Obama administration will approve 'Plan B' pill for women and girls of all ages

The Justice Department said it would stop fighting a court order requiring it to remove all age restrictions on the sale of Plan B One-Step without a prescription.
Obama had previously said he was uncomfortable with removing all age restrictions on the sale of the so-called "morning after pill." He said over a year ago that "as the father of two daughters," he supported his Health secretary's decision to block over-the-counter sales for younger teens. But a federal judge excoriated the administration's defense of age limits on the pill, calling it a nakedly political decision divorced from science.

The administration's sudden reversal came after the Food and Drug Administration had sought to block the judge's order requiring it to make Plan B available without a prescription to women and girls of all ages.
But late Monday, the Justice Department said in a letter to the judge, Edward R. Korman, that it "is voluntarily withdrawing its appeal in this matter."

The administration's defense of age limits had angered women's-health groups, who accused the White House of playing politics with a scientific question.

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