The Food and Drug Administration decided not to approve Plan B, an emergency contraceptive, as an over-the-counter drug, which has led to tension within the FDA and has many questioning the role politics play in women's health.
The issue of emergency contraceptives has become controversial because it focuses on the abortion issue and the role politics plays in women's health.
"I think women's health has become a partisan issue," said Jen Smyers, director of the Women's Initiative at AU. "It's become much more political because people take women's health and relate it to abortion."
Some feel that emergency contraceptives are a form of chemical abortion.
"We believe it's a life, that there's some fertilization," said Jeremy Zook, president of AU Students for Life. "Anything that would take away a life is not right."
Emily Caponetti, president of Democratic Women and Friends of AU, said there is a misrepresentation about what Plan B actually does.
"It doesn't destroy an embryo," she said. "It just doesn't allow the fertilization of the sperm and the egg."
Plan B contains the same chemicals as regular birth control, but there are much higher levels of these chemicals which does not make it considered a routine contraceptive, according to the FDA's Web site.
"It's something that prevents abortion," Smyers said. "I think we can all agree, pro-choice and pro-life, anything that prevents abortion is a good thing."
One of the main concerns of the FDA was whether the drug would be available to minors. After receiving additional information from Barr Pharmaceuticals, the makers of Plan B who asked for it to receive over-the-counter status, the FDA ruled that the drug was not able to receive this status because there was no specific evidence showing the product would not be distributed to minors.
The advisory committee recommended approval, but the application was ultimately not approved, according to Susan Wood, former director of the FDA's Office of Women's Health.
Many believe that the debate over Plan B and the personal beliefs of Lester Crawford, the former FDA commissioner, concerning emergency contraceptives contributed to his resignation.
The controversy over Plan B also led to the resignation of Wood. Wood recently spoke to the Women and Politics Institute about the FDA ruling on the drug.
"As a scientist, I can only say the decision was not based on science or medical evidence," she said. "Many people have drawn conclusions on where the decision came from."
Wood also discussed the challenges facing the new FDA administration.
"The agency is in turmoil, and in looking to the future we have with the new commissioner, emergency contraception and the decision [about emergency contraception] sits as the first test of a new commissioner," she said.
Many students believe the government has overstepped its boundaries due to the role politics may have played in the FDA approval process.
"This is a resource that directly affects our lives," said Caponetti. "Never should we have our health, or choices about our health, dictated to us by our government."
The Student Health Center provides emergency contraceptives to any student who needs it and provides numbers of clinics to call when the health center is closed.
