In response to a judge’s order, the Food and Drug Administration has decided to allow 17-year-old girls to get the morning-after pill — Plan B — without a prescription.
Plan B refers to a series of pills taken within 72 hours of sexual intercourse with the intent of preventing pregnancy. The pills contain high concentrations of the hormones found in birth-control pills. The FDA had forbidden over-the-counter sales of Plan B to minors because of a lack of long-term data on the effects.
“From a scientific perspective, I don’t think it makes sense to make this medication available to adolescents," said Dr. David Hager, an OB-GYN who serves on Focus on the Family's Physicians Resource Council.
Political pressure drove this decision, said Wendy Wright, president of Concerned Women for America.
“Even the most aggressive advocates for Plan B have admitted that nonprescription access to the drug does not reduce pregnancies or abortions," she said.
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Is Plan B contraception or abortion?
— Josh Montez
