BREAKING NEWS: Top Woman at FDA Resigns over EC Delay
Susan Wood, PhD, the top woman at the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), announced her resignation today because of the continued FDA delay on over-the-counter status for emergency contraception (EC). In a letter announcing her resignation, Wood, who was the Assistant Commissioner for Women’s Health and Director of the FDA Office of Women’s Health, wrote, “The recent decision announced by the Commissioner about emergency contraception, which continues to limit women's access to a product that would reduce unintended pregnancies and reduce abortions is contrary to my core commitment to improving and advancing women's health.”
“I have spent the last 15 years working to ensure that science informs good health policy decisions. I can no longer serve as staff when scientific and clinical evidence, fully evaluated and recommended for approval by the professional staff here, has been overruled,” Wood wrote.
“I am sad to see such a champion for women’s health leave the FDA, but I understand the frustration she must feel as the FDA is shockingly placing ideology and politics above science and medicine,” said Eleanor Smeal, president of the Feminist Majority Foundation. “The FDA’s stall tactics on EC are only harming women and increasing the need for abortions.”
6/18/2013 Supreme Court Strikes Down Proof of Citizenship Voter Requirements - On Monday, the United States Supreme Court struck down an Arizona law requiring voters to provide proof of citizenship before being allowed register to vote.
In an opinion written [PDF] by Justice Antonin Scalia, the Court ruled that the Arizona statute violated the National Voter Registration Act (NVRA, also known as the "Motor Voter Law") of 1993, which created a federal form that individuals can mail in to register to vote in federal elections. . . .
6/18/2013 Pakistani Women's University Bus, Hospital Bombed - A bus for a women's university in Pakistan and the hospital that treated victims from the blast were bombed on Saturday, killing 14 students and 24 others at the hospital.
The bus was transporting female students and teachers from Sardar Bahadur Khan Women's University in Quetta, located in the southwestern part of Pakistan. . . .
6/18/2013 Taliban Attack In Afghan Capital As NATO Transfers Power - Yesterday, NATO (North Atlantic Treaty Organization) transferred responsibility for the country's security forces to the Afghan government after a bomb blast targeting a political official left three civilians dead in Kabul. . . .
