by Amanda Terkel at Huffington Post
First Posted: 12/13/11 02:57 PM ET Updated: 12/13/11 02:58 PM ET
WASHINGTON — Fourteen Democratic senators, led by Sen. Patty Murray (D-Wash.), sent the Obama administration a letter on Tuesday asking for the scientific basis behind its decision to limit access to emergency contraception.
Last week, Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Kathleen Sebelius rejected the Food and Drug Administration’s conclusion that the Plan B One-Step pill was safe enough to be placed on pharmacy shelves without an age limit. The decision raised eyebrows because HHS has never before overruled the FDA on a drug recommendation. Many reproductive rights groups openly questioned whether the Obama administration was putting electoral politics above sound science ahead of next year’s election.
“We are writing to express our disappointment with your December 7, 2011 decision to block the Food and Drug Administration’s (FDA) recommendation to make Plan B One-Step available over-the-counter,” wrote the senators in their letter to Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Kathleen Sebelius. “We feel strongly that FDA regulations should be based on science. We write to you today to ask that you provide us with the rationale for this decision.”
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