It isn’t very often that we find ourselves saddened when a member of the Trump administration decides to resign. But when FDA Commissioner Scott Gottlieb leaves his position, it could spell disaster for progressives — especially those who support reproductive rights.
Unlike many of the government officials serving President Donald Trump, Gottlieb — while by no means a moderate — wasn’t totally unqualified for his job. And, even more importantly, he didn’t appear to be using his office to push forward the policies most important to zealous religious groups or letting his own personal dogma influence his work.
In a Department of Health and Human Services full of far-right social conservative bigwigs, Gottlieb was surprisingly more interested in public health than pushing Christian dominionist ideology.
Unfortunately, that means that with his departure, President Trump now has the opportunity to put another evangelical or Catholic die-hard in a key decision-making position — and that’s an alarming turn of events for those who want abortion, or even contraception, to be easily accessible in the United States.
The FDA is responsible for a number of contraceptive- and abortion-related decisions, ranging from how medication abortion is provided to whether hormonal birth control and emergency contraception should be available over the counter.
It was only in 2013 that the FDA first allowed Plan B One Step – an emergency contraceptive that would prevent ovulation if taken within 72 hours after having unprotected sex — to be obtained over the counter, without a prescription and with no age limit. At least one of the possible new FDA commissioner contenders opposed the idea — and depending on who takes over, there could be a push to reevaluate that decision.
In fact, the FDA has an overwhelming amount of influence when it comes to deciding what sort…