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FDA Nominee Defends Actions on Morning-After Pill

Sen. Hillary Clinton (D-NY), listens to Andrew von Eschenbach testify on Capitol Hill Tuesday.
Win McNamee/Getty Images
Sen. Hillary Clinton (D-NY), listens to Andrew von Eschenbach testify on Capitol Hill Tuesday.

Andrew von Eschenbach, President Bush's nominee to head the Food and Drug Administration, finally got his chance to make his case before a Senate committee.

But his fate is now wrapped up in a fight over whether to approve over-the-counter access to the so-called morning-after birth-control pill -- as well as broader questions about the intersection of science and politics.

Copyright 2023 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org.

Julie Rovner is a health policy correspondent for NPR specializing in the politics of health care.Reporting on all aspects of health policy and politics, Rovner covers the White House, Capitol Hill, the Department of Health and Human Services in addition to issues around the country. She served as NPR's lead correspondent covering the passage and implementation of the 2010 health overhaul bill, the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act.