FDA findings on contraceptives under TRO to be announced today

THE FOOD and Drug Administration (FDA) is set to release its resolution determining whether a number of contraceptives — including the subdermal implants Implanon and Implanon NXT, which are subject of a court temporary restraining order (TRO) — are abortifacient or not. The FDA findings will be announced today, Nov. 2, by the Forum for Family Planning and Development, along with the Department of Health and the Commission on Population. The Supreme Court, in a decision dated Aug. 24, 2016, ruled on the partial constitutionality of the Reproductive Health Law and remanded the clearance of the two contraceptives to FDA by presenting proof that Implanon and Implanon NXT are not abortifacient in character. Chief Justice Maria Lourdes P.A. Sereno, in a statement issued on July 27 this year, said, “The TRO also has a sunset provision — as soon as the FDA clarifies as provided by law that they are not abortifacient, the TRO is lifted.”