by Lisa Graas
On Tuesday, a federal appeals court ruled that the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) must immediately make one form of the abortifacient Plan B, also known as the “morning-after pill,” available to children of all ages over the counter. In April, a “clearly furious” federal judge, Edward Korman, had ordered the FDA to remove all restrictions, including age restrictions, on the sale of Plan B, but the FDA appealed the ruling. Tuesday’s decision denies a stay that had been requested by the FDA.
In response to the April ruling, Lila Rose, President of Live Action, issued a statement calling for Judge Korman’s decision to be immediately overturned.
Selling a self-administered home-abortion pill over the counter to young girls, without even basic involvement of a parent or doctor, is the equivalent of selling guns off the shelf to any minor. The decision by a New York City judge ordering Plan B One-Step, an abortifacient with unknown risks and the power to kill, to be available over the counter, to anyone of any age, flouts both medical prudence and plain common sense.
Even pro-abortion Secretary Sebelius and the present administration recognize that the severity of the risks of Plan B are unknown, especially for young girls. Widespread and unregulated exposure to untested abortifacient drugs puts pre-born children at huge risk as well.
Forcibly excluding parents and doctors from decisions with profound implications for children’s health can only spell disaster for teens and pre-teens in our country. Judge Korman’s decision shows contempt for every established medical safety protocol, and it should therefore be overturned immediately.
The pro-abortion Center for Reproductive Rights (CRR), which bills itself as a “women’s group,” took the opposite view and fought the FDA’s request for a stay. Tuesday’s ruling reflects CRR’s desire that we view girls as young as eleven years old not as “children,” but rather as “women of all ages.”
Lowering the age limit “may reduce delays for some young women but it does nothing to address the significant barriers that far too many women of all ages will still find if they arrive at the drugstore without identification,” said Nancy Northup, president of the Center for Reproductive Rights.
Given that Plan B is already available on college campuses in vending machines, how long will it be until “women of all ages” (children) can purchase an abortion pill from the same machine where they would get candy bar? According to Tuesday’s ruling, that day will come just as soon as any distributor chooses to offer them.
This is what happens when “women’s groups” like CRR use terminology like “daunting and insurmountable hoops women are forced to jump through” and classifies girls as “women of all ages.” Such language may sound reasonable or harmless to many people, particularly those who are not paying close attention, but the practical result is abortion being marketed and sold to children like candy.
The cloaked language and the impact on children in the Plan B legal fight is hauntingly reminiscent of Planned Parenthood’s willingness to aid in sex-trafficking of children and refusal to debate Lila Rose. So it is with the Culture of Death. It is not enough for the pro-abortion movement that children in the womb are killed. Our born children, too, must be sacrificed for the sake of their agenda, and all appeals to reason and basic human compassion must be suppressed at every turn.
It is truly a dark time for America when federal judges angrily demand that abortion be offered like candy to children. The good news is that Live Action will continue to stand as one of the most powerful voices of reason and compassion for the innocent and vulnerable. With your help, we are making a difference in advancing a Culture of Life, not death. Thank you for standing with us in the hope that our country will seek to acknowledge the value and dignity of every human life.
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