FDA Approves Plan B for All Women

By Brandie Jefferson

The FDA announced Friday that it approved the over the counter sale of an emergency contraceptive for women of all ages. 

This announcement comes after a decision made in late April to allow the over-the-counter sale of Plan B One-Step (levonorgestrel) for women and teenagers 15 years and older.

“Over-the-counter access to emergency contraceptive products has the potential to further decrease the rate of unintended pregnancies in the United States,” Janet Woodcock, M.D., director of the FDA’s Center for Drug Evaluation and Research, said in a statement. 

On April 5, U.S. District Court in New York ordered the FDA make Plan B available to all women, regardless of age. Later that month, the FDA announced the drug would be approved, but only for women and teens 15 and older. 

At the time, FDA officials said the decision was not a response to the April 5 ruling. 

The FDA first approved Plan B One-Step in 2009 for use without a prescription in women 17 and older; and with a prescription for younger women, according to the FDA. 

The medication works using a higher level of a hormone found in some common oral contraceptives; it works in a similar way to prevent pregnancy by stopping ovulation. The hormone will not abort a pregnancy which has already begun, nor is there medical evidence to suggest it will harm a developing fetus, according to the FDA.