Wednesday, April 8, 2009

Stick With Plan A

We've been talking a lot about threats to conscience and health care recently, so it's appropriate to share some news of a little bit of movement towards the side of sanity -- from Illinois (of all places!), that land of proverbial corruption.

The AP reports that Sangamon County Circuit Judge John Belz has issued a temporary restraining order against the State that prevents it from forcing pharmacists from issuing the emergency contraceptive/abortifacient Plan B, the so-called "morning after pill", if they object on religious grounds.

Two pharmacists in Illinois took their case all the way to the Illinois Supreme Court who ruled in December that their case must be heard. The case stems from a rule by then-Gov. Rod Blagojevich in 2005 ordering all pharmacies to dispense the pill without exception.

The main antagonists in the case are Barr Labs, who makes Plan B (of course, since they stand to make a lot of money by its unfettered sale), and (who else) Planned Barrenhood.

[FoxNews] Since 1997, lawmakers in 28 states have introduced bills to protect a pharmacist's right to say no, and four states now permit pharmacists to refuse to fill prescriptions based on their personal beliefs. Seven states and Canada allow pharmacists to dispense Plan B without a prescription.
Previously, the Food and Drug Administration has ruled that Plan B can be made available over the counter to women over 18 years, but by prescription only for minors. The Obama administration has reversed that through their surrogates in the FDA, making Plan B available to minors without a prescription.

Critics within the FDA called delays on the previous policy "politically motivated" -- completely and hypocritically missing the point that the Obama administration's abrupt policy reversal in pushing the drug to minors was also politically motivated, just in the opposite direction.

Oh -- but your kids still can't get an aspirin at school.

No comments:

LinkWithin

Related Posts with Thumbnails