I know Goldy mentioned it in Morning News, but it feels like the news that emergency contraception will soon be available over the counter without age restrictions deserves its own celebration.

From the New York Times:

A federal judge ruled Friday that the government must make the most common morning-after pill available over the counter for all ages, instead of requiring a prescription for girls 16 and younger. In his ruling, he also accused the federal government of “bad faith” in dealing with the requests to make the pill universally available, and said its actions had been politically motivated.

Says Senator Patty Murray:

Today’s ruling highlights the importance of Food and Drug Administration regulations being based on science, not politics. As numerous medical societies and patient advocates have argued, improved access to birth control, including emergency contraception, has been proven to benefit a woman’s personal, economic and social health and stability. Increasing access to obtain a safe and effective product they may need to prevent an unintended pregnancy is an essential part of basic health care.

You’re goddamn right, judge and senator. The 2011 decision by Health and Human Services secretary Kathleen Sebelius to overrule the FDA’s recommendation on the safety and regulation of a medicine was a fucking embarrassment. It was backhanded political bullshit and it had really serious implications: A drug that has been proven safe for all ages and loses efficacy by the day should not be made more difficult to acquire for people who really need it—young teenagers who just had unprotected sex (for any of a variety of reasons) and don’t want to be pregnant. The judge today called the government’s continued refusal to lift restrictions on the drug “arbitrary, capricious, and unreasonable.”

Did you ever have to acquire Plan B as a teenager and find it confusing, difficult, and embarrassing? Ever buy it for a terrified younger friend who didn’t know how to navigate the health-care system alone? Thanks to this ruling, those days may be over. Finally. Unless the DOJ decides to appeal. Also, let’s recall that it’s not always easy to get ahold of emergency contraception even if you can find a pharmacy that carries it. NARAL Pro-Choice Washington has a handy map of pharmacies that dispense it and ones who’ve said they may not, usually on moral/religious grounds. Still, a celebration is in order.