Less than one month after the landmark Tummino v. Hamburg decision in which a federal court ruled that emergency contraception (known as Plan B) should be made available to all women without a prescription, Justice Department attorneys have announced that they will file to overturn that decision. The Obama administration is once again playing political football with women’s right to control our bodies and our health.

Shortly after the court’s ruling, the FDA announced it would make Plan B available over the counter without a prescription, but only to women over the age of 15. All women who purchase Plan B will be required to provide identification – yet another unnecessary restriction on women’s right to healthcare.

There are many ways in which this arbitrary, unnecessary age restriction would hinder women’s right to access safe, effective contraception. Many young women do not have such identification. This restriction unfairly blocks access for undocumented women and all women who do not wish to give their identification to pharmacy employees. Young women face enough shame and difficulty in accessing contraception and reproductive healthcare without additional arbitrary barriers set up at the whim of the Obama administration.

Opposition to making emergency contraception available over the counter has never been based in fact; it has always been based in sexist, right-wing political arguments. These arguments fly in the face of science and cannot be the legal basis for denying millions of women the most basic of rights -- the right to determine when or if we have a child. The federal court’s ruling was clear: there is no medical or legal justification whatsoever for restricting access to emergency contraception. This has been the case for decades. Study after study has confirmed that access to emergency contraception poses no medical threat to women.

Why is Obama doing this? The President is happy to appear before women’s groups and receive standing ovations, but he is offering up women’s most basic rights in exchange for praise from right-wing conservatives. Over the last ten years, both this administration and the previous administration have intervened to prevent access to emergency contraception to untold numbers of women who need it.

It’s interesting to note that on April 26, Obama received widespread publicity for becoming the first sitting president to address Planned Parenthood’s national conference. In his speech that night, Obama reassured that organization and women across the country that “You’ve got a President who’s going to be right there with you,” in the fight for reproductive rights. He said, "When it comes to a woman's health, no politician should get to decide what's best for you." If that is true, why then is the Obama-controlled Justice Department seeking to reverse a ruling that affirms our right to access to contraception? 

Send a letter to President Obama now using our quick online tool. It only takes one minute. Demand access to the morning-after pill for all women, over the counter and without restriction!