I have to express my outrage at the FDA's denial of license to market the morning-after contraceptive called "Plan B" in this country and the way the organization did it.
The scientific merits and safety of the drug did not seem to have been the paramount concern. The drug has been opposed on political arguments connected with preventing abortion--this is a lot like the implied connections between Osama and Saddam--a deliberate deception allowed (encouraged) to proceed. Plan B is not even close to abortion; the fact is, it acts before conception actually occurs. To argue otherwise is getting close to Pythonesque "every sperm is sacred" self-parody.
We need to take this political logic further. I will give this much integrity to this presumed right-to-life position (for pre-conception eggs and sperm) and those who make the argument, and I will not accuse them of seeking more unwanted pregnancies. Preventing the distribution of Plan B would seem certain to increase the number of subsequent abortions, and I'm sure that's not what they want. Is it possibly some desire for an increased supply of babies for adoptive purposes, in order to meet unfulfilled demand? Seems farfetched.
Instead, I will give the argument "credit" of a negative variety--what it seeks to do is to prolong the debate over abortion. It's part of the "pick a fight--any fight--over the Supreme Court nominations" strategy. Its aim is to distract the American people from issues that, frankly, are more pressing, and more harmful to Bushite administration.
The incidence of legal abortion in the U.S. has been dropping sharply; we should applaud that fact, but note that Plan B would have brought another sharp drop and, perhaps, started to take the issue off the table.
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Plan B was approved for over-the-counter sales without a prescription this week. Took awhile, but the political tool of blocking a new FDA commissioner (by Her Royal Clinton) did the trick, eventually.
I have no idea what was accomplished by the delay (, Tom); perhaps the Bushites were able to test the winds and determine there were no votes to be gained here. After all, the science was clear: this is a drug that prevents (later) abortions, rather than causing them.
The previous comment was dated August 26, 2006. I note that the comments have a time-stamp, but not a date-stamp.
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