SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Science Over Politics 
Act’’. 
SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 
The Congress finds as follows: 
(1) Emergency contraceptive pills (‘‘ECPs’’) are 
approved for use by the Food and Drug Administra-
tion (‘‘FDA’’). 
(2) Emergency contraceptive pills are a con-
centrated dosage of ordinary birth control pills that 
can dramatically reduce a woman’s chance of becom-
ing pregnant. 
(3) If ECPs are taken within 72 hours of con-
traceptive failure or unprotected sex, ECPs can re-
duce a woman’s risk of pregnancy by up to 89 per-
cent. 
(4) Emergency contraceptive pills do not cause 
abortion but rather prevent pregnancy by inhibiting 
ovulation, fertilization, or implantation before a 
pregnancy occurs. 
(5) Emergency contraception cannot interrupt 
or disrupt an established pregnancy. 
(6) Increased use of ECPs could reduce the 
number of unintended pregnancies and abortions by 
half.
(7) A 2002 study revealed that ECP use was 
likely responsible for up to 43 percent of the decline 
in abortions between 1994 and 2000, with ECP use 
preventing over 50,000 abortions in 2000 alone. 
(8) Over-the-counter sales of ECPs would be 
particularly beneficial for sexual assault victims as 
approximately 25,000 women per year in the United 
States become pregnant as a result of rape. An esti-
mated 22,000 of these pregnancies, 88 percent, 
could be prevented if sexual assault victims had 
timely access to emergency contraception. 
(9) More than 70 organizations, including the 
American Nurses Association, the American College 
of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, the American 
Academy of Pediatrics, the American Medical Asso-
ciation, the American Public Health Association, and 
the Association of Reproductive Health Profes-
sionals, support over-the-counter access to ECPs. 
(10) On April 21, 2003, product manufacturers 
Women’s Capital Corporation submitted an applica-
tion to the Food and Drug Administration request-
ing to switch the emergency contraceptive Plan B 
from prescription-only to over-the-counter (‘‘OTC’’) 
status.
(11) ECPs meet all the customary FDA criteria 
for over-the-counter status in that they are safe and 
effective, are not associated with any serious or 
harmful side-effects, are easily self-administered, 
and require no need for medical supervision. More-
over, ECPs are not harmful to an existing preg-
nancy and their use does not lead to riskier behavior 
or less frequent use of other forms of contraception, 
has no potential for overdose or addiction, is not 
harmful to an existing pregnancy, is easily self-ad-
ministered, and requires no need for medical screen-
ing. 
(12) FDA staff and experts appointed to the 
advisory committees considered volumes of evidence 
showing that making Plan B available over-the- 
counter was safe and effective for women of all re-
productive age. 
(13) On December 16, 2003, a joint panel of 
the FDA’s Reproductive Health Drugs Advisory 
Committee and Non-Prescription Drugs Advisory 
Committee voted 28–0 that Plan B could be safely 
sold as an over-the-counter medication. 
(14) On December 16, 2003, a joint panel of 
the FDA’s Reproductive Health Drugs Advisory 
Committee and Non-prescription Drugs Advisory
Committee voted 23–4 to recommend that the FDA 
approve the application to make Plan B available 
over-the-counter for women of all ages. 
(15) The FDA’s rejection of over-the-counter 
status for Plan B on May 6, 2004, directly contra-
dicted the overwhelming weight of scientific evi-
dence. 
(16) The limited options offered by the FDA 
for future consideration of over-the-counter sale of 
Plan B are not warranted by the volumes of existing 
evidence and run counter to the advice of the FDA’s 
independent experts, staff, and precedent. 
(17) Evidence suggests that the FDA’s decision 
resulted from an unprecedented political takeover of 
what is supposed to be an independent scientific re-
view. 
SEC. 3. FDA DENIAL OF OTC STATUS FOR EMERGENCY- 
CONTRACEPTIVE DRUG PLAN B; REVIEW BY 
COMMISSIONER OF FOOD AND DRUGS. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 30 days after the 
date of the enactment of this Act, the Commissioner of 
Food and Drugs shall— 
(1) review the decision of the Food and Drug 
Administration not to approve the supplemental ap-
plication submitted under section 505(b) of the Fed-
eral Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act to obtain ap-
proval for the commercial distribution of the drug 
Plan B (levonorgestrel in 0.75 mg. tablet form) as 
a drug that is not subject to the requirements of sec-
tion 503(b)(1) of such Act (commonly known as an 
over-the-counter, or OTC, drug); and 
(2) affirm, under penalty of law, that such deci-
sion— 
(A) was not politically influenced; 
(B) was based on sound science; and 
(C) conformed to precedents and proce-
dures of the Food and Drug Administration. 
(b) PUBLICATION IN FEDERAL REGISTER.—The af-
firmation under subsection (a) shall be made through a 
statement published in the Federal Register. 
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