Plan B Available for 17-Year-Olds

Another Bush administration policy overturned: The FDA will allow 17-year-olds to buy Plan B—aka the morning after pill—over the counter. A U.S. district court judge has ruled that the policy restricting access to minor was based on politics, not science, and opened up an investigation into whether any age limit should exist for the drug. Plan B contains a high dose of birth control that can prevent a woman from becoming pregnant up to 72 hours after she has had sex, but does not interfere with an existing pregnancy. Pro-lifers say the pill is like an abortion because it prevents a fertilized egg from attaching to the uterus, though research suggests that is unlikely.