Birth Control Death Plan? FDA & Big Pharma Move to Make Morning-After Pill Plan B Accessible to Teens Under 17

FDA May Remove Age Restrictions From Morning-After Pill Plan B – TIME Healthland

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) may move to eliminate age restrictions for the morning-after emergency contraception pill, Plan B One-Step, according to several people involved with the deliberations who spoke with TIME Healthland.

The morning-after pill is currently available without a prescription to users aged 17 or older. Younger teens still require a prescription. If the FDA does away with that restriction, it could bring the emergency contraception pill from behind the pharmacist's counter to store shelves, alongside more familiar over-the-counter medications like antacids and painkillers.

Plan B Pill Maker Seeks to Ease Access for Teens - WSJ.com

The FDA is weighing a request from the drug's manufacturer, Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd., which argues the product should be available in store aisles for all those who need it easily and quickly.

Any loosening of the restriction would likely cause an uproar from conservative groups, which say the drug shouldn't be available without medical oversight or parental involvement.

Plan B: FDA Considers Putting Morning After Pill on Drug Store Shelves - ABC News

The Food and Drug Administration is expected to decide today whether to switch the Plan B morning-after pill to nonprescription status for women of all ages -- a move that would land the emergency contraceptive on drugstore shelves alongside condoms, spermicides and contraceptive sponges.

Currently women 17 and older can buy the high-dose hormone pill over-the-counter, but girls younger than 17 need a prescription.