CCR represents several feminist activists from the "Morning-After Pill Conspiracy" in a lawsuit against the Food and Drug Administration to challenge the failure to approve the Morning-After Pill (also known as “emergency contraception” or “Plan B”) with unrestricted over-the-counter access for all women in the U.S. regardless of age. The case, and the MAP Conspiracy organizing campaign, expose how the FDA’s actions relied on anti-birth control politics, not women’s rights or scientific evidence, in the decision making process.

The plaintiffs are asking the court to order the FDA to make Plan B available without a prescription for women of all ages. Decades of scientific research and women’s life experience show that Plan B is effective and safe for self-medication. For example, an internal FDA memo acknowledges that the clinic data before the agency “clearly supports” making Plan B available without a prescription “for all age groups,” and that such approval would be “consistent” with previous decisions on other products. Another internal agency memo indicates that the FDA has not previously “distinguished the safety and efficacy of Plan B and other forms of hormonal contraception among different ages of women,” and there is no “compelling scientific reason” for such a distinction in this case. By ignoring scientific facts and holding Plan B to a different and higher standard than used for other over-the-counter drugs, the FDA is failing to follow its own procedures and statutory and regulatory mandates. (From “Key Points of the Lawsuit,” of the Center for Reproductive Rights.)

The plaintiffs also assert that the FDA has violated women’s constitutional rights to privacy and equal protection by unlawfully restricting access to contraception and discriminating against women who are the exclusive users of Plan B.

After years of unexplained delays and inaction, on August 23, 2006, the FDA approved the switch of Plan B from prescription only to over-the-counter availability for individuals age 18 and over. In practice, this means that Plan B can only be obtained from behind a pharmacy counter for women 18 and older, but only if they show identification. In the position paper, “Morning-After Pill Age Restrictions Restrict All Women: FDA Tries to Divide Women by Age to Deny Us Our Rights,” plaintiff Jenny Brown of Gainesville Women exposes the anti-woman politics in the FDA’s position to restrict young women’s access to Plan B. Since the FDA’s decision in August 2006 is only a partial victory, the fight for reproductive rights and access to contraception moves forward.

The Court has concluded that there is a “strong showing of bad faith” on the part of the FDA and testimony from high-level FDA officials and documents obtained in discovery show the agency’s decision was not based on science, but, rather, due to improper political influence. The lawsuit seeks to ensure that Plan B is granted true over-the-counter status and made widely available to women of all ages.