Senator Clinton Led Drive to Make Pill Available Over-the-Counter

Contact: Jill S. Farrell, Director of Public Affairs, Judicial Watch, 202-646-5188, 703-405-8905 cell; Director Bios: www.judicialwatch.org/dirbios.shtml

WASHINGTON, Mar. 27 /Standard Newswire/ --  Judicial Watch, the public interest group that investigates and prosecutes government corruption, announced today that it has filed a new open records lawsuit against the United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA) (1:07-cv-00561) regarding Hillary Clinton and the drive to make the "emergency contraceptive pill," commonly known as "morning after pill," available over-the-counter.  The lawsuit, filed on March 21, 2007 in the United States District Court for the District of Columbia, asks the court to compel the FDA to comply with Judicial Watch's August 22, 2006 Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request seeking communications between the FDA and Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton (D-NY) regarding ".75 levonorgestrel," also called "Plan B."

Judicial Watch filed the original FOIA request in August 2006 after Senator Clinton threatened to block the July 2006 nomination of Dr. Andrew von Eschenbach to head the FDA until the agency made Plan B contraceptives available without a prescription.  The FDA approved Plan B for over-the-counter use on August 24, 2006, and Dr. von Eschenbach was confirmed in December 2006.

"The FDA's decision to approve Plan B seemed more about politics than science, especially given the role of Hillary Clinton in the process," said Judicial Watch President Tom Fitton.  "This was a simple request for documents and the FDA's delay in producing them is curious."

While proponents of the "morning after pill" claim it is a means of birth control without causing an abortion, in some cases the drug can act as an abortifacient by preventing an already fertilized egg from attaching to the uterine wall.  Moreover, serious side effects and health complications have also been associated with ingesting oral contraceptives such as the "morning after pill," which includes multiple doses of hormones.

In 2001, Judicial Watch filed a lawsuit against the FDA related to the hasty approval of the dangerous abortion drug RU-486.  In response, the FDA released thousands of documents showing serious health complications resulting from the use of the drug.

Moreover, Judicial Watch has released several special reports about the Clinton abortion agenda based on previously confidential records uncovered from the Clinton Presidential Library in Little Rock Arkansas.  The first, "The Clinton RU-486 Files" details the drive to bring RU-486 – which has been linked to the deaths of at least six women – to market in the United States.  The second, "New Clinton White House Records Raise Disturbing Questions about Hillary Clinton and Abortion" provides new documentary evidence of Hillary Clinton's central role in shaping pro-abortion policies in the Clinton White House.

To read Judicial Watch's lawsuits against the FDA, or any of the Special Reports regarding the Clinton abortion agenda, please visit www.judicialwatch.org.