12/18/03 - Center Praises FDA Panels’ Recommendations to Make Emergency Contraception Over-The-Counter
12/3/03 - Ninth Circuit to Hear Oral Argument Against Arizona's Regulation of Abortion Clinics
11/24/03 - Hearing Set in Legal Challenge to Kansas Law that Violates Teens’ Rights to Confidential Health Care
11/21/03-Hearing Set in Court Challenge to Virginia’s Abortion Ban
11/14/03 - Tenth Circuit Asked to Uphold Decision Striking Down Oklahoma Parental Consent for Abortion Law
11/7/03 - Federal Abortion Ban Blocked by Judges in Nebraska, New York and California
11/5/03 - Federal Abortion Ban Blocked by Nebraska Judge Minutes After President Bush Signs it into Law
11/4/03 - Nebraska Doctor Takes Federal Abortion Ban to Court
11/4/03 - President Bush Scheduled to Sign Abortion Ban into Law
11/3/03 - Hearing Set in Legal Challenge to First-Ever Federal Abortion Ban
10/31/03 - Nebraska Doctor Challenges Federal Abortion Ban in Court Today
10/31/03 - FIRST-EVER FEDERAL ABORTION BAN CHALLENGED
10/30/03 - Council of Europe Finds Evidence of Forced Sterilization of Romani Women in Slovakia
10/28/03 - Slovak Investigation Covers Up Human Rights Abuses
10/22/03 - Center Vows to Challenge Unconstitutional Abortion Ban Inching Toward President's Desk
10/20/03 - Women’s Health Experts from Kenya and Peru Speak Out on the Impact of the Global Gag Rule
10/15/03 - Alaska Court Protects Young Women's Right to Abortion
10/6/03 - Doctors and Counselors Fight Kansas Law that Violates Teens' Rights to Confidential Health Care
10/3/03 - Center Vows to Challenge Unconstitutional Abortion Ban Inching Toward President's Desk
10/1/03 - Unconstitutional Ban on Safe Abortion Procedures Heads Towards President's Desk
9/24/03 Indiana Supreme Court Expands Medicaid Funding for Abortion
9/23/03 - North Dakota Supreme Court Throws out Abortion-Breast Cancer Lawsuit Against Clinic
9/18/03 - As Congress Moves to Pass Dangerous Abortion Ban, Center Prepares Court Challenge to Protect Women's Health
9/16/03 - Alabama Taxpayers Forced to Pay for State-Mandated, Ideological Materials on Abortion
9/16/03 - Abortion Providers Ask Appeals Court to Affirm Ruling Striking Down Florida’s Biased Counseling Law
9/04/03 - Young Mexican Rape Victim Speaks Out on Her 18th Birthday, Urging the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights to Formally Admit Her Case
9/3/03 - Sex Discrimination Continues in Florida After Court Refuses to Overturn Ban on Medicaid Funded Abortions
9/2/03 - Fifth Circuit Set to Hear Case Involving Prison Inmate Forced to Carry Pregnancy to Term
8/27/03 - International Human Rights Settlement Expected to Improve Women’s Access to Reproductive Health Care in Peru
8/21/03 - ACLU, Center for Reproductive Rights, and Florida NOW Say Appointing a Guardian for a Fetus Threatens the Health and Rights of Pregnant Women in Florida
7/28/03 - Judge Orders Alabama to Absorb Costs of State-Mandated, Ideological Materials on Abortion and Pregnancy
7/22/03 - Human Rights Groups Call on Slovakia to Address Illegal Sterilization of Romani Women
7/15/03 - U.S. House Compromises Women's Lives by Refusing to Reinstate Funding for UNFPA
7/10/03 - Four Women Imprisoned for Abortion Granted Amnesty by Nepal's King
7/10/03 - Florida Supreme Court Upholds Young Women's Constitutional Right to Abortion
7/10/03 - Senate Votes to Overturn the Global Gag Rule
7/9/03 - "Choose-Life" License Plate Scheme Halted in Louisiana
7/1/03 - Judge Enjoins Virginia’s Abortion Ban
7/1/03 - Nepal's King Urged to Continue Commitment to Human Rights by Releasing Women Imprisoned for Abortion
6/27/03 - Center Applauds Supreme Court Decision to Let Judgement Stand in Nuremberg Case
6/26/03 - U.S. Supreme Court Reaffirms American's Right to Privacy in Landmark Case
6/24/03 - Argument Set for Court Challenge to Louisiana's Speciality License Plates
6/18/03 - Virginia's Abortion Ban Challenged in Federal Court
6/17/03 - Abortion Clinic Asks Court to Affirm Ruling Rejecting Abortion-Breast Cancer Scare Tactic
