Judge Edward R. Korman, of the U.S. District court for the Eastern District of New York, ruled that the Morning-After Pill should be made available “without a prescription and without point-of-sale or age restrictions within thirty days,” according to a press release from The Partnership for Civil Justice Fund.
The ruling was issued in the case of Tummino v. Hamburg. The ruling reversed an earlier one from the Food and Drug Administration and Health and Human Services. Korman found “[t]hese emergency contraceptives would be among the safest drugs sold over-the-counter.”
Korman cited the Obama administration’s “unjustified departures” and that the administration made arguments as an “excuse to deprive the overwhelming majority of women of their right to obtain contraceptives without unjustified and burdensome restrictions.”
Korman also said, “the motivation for [Secretary Sebelius’] action was obviously political. … [I]t was an election year decision that ‘many public health experts saw as a politically motivated effort to avoid riling religious groups and others opposed to making birth control available to girls.'”
Annie Tummino, lead Plaintiff and Coordinator of National Women’s Liberation said, “This decision is a welcome advance and affirms what feminists have been fighting for all along – the Morning-After Pill should be available to females of all ages, on the shelf at any convenience store, just like aspirin or condoms. Women and girls should have the absolute right to control our bodies without having to ask a doctor or a pharmacist for permission.”
“Women and girls have won a landmark victory today for reproductive justice,” said Andrea Costello, Partnership for Civil Justice Fund Senior Staff Attorney representing the NWL Plaintiffs. “The denial of full access to the Morning-After Pill has been an outrageous political decision and wholly without scientific basis – under both the Bush and Obama Administrations. The court’s decision dramatically expands access to a safe and effective form of birth control and is a ruling in favor of science and for justice for women.”
Costello continued with the following in the press release regarding the decision of the court: “The FDA’s decision making about whether to put the Morning-After Pill over-the-counter was subject to endless delay and anti-birth control politics. The unnecessary restrictions that were imposed by the FDA were never supported by scientific evidence. This decision dramatically expands access to a safe and effective form of birth control and a ruling in favor of science and justice for women. Women and girls can claim a reproductive justice victory today.”