Loading...
Loading...
Click here if you don’t see subscription options

The Food and Drug Administration “acted irresponsibly” with its decision to lower the age limit from 17 to 15 for purchasing an over-the-counter emergency contraceptive, said an official of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops. “No public health consideration justifies the unsupervised sale of such drugs to young teens,” said Deirdre McQuade, spokeswoman for the U.S.C.C.B.’s Secretariat for Pro-Life Activities. Plan B One-Step now will be sold openly on pharmacy shelves, while generic brands will still be sold under pharmacy counters and only to people 17 years of age or older. A ruling by a federal judge in early April said the F.D.A. must make emergency contraceptives available to all ages by May 6. The Justice Department announced on May 1 that it is appealing this decision, arguing that the judge who issued the ruling had exceeded his authority. The appeal and a request for an injunction will not affect the F.D.A.’s April 30 decision to allow emergency contraceptives to be sold without a prescription to 15-year-olds.

Comments are automatically closed two weeks after an article's initial publication. See our comments policy for more.

The latest from america

Pope Francis greets Professor Joseph Stiglitz at the "Debt Crisis in the Global South" meeting at the Vatican in June 2024 (Vatican Media)
An interview on economics and Catholic social teaching with Joseph E. Stiglitz, a Nobel Prize winning economist and a professor at Columbia University.
Kevin ClarkeApril 03, 2025
Lesson one: I had to buy more stamps.
Valerie SchultzApril 03, 2025
Celebrating the 1,700th anniversary of the Council of Nicaea should give new energy to evangelization efforts, a new document from the International Theological Commission says.
In this episode of “Inside the Vatican,” host Colleen Dulle and veteran Vatican correspondent Gerard O’Connell walk us through the pontiff’s recovery, including “slight improvements” in his speech.
Inside the VaticanApril 03, 2025