FDA OKs over-the-counter Plan B for 17-year-olds

After women’s rights spent the past eight years practically moving backward, a federal court has ruled that the Food and Drug Administration will make the emergency contraception pill, Plan B, available to women 17 and older, according to CNN.com.

This is a huge leap forward in reproductive rights and is also a step that has been long overdue in the efforts to decrease the amount of teenage pregnancies in the United States. Plan B can prevent unintended pregnancies for up to 72 hours after contraceptive failure or unprotected sex.

While it should not be used as a method of birth control, Plan B is safe and effective. This decision was long anticipated by reproductive rights activists and organizations such as Planned Parenthood, especially because it seems women are now sexually active at younger ages. Despite what some conservatives think, Plan B will not encourage sexual activity, but it is simply an option women should have if their method of birth control fails.

As of August 2006, Plan B was only available to 17-year-olds if they had a prescription. The FDA is taking this action in response to a court decision saying that the agency’s 2006 decision to limit Plan B to women 18 and older was politically motivated, and therefore invalid.

The over-the-counter availability of Plan B to 17-year-olds brings America one step closer to catching up with the reality of teenage sex.