National NOW Times >> Summer/Fall 2005 >> Article

FDA Fails to Protect Women

Food and Drug Administration (FDA) Commissioner Lester Crawford "celebrated" Women's Equality Day on August 26 by announcing that he will continue to delay women's access to over-the-counter emergency contraception (EC).

Unable to offer any credible excuses for the delay, Crawford said unconvincingly that they needed time for public comment to figure out how to restrict drugstore access to only women over age 16, an age restriction that both NOW and public health professionals consider inappropriate. That aside, do we really think Crawford has never seen drugstores selling age-restricted alcohol or tobacco products?

"This is just another Bush-appointee decision that makes women's health secondary to right-wing politics. This administration is determined to turn the FDA into an arm of the Republican Party—carrying out the fondest desires of Bush allies who oppose women's use of contraception," said NOW President Kim Gandy.

Dr. Susan Wood, Assistant Commissioner for Women's Health and Director of the FDA Office of Women's Health, resigned after Crawford's announcement, saying that she was deeply concerned about the direction of the agency.

In her resignation, Dr. Wood writes, "The recent decision announced by the Commissioner about emergency contraception, which continues to limit women's access to a product that would reduce unintended pregnancies and reduce abortions is contrary to my core commitment to improving and advancing women's health." The loss of Director Wood is a blow to women's health and another sign of the failure of Commissioner Crawford to manage the FDA in the public interest.

With Sen. Rick Santorum (R-Pa.) and other right wing extremists supporting pharmacist's rights over the medical needs of women, NOW presented Congressional testimony opposing so-called Freedom of Conscience for Small Pharmacies legislation, and mobilized a national day of action on EC. "From the front door of Gov. George Pataki's New York City office to the steps of HHS Secretary Mike Leavitt's office in Washington, D.C., activists have gathered, in protest, across the country," said Melody Drnach, NOW Action Vice President.