On March 26, WORD NYC members joined an action initiated by National Women’s Liberation to demand unrestricted, over-the-counter access to the Morning-After Pill through direct action at a pharmacy in New York City.

In the early evening, activists entered the pharmacy, and NWL led the group in chants such as “Out of the shadows and over the counter!” Participants placed boxes of the Morning-After Pill where they belong: on pharmacy shelves, accessible to all.

This action comes at a crucial moment in the struggle for reproductive rights. A decision is imminent in Tummino v Hamburg, a lawsuit brought by grassroots feminist activists with National Women’s Liberation (NWL) and 15-year-old Anaya Kelly against the Food and Drug Administration and Health and Human Services that is currently awaiting a ruling from the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York.

The plaintiffs in the case are calling for an end to restrictions on access to the Morning-After Pill—restrictions such as age limits and ID requirements that make it difficult and many times impossible for women across the country to use this key form of emergency contraception. Restricting the ability of women to make their own decisions about their bodies is unacceptable.

More information about the lawsuit can be found on the website of the Partnership for Civil Justice Fund, the attorneys for the plaintiffs. 

WORD demands the wide availability of the Morning-After Pill and challenges these efforts to limit our access to reproductive healthcare. We won’t go back! We will fight back!

Video issued by National Women's Liberation

For more info, contact WORD NYC at [email protected] or 347-292-WORD (9673).