New Hampshire Governor Craig Benson (R) on Monday vetoed a bill that would have allowed women to obtain emergency contraception directly from pharmacists. The bill would only have allowed emergency contraception (EC) to be accessible from pharmacists for women whose doctors agreed to the arrangement in advance, according to the Nashua Telegraph. State Sen. Lou D’Allesandro (D-Manchester), the chief sponsor of the bill, said that providing this access could reduce the number of young women forced to choose between having an abortion or having an unwanted pregnancy, the Telegraph reports. New Hampshire’s legislature will convene on June 17 to address all of the Governor’s vetoes. Though neither the state House nor the Senate passed the bill with the two-thirds necessary to override a veto, lawmakers supportive of reproductive rights have vowed to launch a drive in support of the bill, the Associated Press reports. The Food and Drug Administration last month rejected Barr Laboratories’ application for over-the-counter status for its emergency contraceptive Plan B, despite the fact that FDA’s own expert advisory committees recommended 23-4 to approve over-the-counter status for Plan B. The FDA had been under intense pressure from right-wing groups and anti-reproductive rights members of Congress to reject approval. The Feminist Majority Foundation leads a national drive on college campuses to increase the availability of EC for young women. TAKE ACTION Tell the FDA that you are outraged it has placed politics over science at the expense of women’s health LEARN MORE about the Feminist Majority Foundation’s campaign to expand access to EC on college campuses DONATE to support FMF’s work to win over-the-counter status for emergency contraception
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