A federal judge ruled Monday the FDA must allow 17-year-olds to obtain the emergency contraception known as Plan B, a morning-after pill, without requiring a prescription.
We do not see a major problem here.
Plan B is an emergency contraceptive designed for use when a regular form of birth control fails, whether that be a condom breaking or a woman forgetting to take her regular birth-control pill.
Plan B stops a pregnancy from occurring by introducing a major dose of the hormone progestin, the same hormone present in the birth-control pills many women take daily.
The hormonal dose from Plan B prevents a fertilized egg from implanting in the uterus, the point at which many, from a scientific perspective, believe pregnancy begins.
It is imperative that Plan B be taken within 72 hours of the unprotected sex, and the earlier the better the chance of it working.
Before this decision, 17-year-olds would have to ask their parents to take them to a doctor to get a prescription, which holds up the kid from obtaining something that's ability to work effectively is time-sensitive.
It's odd we even had this age cut-off really, mostly because it's an attempt to restrict something people have access to immediately upon reaching puberty.
You can't drive a car until your 16, and it would be hard to get one before that.
But, teenagers don't magically gain access to their sex organs when they turn 18, and as much as adults would like to believe they are not, the kids are having sex.
They should be afforded every possibility available to protect themselves.
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