Health Watch: Obama's Reversal On 'Plan B' Pill Restrictions
MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) -- The Obama administration is dropping its fight to keep age restrictions on the morning after pill. The decision means the emergency contraception will be available to anyone without a prescription regardless of age.
The decision marks a reversal from the Obama administration. It had initially appealed a federal judge's order to make it available to all ages.
The judge had said the age restrictions were politically motivated and scientifically unjustified.
Erin Mahoney was one of the plaintiffs who sued for unrestricted access to the pill.
"We're ecstatic. I think Obama finally is doing the right thing and putting the morning after pill on the shelf where it should have been 10 years ago," Mahoney said.
Critics say the government is caving to political pressure instead of putting first the health and safety of girls and parental rights.
Plan B does not end a pregnancy. It can prevent ovulation or fertilization of an egg if taken within 72 hours of having unprotected sex.
