HHS says no to over-the-counter morning-after pill

The Associated Press
December 7, 2011
By LAURAN NEERGAARD

In a surprise move, the nation's health secretary stopped the Plan B morning-after pill from moving onto drugstore shelves next to the condoms, deciding Wednesday that young girls shouldn't be able to buy it on their own.

The Food and Drug Administration was preparing to lift a controversial age limit and make Plan B One-Step the nation's first over-the-counter emergency contraceptive, available for purchase by people of any age without a prescription.

But Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius intervened at the eleventh hour and overruled her own experts.

Plan B instead will remain behind the pharmacy counter, as it is sold today -- available without a prescription only for those 17 and older who show an ID proving their age. the rest

Sebelius' reason: Some girls as young as 11 are physically capable of bearing children, and Plan B's maker didn't prove that younger girls could properly understand how to use this product without guidance from an adult.