HARRISONBURG, Va. (AP) — The James Madison University Board of Visitors has voted to resume dispensing the “morning after” birth control pill at the student health center.
The board had voted in April to stop on-campus distribution of emergency contraceptive pills after Delegate Robert Marshall, a Manassas Republican and pro-life advocate, wrote a letter to university President Linwood Rose.
However, Gov. Mark Warner, a Democrat, appointed successors to five board members whose terms expired at the end of June, giving supporters for dispensing the pill enough votes to reverse the April decision. Friday’s vote was 10-2, with one abstention.
The pill, which can be taken up to 72 hours after intercourse, inhibits ovulation, implantation and fertilization of a woman’s egg.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration classifies the pill as a contraceptive, but Mr. Marshall and other pro-life advocates consider it a form of nonsurgical abortion.
“It comes as no surprise that the governor’s self-picked political patrons have reversed a decision that was intended to protect the health of young women,” said Victoria Cobb, lobbyist for the Family Foundation, a pro-life group.
“Morning-after pills are used as an afterthought to reckless sexual behavior at a time when new life may already exist.”
Ben Greenberg, a lobbyist for Planned Parenthood Advocates of Virginia, praised the board’s action.
“Unlike the April decision, the Board of Visitors today affirmed science over political ideology,” he said.
“Those who oppose women’s access to emergency contraception are trying to blur the lines between birth control and abortion.
Instead, they should be supporting access to these safe and effective methods of birth control that prevent unintended pregnancies, and thus reduce the number of abortions performed,” Mr. Greenberg added.
Board member Stephen R. Leeolou said the decision on whether the medication is a contraceptive or a method of abortion is not for board members to make. The panel should regard the pill as a legally sanctioned drug, he said.
“This is an issue of law, and we should defer to the law and not try to interpret the law on behalf of students,” said Mr. Leeolou, whom Mr. Warner appointed to the board in June.a
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