Plan B: the George & Hillary plan.

Right-to-life leaders have been expressing shock, outrage, and dismay over President George Bush's August 21 announcement of support for making "Plan B," the morning-after abortion pill, available over the counter, no prescription needed. The outrage and dismay are in order, the shock is not; the Bush administration has been cynically calculating the political costs and negotiating this issue with the Hillary Clinton-Planned Parenthood forces and Barr Pharmaceuticals, Inc. since 2004.

In June 2004, Rep. Jim Greenwood, a pro-abortion Republican from Pennsylvania, excitedly announced that the Bush administration was likely to flip-flop on the issue and make Plan B available over the counter (OTC). Greenwood had just met with top Food and Drug Administration official Steven Galson and was confident the reversal was imminent. But 2004 was an election year and President Bush had already alienated much of his badly needed conservative base with liberal-left policies that out-Clintoned Clinton, especially on immigration, trade, and runaway government spending. Betraying his conservative, pro-life base would have to wait until after the election.

Hillary was not very understanding of George's predicament; she and Sen. Patty Murray (D-Wash.), a fellow pro-abortionist, announced that they would refuse to confirm President Bush's nominee to head the FDA, Andrew von Eschenbach, until the Plan B pill was approved. At a press conference on August 21, President Bush was asked about Eschenbach's OTC approval for Plan B. "I support Andy's decision," he said.

Following the typical Bush modus operandi (as scripted by Karl Rove and company) the president aimed at changing the terms of debate on the issue. "I believe that Plan B ... ought to require a prescription for minors. That's what I believe." Now the debate is supposed to shift away from opposing as immoral all efforts to kill innocent life. Instead, we are now supposed to argue over what age is appropriate for children who are fornicating to be able to walk into a convenience store and buy a powerful morning-after pill that will abort the consequences of their activities. Under the current Bush-Eschenbach decision, kids under age 18 will still need a prescription. But Eschenbach's predecessor, Dr. Lester Crawford, leaned toward a 17-year-old age limit. Hillary has mentioned availability for 16-year-olds. Barr Pharmaceuticals, Plan B's manufacturer, and many in the "abortion rights" camp want to see all age restrictions removed.

Is there any doubt that the Bush Plan B decision will lead in the direction of younger and younger age limits and, ultimately, the removal of age restrictions altogether? Is this how the grocery store candy counter will look in the near future: Snickers, bubble gum, condoms, and Plan B?

The Bush-Eschenbach decision has been greeted with elation by the abortion lobby. Planned Parenthood President Cecile Richards called the approval "great progress."

Progress? Yes, for Planned Parenthood and all others who celebrate the extermination of the unborn. The fact is that Plan B has been fraudulently packaged as "emergency contraception," when it often acts as an abortifacient. That is, it acts to kill the embryo after conception. Making Plan B more easily available will undoubtedly increase the already horrendous abortion toll in America. That is bad enough, but medical and policy experts point out that there are other harmful consequences to unleashing Plan B, such as:

* Side effects. The repeated use of Plan B presents serious health risks to women and even greater dangers to children who use it, risks such as massive hemorrhaging and ectopic pregnancy.

* Death. President Bill Clinton approved the prescription abortion pill, RU-486, which has been killing mothers at 10 times the rate that surgical abortion does. Plan B's death toll for mothers, including young teens, will likely be even higher.

* Disease. Plan B's false promise of freedom will be taken by many as a prescription for promiscuity, worsening the already rampant epidemic of sexually transmitted diseases among American youth.

All of this from a "conservative, pro-life" president.