It's the same old story...

Susan F. Wood was a top FDA official until she resigned to protest FDA's refusal to make the so-called "mornig after pill" available over-the-counter. She writes in the Washington Post:

Reps. Sam Farr (D-Calif.) and Rosa DeLauro (D-Conn.) questioned FDA acting commissioner Andrew C. von Eschenbach about the delay in approving the application to make Plan B emergency contraception available over the counter to women 17 and older. Von Eschenbach responded that the agency was carefully reviewing the thousands of comments received in response to last-minute concerns raised about the feasibility of making the same product available over the counter for most women but keeping it on prescription for young teens. This exchange confirmed my suspicion that, like his predecessor, von Eschenbach is unable or unwilling to let the science and the scientists guide FDA policy and decisions, and that the real answer as to whether the FDA will allow Plan B over the counter for those 17 and older is no [...]

One of the main questions I hear is, "Does this pill cause an abortion?" In fact, the only connection this pill has with abortion is that it has the potential to prevent the need for one. Emergency contraceptive pills work exactly the same way as other birth control pills, and they do not interfere with or harm an existing pregnancy. Emergency contraception is simply a higher dose of daily birth control pills; it is not RU-486, the "abortion pill." Indeed, emergency contraception has been used as a method to prevent unintended pregnancies for decades by women who had physicians advise them on how many pills in their regular pill pack to take. So people who are comfortable with oral contraceptives as methods of contraception should be just as comfortable with emergency contraception.

That's a particular aspect of the same story. This administration, Congress, the relevant bureaucracy is more interested in politics than it is in legitimate policy.

Let's get real. Some countries around the world are providing government grants and many resources for scientists to research stem cells, while the U.S. is arguing whether or not Darwin's theory of evolution should be taught, and if so, it should be classified with the Book of Genesis. Scientists around the world are warning about global warming, and this administration refuses to acknowledge it. *sigh* and the list just goes on and on...