several US-based websites for several hours, including those of the FBI, the Department of Justice, Universal Music Group, RIAA and the Motion Picture Association of America.

"Anonymous Downs Government, Music Industry Sites In Largest Attack Ever".

Source: Russia Today

Hacktivists with the collective Anonymous are waging an attack on the website for the White House after successfully breaking the sites for the FBI, Department of Justice, Universal Music Group, RIAA and Motion Picture Association of America.

In response to today’s federal raid on the file sharing service Megaupload, hackers with the online collective Anonymous have broken the websites for the FBI, Department of Justice, Universal Music Group, RIAA, Motion Picture Association of America and Warner Music Group.

“It was in retaliation for Megaupload, as was the concurrent attack on Justice.org,” Anonymous operative Barrett Brown tells RT on Thursday afternoon.

Only hours before the DoJ and Universal sites went down, news broke that Megaupload, a massive file sharing site with a reported 50 million daily users, was taken down by federal agents. Four people linked to Megaupload were arrested in New Zealand and an international crackdown led agents to serving at least 20 search warrants across the globe.

The latest of sites to fall is FBI.gov, which finally broke at around 7:40 pm EST Thursday evening.

Less than an hour after the DoJ and Universal sites came down, the website for the RIAA, or Recording Industry Association of America, went offline as well. Shortly before 6 p.m EST, the government's Copyright.gov site went down as well. Thirty minutes later came the site for BMI, or Broadcast Music, Inc, the licensing organization that represents some of the biggest names in music.

Also on Thursday, MPAA.org returned an error as Anonymous hacktivists managed to bring down the website for the Motion Picture Association of America. The group, headed by former senator Chris Dodd, is an adamant supporter of both PIPA and SOPA legislation.

Universal Music Group, or UMG, is the largest record company in the United States and under its umbrella are the labels Interscope-Geffen-A&M, the Island Def Jam Motown Music Group and Mercury Records.

Brown adds that “more is coming” and Anonymous-aligned hacktivists are pursuing a joint effort with others to “damage campaign raising abilities of remaining Democrats who support SOPA.”

Although many members of Congress have just this week changed their stance on the controversial Stop Online Piracy Act, or SOPA, the raid on Megaupload Thursday proved that the feds don’t need SOPA or its sister legislation, PIPA, in order to pose a threat to the Web.

Brown adds that operatives involved in the project will use an “experimental campaign” and search engine optimization techniques “whereby to forever saddle some of these congressmen with their record on this issue.”