Bishops' official decries panel's OK on emergency contraception

Published: 2003-12-17

WASHINGTON (CNS) -- A Dec. 16 recommendation to the Food and Drug Administration to make emergency contraception available without a doctor's prescription was described as a "reckless experiment" by a spokeswoman for the U.S. bishops. "A drug which destroys human embryos and puts women at greater risk of ectopic pregnancy does not belong on the shelves of a drugstore," said Cathy Cleaver Ruse, director of planning and information for the pro-life secretariat at the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops. The Nonprescription Drugs Advisory Committee and the Advisory Committee for Reproductive Health Drugs voted 23-4 in favor of a proposal to allow emergency contraception marketed as "Plan B" to be sold over the counter. The final decision rests with the Food and Drug Administration, which is expected to act in February. If the agency goes along with the panel's recommendations, it will also have to decide if customers should request the pills from pharmacists or if the pills would simply be located on the shelves of drugstores.

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