A federal judge on Tuesday angrily accused the Obama administration of hurting poor and minority women by seeking to restrict their access to morning-after contraceptive pills.
Lawyers for the Justice Department appeared before Judge Edward R. Korman in an effort to delay his previous order that the drug be made available to girls of all ages without a prescription. The department announced last week that it planned to appeal the ruling.
Judge Korman, of United States District Court for the Eastern District of New York, said he would decide this week whether to freeze implementation of his order while the appeal proceeds. But for the second time in a month, he used his perch on the bench to lecture the Food and Drug Administration and President Obama for their efforts to restrict access to the drug by very young women.
“The poor, the young and African-Americans are going to be put in the position of not having access to this drug,†he said, according to The Associated Press.
Judge Korman said that the Justice Department lawyer was guilty of “intellectual dishonesty,†according to The A.P., and that the government’s effort to further delay implementation of his order with its appeal was “a charade.â€
In December 2011, Kathleen Sebelius, the secretary of health and human services, blocked a decision by the F.D.A. that would have allowed morning-after contraceptive pills to be distributed to young teenagers over the counter. She said there was not enough data to show that the drug would be safe for girls as young as 11 years old. Instead, over-the-counter access was limited to girls and women aged 17 or older.
In his ruling last month overturning Ms. Sebelius’s decision, Judge Korman was highly critical of the Obama administration, saying it had put politics over science and health. In that ruling, he called Ms. Sebelius’s action “politically motivated, scientifically unjustified and contrary to agency precedent.â€
Last week, the F.D.A. agreed to allow the sale of the drug to girls 15 and over, even as the administration sought to appeal Judge Korman’s earlier ruling.
Judge Korman said that move by the F.D.A. was an attempt to “sugarcoat this appeal of yours,†according to The A.P. He also suggested that the administration’s decision to appeal his ruling could have dire consequences for young women. When a Justice Department lawyer asserted that a delay of Judge Korman’s order was in the public interest, the judge replied, according to The A.P., “Is there a public interest in unwanted pregnancies … that can often result in abortions?â€
A spokeswoman for the Justice Department declined to comment on Judge Korman’s remarks.
Follow Michael D. Shear on Twitter at @shearm.
