Group seeks to reopen case over access to Plan B

Feb 10 2012

Women's advocacy group seeks wider access to Plan B contraceptive, while study reports lowest teen pregnancy rate in decades.

Bloomberg: Plan B Contraceptive Access Limits Spur New U.S. Court Action Against FDA
A reproductive rights group asked a federal judge to reopen a lawsuit over access to the emergency contraceptive Plan B, claiming the Food and Drug Administration acted in "bad faith" when it placed restrictions on the drug. The Center for Reproductive Rights, in a filing today in federal court in Brooklyn, New York, said reopening its 2005 case was the most efficient way for the group to overturn the FDA's age restraints on the drug. The group urged the court to order the agency to make Plan B available within 30 days without a prescription or age restrictions (Schoenberg and Frier, 2/8).

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution: Teen Pregnancy Rate Hits 40-Year Low
The U.S. teen pregnancy rate has reached a 40-year low, a new study finds. The study, by the Guttmacher Institute, found that the pregnancy rate declined 42 percent from its peak in 1990, according to the study released Wednesday. The teen pregnancy rate in 2008 was 68 per 1,000 girls age 15-19, down from 117 per 1,000 in 1990. That means about 7 percent of girls in that age group became pregnant that year (Provano, 2/8).