There is a new French “morning after” pill, an emergency contraceptive. The company wants to market the pill in the U.S. It has much in common with the RU-486, an “abortion pill.”

Plan B is the name of the American morning after pill, which has caused controversy linked to the abortion issue.

The Obama administration will have an opportunity to practice what it has preached:  Ideology and science should be separate.

Centuries ago, scientists and the Catholic church fought over many issues related to medicine.

Science won.

We shall see how it fares in a new century.

The Washington Post

“A French drug company is seeking to offer American women something their European counterparts already have: a pill that works long after “the morning after.”

“The drug, dubbed ella, would be sold as a contraceptive — one that could prevent pregnancy for as many as five days after unprotected sex. But the new drug is a close chemical relative of the abortion pill RU-486, raising the possibility that it could also induce abortion by making the womb inhospitable for an embryo.

“The controversy sparked by that ambiguity promises to overshadow the work of a federal panel that will convene next week to consider endorsing the drug. The last time the Food and Drug Administration vetted an emergency contraceptive — Plan B, the so-called morning-after pill — the decision was mired in debate over such fundamental questions as when life begins and the distinction between preventing and terminating a pregnancy. Ella is raising many of those same politically charged questions — but more sharply, testing the Obama administration’s pledge to keep ideology from influencing scientific decisions.”

Source: Washington Post, June 12, 2010