The Obama administration’s decision to block unrestricted sale of the “morning-after pill” to those under age 17 caught at least one Wisconsin advocate by surprise. “This administration, on these issues, set the stage for following medical evidence and scientific advice,” says Lon Newman, Executive Director of Wausau-based Family Planning Health Services. “That’s what they indicated they were going to do, that’s what all the signals were. So yes, I was astonished like everybody else.”
AUDIO: Lon Newman (4:05)
President Barack Obama this week supported the decision of Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius, to not make the emergency contraceptive available off the shelf without a prescription to people of all ages. “As I understand it, the reason Kathleen made this decision was she could not be confident that a 10-year-old or an 11-year-old, going to a drug store, should be able to, alongside bubble gum or batteries. I think most parents would probably feel the same way.”
“The president’s argument, and Secretary Sibelius’ argument, does not hold any water,” says Newman. “I would not trivialize it by talking about bubble gum and batteries.” Sebelius’ decision overruled a recommendation from the Food and Drug Administration to make Plan B available to anyone without a prescription. Newman argues emergency contraception for women who’ve had unprotected sex ought to be “as easy and quick as possible.”
