A federal judge has upheld his prior ruling that the so-called "morning-after" emergency contraceptive pill should be available to women and girls of all ages --- while accusing the Obama Administration of attempting to keep the medication age-restricted with "frivolous" and "silly" arguments.
Judge Edward R. Korman of the United States District Court in New York's Eastern District, who last month ordered the drug be made widely available without a prescription, said on Friday raw politics, not scientific evidence, was behind efforts by Kathleen Sebelius, secretary of health and human services, to block easier distribution to young girls, reported the New York Times.
"If a stay is granted, it will allow the bad-faith, politically motivated decision of Secretary Sebelius, who lacks any medical or scientific expertise, to prevail - thus justifiably undermining the public's confidence in the drug approval process," Korman wrote, as he denied the request by government lawyers to suspend his ruling while they appeal.
Officials at the Justice Department and Department of Health and Human Services declined to comment about Korman's ruling to the New York Times, citing the continuing legal case.
In Friday's ruling, Korman said that the government's appeal of his order was nothing more than an attempt to "vindicate the improper conduct of the secretary."
In 2011, Sebelius overruled a decision by the Food and Drug Administration to allow the drug to be sold without a prescription to anyone, instead requiring that the drug be kept behind the counter at pharmacies and sold without a prescription only to women 17 and older.
Then Last week, the FDA approved a modification in the restrictions that would allow women and girls 15 and up to buy the drug without a prescription.
Korman responded to the FDA change by asserting it was politically motivated and intended to "sugarcoat" the government's appeal, reported the Times.
Andrea Costello, a lawyer for the Partnership for Civil Justice Fund and counsel to plaintiffs in the case before Korman, agreed with the judge, saying that "this is politics at its worst and the administration should be ashamed of its duplicitous conduct."
Korman postponed the enforcement of his order until Monday to allow lawyers for the Justice Department to take their request for a delay to the court of appeals.
If the government ends up failing to suspend Korman's order, the path would be cleared for over-the-counter sales of the morning-after pill to very young girls
Korman's rulings have been filled with stinging rebukes of Sebelius and the administration's legal efforts to defend her decision.
The judge has repeatedly accused the government of operating in bad faith and said the process of denying wider distribution of the drug had been "corrupted by political interference" for years.
He added that he did not think ordering Sebelius or the FDA to reconsider their stances would make any difference.
"The cause of the rejection of over-the-counter sale of levonorgestrel-based emergency contraceptives was the secretary of health and human services," Korman wrote. "She has not changed her position. A remand would thus be futile. More significantly, I have been there and done that."
At one point in his ruling, Korman observed that lawyers for the administration insist allowing over-the-counter access to the drug for everyone while the government appeals the case would mean "uncertainty" for girls and women about whether they could buy the drug or not.
The judge rejected that argument summarily and also faulted the government's argument that women might be confused about the drug's availability if it fist were made available to everyone without a prescription and then later restricted because the government won its appeal.
That argument, said Korman, is "largely an insult to the intelligence of women."