While other political groups are just telling their followers how to help the Red Cross or other relief charities, Planned Parenthood interim leader Karen Pearl is exploiting the hurricane for a lobbying effort against the FDA for deferring approval for “emergency contraception”:
This deferment comes at a particularly poignant time. As Hurricane Katrina ripped through the southeastern United States, Planned Parenthood was there to offer one free month of birth control or one free emergency contraception kit to women from Louisiana and Mississippi. In past disasters, we know there has been an increased demand for EC. Since the FDA says it wants to hear from the public before making a ruling, let’s raise our voices to a volume that cannot be ignored and let them know that EC is an essential part of women’s health care.