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Bill Barker (202) 419-3420 |
Monday, November 14, 2005 |
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GAO Report Finds FDA’s EC Decision ‘Unusual’
Statement by James Wagoner, President, Advocates for Youth
WASHINGTON, DC (November 14, 2005) “Today, the United States Government Accountability Office (GAO) released a report  confirming that politics and ideology trumped science in the FDA’s decision not to make emergency contraception (EC) available without a prescription.
This report shows the FDA’s decision on EC was ‘unusual,’ at best. In other words, it had nothing to do with imposing consistent standards of public health and everything to do with appeasing the administration’s conservative base. Further, the report substantiates the claims of the FDA’s deputy in charge of women’s health, Dr. Susan Wood, who recently resigned charging that the decision to block EC was clearly based on politics rather than the science behind the issue.
The American Medical Association and the World Health Organization support women's access to EC. In fact, the GAO’s report makes clear that the FDA’s own advisory committee believed emergency contraception to be completely safe, and recommended approval of non-prescription status without an age restriction.
This administration and its ultra-conservative allies claim that they wish to eliminate abortion, but they continue to slow access to a form of birth control that could reduce the number of abortions in this country by 70%.
If hypocrisy were an Olympic event, the gold medal would definitely have to go to the Bush administration and the FDA leadership for continuing to block non-prescription access to emergency contraception, and blaming youth in the process.”
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Advocates for Youth is a national, nonprofit organization that creates programs and supports policies that help young people make safe, responsible decisions about their sexual and reproductive health.
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