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NYTimes Editorial
24 June 2005
In a heartening advance with national reverberations, the Republican-led New York State Senate approved a bill on Wednesday that will permit local pharmacists to dispense emergency contraceptives to women who do not have a prescription. The surprising 34-to-27 vote, which followed easy approval by the Democratic-led Assembly, catapults the issue to a noncommittal Gov. George Pataki. Mr. Pataki has no principled course but to sign it.
The measure is a necessary response to the ideological gridlock at the Food and Drug Administration. The F.D.A. is still stalling over granting all American women over-the-counter access to the morning-after contraceptive known as Plan B, a step overwhelmingly supported by the agency's advisory panels in 2003 and by the existing scientific evidence. Under the bill, participating New York pharmacists and registered nurses would be able to obtain blanket prescriptions from doctors that name no individual patient, and dispense the pills to women and girls of any age.
This was no small victory. The pills have been shown effective at preventing pregnancy if taken within 72 hours, and the time and expense of a medical visit, as well as the small number of private physicians who see patients on weekends, are major obstacles to their use.
Joseph Bruno, the Senate majority leader, deserves ample credit for breaking with his party to support the measure. So does Senator Nicholas Spano, a Westchester Republican who showed the virtue of competitive elections by actively championing the measure after winning re-election last November by just 18 votes.
In the throes of deciding whether to seek a fourth term or explore a run for the presidency, Mr. Pataki declines to say whether he intends to sign the bill. Such a tepid response from an ostensibly pro-choice moderate Republican is worrisome. Vetoing the bill might score points with his party's far right. But it would be an indefensible betrayal of his duty to the public and to New York women in particular.
24 June 2005
In a heartening advance with national reverberations, the Republican-led New York State Senate approved a bill on Wednesday that will permit local pharmacists to dispense emergency contraceptives to women who do not have a prescription. The surprising 34-to-27 vote, which followed easy approval by the Democratic-led Assembly, catapults the issue to a noncommittal Gov. George Pataki. Mr. Pataki has no principled course but to sign it.
The measure is a necessary response to the ideological gridlock at the Food and Drug Administration. The F.D.A. is still stalling over granting all American women over-the-counter access to the morning-after contraceptive known as Plan B, a step overwhelmingly supported by the agency's advisory panels in 2003 and by the existing scientific evidence. Under the bill, participating New York pharmacists and registered nurses would be able to obtain blanket prescriptions from doctors that name no individual patient, and dispense the pills to women and girls of any age.
This was no small victory. The pills have been shown effective at preventing pregnancy if taken within 72 hours, and the time and expense of a medical visit, as well as the small number of private physicians who see patients on weekends, are major obstacles to their use.
Joseph Bruno, the Senate majority leader, deserves ample credit for breaking with his party to support the measure. So does Senator Nicholas Spano, a Westchester Republican who showed the virtue of competitive elections by actively championing the measure after winning re-election last November by just 18 votes.
In the throes of deciding whether to seek a fourth term or explore a run for the presidency, Mr. Pataki declines to say whether he intends to sign the bill. Such a tepid response from an ostensibly pro-choice moderate Republican is worrisome. Vetoing the bill might score points with his party's far right. But it would be an indefensible betrayal of his duty to the public and to New York women in particular.
