Hector Duarte Jr. - All Headline News Staff Reporter

In a letter to acting FDA Commissioner Dr. Andrew von Eschenbach, the members of Congress practically accuse the agency of earlier postponing a ruling because of politics

By month's end, federal health officials hope to decide whether women will be allowed to buy emergency contraception without a prescription.

The debate centers around the option of selling the pills over-the-counter, or implementing an age check, similiar to the requirements for alcohol and cigarettes

A group of pediatricians says teens need education on, and access to, birth control and emergency contraception, as opposed to the abstinence-only system preached by religious groups and conservative political leaders.

These recommendations come as part of the American Academy of Pediatrics' updated policy on teen pregnancy

new bill bassed by the State Assembly, Thursday, could make Wisconsin the first state to ban the distribution of the morning-after pill on state college campuses. If it continues to approval by the state Senate, the restriction will be the first of its kind in the U.S.

The Associated Press reported the Assembly Bill 343, titled the UW Birth Control Ban, was passed by the lower chamber in a 49-41 vote

The Today Sponge contraceptive, pulled from the market a decade ago, will soon be back in U.S. stores after receiving FDA approval. Friday, the Food and Drug Administration approved U.S. sales of the sponge, which was a popular nonprescription birth control product among women when it was withdrawn from the market in 1995. Now the polyurethane sponges, which manufacturer Allendale Pharmaceuticals has sold in Canada and over the Internet since March 2003, will be available soon in the U.S. through a company Web site. Shortly after that, the product will be available at retail drug chains, followed by supermarkets and mass marketers such as Wal-Mart, Allendale said. Allendale bought rights to sell the Today Sponge several years ago from the prior manufacturer, Wyeth Co. of Madison. Wyeth, then called American Home Products. They stopped making the sponge rather than upgrade its Hammonton manufacturing plant after FDA found deficiencies there, even though the device's effectiveness and safety were never questioned. The Today Sponge, a soft, concave device, prevents pregnancy by covering the cervix and releasing spermicide. Roughly 250 million sponges were sold from 1983 to 1995. While it was less effective than several other methods and does not protect against sexually transmitted diseases, the sponge achieved a wide following among women who saw advantages from spontaneity to wide availability. In Canada, where the original Today Sponge was only on the market about 18 months, more than 400,000 sponges have been sold through retail outlets and Internet sites - without any advertising - since they were approved for sale there two years ago. An advertising campaign for the U.S. market is being developed. Sales are expected to jump from 10 million to 15 million sponges in the first 12 months. That's the current production limit of the company's factory in Norwich, N.Y., but the company has plans to double that