6/17/03 - Groups Fight Efforts to Interfere With Care of Severely Disabled Rape Victim
6/16/03 - Court Challeng to Florida's Ban on Medicaid Funded Abortions
6/5/03 - House Passes Dangerous, Unconstitutional Abortion Ban
5/16/03 - ACLU and Center Admonish Florida for Failing to Protect Health and Rights of a Rape Victim
5/14/03 - Congress Urged to Lift Ban on Abortions at Military Facilities Abroad
5/14/03 - ACLU and Center Ask Court to Protect the Health and Rights of a Florida Rape Victim
5/6/03 - Women’s Access to Reproductive Health Care in MI no Longer at Risk After Law Suit Settled
5/2/03 - Bush Admin Urged to Implement HIV/AIDS Initiative Without Strings Attached
4/30/03 - Women in Indiana Forced to Make Two Trips to a Clinic in Order to Obtain an Abortion
4/28/03 - Supreme Court Upholds Threat to Abortion Patients’ Confidentiality
4/11/03 - Statement from Nancy Northup: Congress Threatens Young Women's Right to Choose Abortion
3/24/03 - Center's Expert Simon Heller to Testify Before Congress Against Abortion Ban
3/14/03 - Providers Challenge Michigan Law that Impairs Access to Reproductive Health Care
3/13/03 - Senate Passes Unconstitutional Abortion Ban
3/10/03 - Latin American Courts Violate Reproductive Rights
3/7/03 - Challenge to "Choose Life" License Plates Continues in Louisiana
3/7/03 - International Women’s Day Marred by Attacks on Women’s Reproductive Rights
3/3/03 - Indiana’s "Two-Trip" Requirement Temporarily Blocked after Clinics Challenge Law
2/26/03 - Center for Reproductive Rights Statement on U.S. Supreme Court Decision in Scheidler v. NOW
2/24/03 - Indiana Women Seeking Abortions to Face Burdensome "Two-Trip" Law
2/18/03 - Bush Strangles Efforts to Combat HIV/AIDS, Gender Violence and Maternal Mortality by Expanding the Global Gag Rule
2/18/03 - Prison Inmate Forced to Carry Pregnancy to Term Files an Appeal
2/13/03 - Unconstitutional Abortion Ban Introduced in US House
2/13/03-SC Doctors Ask US Supreme Court to Protect Private Medical Information
2/12/03 - Over The Counter Emergency Contraception Still Stalled Before Bush Administration FDA
2/6/03 - Slovak Government Officials Retaliate Against Romani Women and Legal Advocates for Exposing Human Rights Violations
2/4/03 - Rights Groups Target Maternal Death in Mali
1/28/03 - Romani Women Subject to Forced Sterilization in Slovakia
1/22/03 - Statement on Roe V. Wade’s 30th Anniversary
1/18/03 - War on Women's Reproductive Rights Detailed
1/15/03 - CRLP becomes the Center for Reproductive Rights
1/15/03 - Nancy Northup Begins Leadership as President of Center for Reproductive Rights
1/10/03 - Alaska’s Parental Consent Law Challenged in Superior Court
1/8/03 - 'Choose Life' License Plate Case Revived in Louisiana
1/2/03 - Texas Supreme Court Denies Funding for Medically Necessary Abortions
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Center Praises FDA Panels’ Recommendations to Make Emergency Contraception Over-The-Counter
December 18, 2003 |New York | Learn More

Statement by Nancy Northup, President

"This week, we moved one step closer to reducing the number of unwanted pregnancies in this country. By an overwhelming vote, two Food and Drug Administration advisory bodies strongly recommended that emergency contraception – a safe and effective way to prevent pregnancy – be made available over-the-counter.

More than 7000 unintended pregnancies occur every day, and up to half of these could be prevented if women had ready access to emergency contraception. Making emergency contraception available without a prescription would also significantly reduce the number of abortions in this country each year.

In 2001, the Center for Reproductive Rights petitioned the FDA on behalf of 76 organizations to switch the status of emergency contraception from prescription to over-the-counter.

We applaud the committees’ support and urge FDA commissioner Dr. Mark B. McClellan to approve the recommendations as soon as possible. Making emergency contraception accessible would be an enormous step forward for women’s rights and health."