Susan Wood, PhD, the top woman at the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), announced her resignation today because of the continued FDA delay on over-the-counter status for emergency contraception (EC). In a letter announcing her resignation, Wood, who was the Assistant Commissioner for Women’s Health and Director of the FDA Office of Women’s Health, wrote, “The recent decision announced by the Commissioner about emergency contraception, which continues to limit women’s access to a product that would reduce unintended pregnancies and reduce abortions is contrary to my core commitment to improving and advancing women’s health.”
“I have spent the last 15 years working to ensure that science informs good health policy decisions. I can no longer serve as staff when scientific and clinical evidence, fully evaluated and recommended for approval by the professional staff here, has been overruled,” Wood wrote.
“I am sad to see such a champion for women’s health leave the FDA, but I understand the frustration she must feel as the FDA is shockingly placing ideology and politics above science and medicine,” said Eleanor Smeal, president of the Feminist Majority Foundation. “The FDA’s stall tactics on EC are only harming women and increasing the need for abortions.”
DONATE to the Feminist Majority Foundation and support its work to increase access to EC
