1.1                             A resolution
  1.2             urging the Food and Drug Administration to approve 
  1.3             emergency contraceptive pills for over-the-counter 
  1.4             purchase. 
  1.5      
  1.6      WHEREAS, almost 50 percent of all pregnancies in this 
  1.7   country are unintended and more than half of all unintended 
  1.8   pregnancies end in abortion; and 
  1.9      WHEREAS, over half of the unintended pregnancies in the 
  1.10  United States happen among women who are using a regular method 
  1.11  of contraception; and 
  1.12     WHEREAS, emergency contraceptive pills (ECPs) can reduce a 
  1.13  woman's chance of becoming pregnant; and 
  1.14     WHEREAS, ECPs do not cause abortion; and 
  1.15     WHEREAS, women are more likely to use emergency 
  1.16  contraception as a backup method if they have it readily 
  1.17  available; and 
  1.18     WHEREAS, the Food and Drug Administration has found ECPs to 
  1.19  be a safe, reliable form of backup birth control; NOW, 
  1.20  THEREFORE, 
  1.21     BE IT RESOLVED by the Legislature of the State of Minnesota 
  1.22  that it urges the Food and Drug Administration to approve ECPs 
  1.23  for over-the-counter purchase. 
  1.24     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Secretary of State of the 
  1.25  State of Minnesota is directed to prepare copies of this 
  2.1   memorial and transmit them to the President of the United 
  2.2   States, the Food and Drug Administration, and Minnesota's 
  2.3   Senators and Representatives in Congress.