WASHINGTON, Aug 21 - President George W. Bush said on Monday he supports restricting access to emergency contraception for minors, as regulators weigh wider access to the "morning-after" pill.
Bush's comment was his first direct public statement on the politically charged issue that has delayed a Senate confirmation vote on his nominee to head the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, Andrew von Eschenbach.
While he did not specifically support wider access to the drug, Bush said he backed von Eschenbach, who as acting FDA commissioner has supported nonprescription emergency contraception sales for adults, earning him the opposition of some conservatives.
"I believe that Plan B ... ought to require a prescription for minors. That's what I believe," Bush said at a news conference.
Barr Pharmaceutical's has been unsuccessful in two attempts to win government approval to sell its Plan B drug more widely without a prescription. Its first application in 2003 covered women of all ages but was rejected. The second was limited to women 16 and older. The FDA postponed a decision.
The company on Friday said it filed a revised application but no details were released. The FDA is expected to act soon.
Von Eschenbach's nomination to the permanent job of commissioner has been held up for months by Democrats who assert that the decision on Plan B has been delayed for political reasons.
In July, Von Eschenbach said Plan B could be used safely and effectively for women 18 and older as long as younger people could not buy it without a doctor's note.
Plan B, approved as a prescription in 1999, is a set of two high-dose hormone pills that can prevent pregnancy if taken within 72 hours of sexual intercourse.
Supporters, including Planned Parenthood and the American Medical Association, say easing access will lead to fewer abortions, while opponents argue it will spur promiscuity.
"If the president's comments are an indication ... that they're final going to move on this, this would be great progress," said Planned Parenthood President Cecile Richards.
Von Eschenbach and two previous commissioners said they were not directed by the White House on the issue.
But the Family Research Council and other conservative groups which normally support Bush are opposing the nomination because von Eschenbach is moving forward on Plan B, as well as allowing the abortion pill RU-486 to remain on the market.
"Dr. von Eschenbach has shown a history of ignoring any concern for women's health in exchange for political expediency," the group's vice president for government affairs, Tom McClusky, said in a statement earlier this month.
Abortion opponents also object to Plan B because some research suggests it may prevent a fertilized egg from attaching to the womb. The FDA says Plan B works mainly by blocking the release of an egg from an ovary. The drug also may prevent an egg and sperm from uniting.
It works differently from RU-486, which blocks a hormone that keeps a fertilized egg implanted in the uterus.
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