Ruling Makes Morning-After Pill Available in Baldwin, Whitehall Pharmacies

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved this week a plan to market Plan B One-Step for use without a prescription by girls and women 15 years of age and older.

The product will be available in retail outlets with an on-site pharmacy—such as the CVS along Route 51 in Baldwin Borough and the Rite Aid locations along Keeport Drive in Baldwin and at Caste Village in Whitehall Borough—in the family planning or female health aisles. The product will be available for sale during the retailers' normal operating hours whether their pharmacies are open or not.

The emergency contraceptive, known popularly as the "morning-after pill," will be packaged with a product code prompting a cashier to request and verify customers' ages. A customer who cannot provide age verification will not be able to purchase the product. In addition, the drug's maker, Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd., has arranged to have a security tag placed on all product cartons in order to prevent theft.

Plan B One-Step is intended to reduce the possibility of pregnancy within three days following unprotected sexual intercourse.

Plan B One-Step will not stop a pregnancy when a woman is already pregnant, and there is no medical evidence that the product will harm a developing fetus.

However, the FDA's decision is causing some controversy. Some people are against women taking the drug at all, while others think that there should be no age limit.

What do you think about the FDA's decision? Tell us in the comments below.

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