Obama backs Sebelius stance on morning-after pill

http://www.contracostatimes.com/ci_19501691

President Barack Obama, who took office pledging to put science ahead of politics, averted a skirmish with conservatives in the nation's culture wars Thursday by endorsing his health secretary's decision to block over-the-counter sales of an after-sex contraceptive pill to girls younger than 17.

The administration action inevitably raised questions about whether politics was trump in this instance -- especially from disappointed supporters in the scientific and women's rights communities. Obama, who had criticized how his predecessor made decisions on issues like contraceptives, sought to dispel that idea in remarks to White House reporters.

"I did not get involved in the process," he quickly asserted.

Obama said the decision was made by his secretary of health and human services, Kathleen Sebelius. On Wednesday, in a rare move, she overruled the Food and Drug Administration, which had recommended that the morning-after pill Plan B One-Step is safe and should be sold without a prescription to people younger than 17, just as it is now to those who are 17 and older.