In a welcome change of course, the Bush administration ended its stonewalling of over-the-counter sales of the Plan B emergency contraceptive. After five years of outright deception and promises broken, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) gave Barr Pharmaceuticals its blessing to proceed with OTC sales to women 18 and older.
As Perrspectives reported two weeks ago ("Plan B's Tangled Web"), President Bush's looming flip-flop became apparent during the confirmation hearings of acting FDA chief Dr. Andrew von Eschenbach. After Secretary of Health and Human Services Mike Leavitt went back on his word to Senators Hilary Clinton and Patty Murray to green light Plan B during the confirmation process for von Eschenbach's disgraced predecessor Lester Crawford in the fall of 2005, the White House had little wiggle room left. Von Eschenbach described his approach to consider the drug's approval based "not on a political ideology but on a medical ideology," adding "I believe 18 is appropriate. It's a cut point. We have to have some cut point."
By late last week, it was clear that the White House was moving forward with its plan B for Plan B. During a press conference on August 17, press secretary Tony Snow was asked where President Bush stood on the von Eschenbach nomination and the Plan B controversy. Finding discretion the better part of valor, he responded simply, "Honestly, I don't know. I won't fake it. I'll get an answer for you." But by the following Monday, President Bush himself made the outcome clear, declaring "I believe that Plan B ought to be -- ought to require a prescription for minors, is what I believe. And I support Andy's decision."
The Bush flip-flop, of course, represents a political compromise that failed to fully please either reproductive rights advocates or opponents. Despite the complete absence of scientific data suggesting age-specificity, President Bush in a nod to his allies on the religious right kept in place a requirement for girls under to 18 to get a doctor's note for access to Plan B. Judie Brown of the American Life League thundered, "Based on his apparent willingness to see the Food and Drug Administration authorize the potentially lethal Plan B drug regimen for women over 18, the president is apparently doing anything but protecting innocent human life." Wendy Wright of Concerned Women for America similarly raged, "The FDA would be overstepping its precedent and authority to make Plan B available nonprescription."
Meanwhile, Amy Allina of the National Women's Health Network summed up the prevailing view of the reproductive rights community:

"This is something that women's health groups have been working on for more than a decade. If the decision comes out as we expect it to, that's a real victory. [But] there's no medical or scientific reason for restricting access. It sends a message that it's somehow less safe for younger women, which just isn't true."

Ultimately, the Bush White House moderated its politicization of science when the political price became too steep. Barr hopes to launch over-the-counter sales of Plan B by the end of the year.