WASHINGTON — The federal government yesterday said it will allow the morning-after pill to be sold over the counter — but only to those 15 and older.
The Food and Drug Administration decision represents an attempt to find middle ground just days before a court-imposed deadline to lift all age restrictions on the emergency contraceptive.
Now, Plan B One-Step is sold behind pharmacy counters, and buyers must prove they’re 17 or older to buy it without a prescription.
Yesterday’s move “is a step in the right direction for increased access to a product that is a safe and effective method of preventing unintended pregnancies,” said one contraceptive advocate, Sen. Patty Murray (D-Wash).
Earlier this month, a Brooklyn federal judge blasted the Obama administration for imposing the age-17 limit, saying it let election-year politics trump science. The judge, Edward Korman, ordered an end to the age restrictions by Monday.
The Center for Reproductive Rights, whose suit sparked the ruling, said it will keep fighting. Lowering the age limit “does nothing to address the significant barriers that far too many women of all ages will still find if they arrive at the drugstore without identification,” said the center’s president, Nancy Northup.