The Nonprescription Drugs Advisory Committee and the Advisory Committee for Reproductive Health Drugs voted December 16 to approve a proposal to make Plan B, a levonorgestrel-only "morning after pill," available without a prescription. The final decision rests with the Food and Drug Administration. The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) filed written comments against the proposal. Cathy Cleaver Ruse, Director of Planning and Information for the USCCB Secretariat for Pro-Life Activities, said, "A drug which destroys human embryos and puts women at greater risk of ectopic pregnancy does not belong on the shelves of a drug store," Ruse said. "American women and children do not deserve this reckless experiment on their lives." The petition for the switch in status was filed by Women's Capital Corporation, a for-profit drug company which has sold the Plan B distribution rights to Barr Laboratories. "This is about a drug company that wants to sell more drugs to women," said Ruse. "It is being marketed and advertised as a contraceptive, but it works before and after conception. Women deserve to know what is being marketed to them." The USCCB comments against the proposal may be read in their entirety at www.usccb.org/ogc/ec-fda.htm.

A global commitment to peacemaking must include serious, coordinate efforts to feed the poor, Pope John Paul II told government representatives from around the world. The pope met December 5 at the Vatican with 400 diplomats and government employees in Rome for the annual conference of the U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization. FAO’s efforts to feed the hungry, improve food production and distribution and protect the environment are more necessary than ever, the pope said. "Hunger and malnutrition, aggravated by growing poverty, represent a grave threat to the peaceful coexistence of peoples and nations." Because of the close relationship between hunger and conflict, economic and political decisions "must increasingly be guided by a commitment to global solidarity and respect for fundamental human rights, including the right to adequate nourishment," he said.