Excerpt
JEFFREY BROWN (Newshour): And we return to the battle over emergency contraception, the so-called morning after pill.
It's been more than a decade since the pill was first approved by the FDA, but legal and political controversy has swirled ever since. In 2011, the FDA decided the drug should be available to all girls and women, without prescription.
In an unprecedented action, Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius quickly overruled the agency, keeping the age limit at 17 and older.
Last month, a federal judge ordered that restriction lifted in a strong rebuke to the administration.
And then, on Tuesday, the FDA set a new age limit, 15 and older, for the most popular version of the pill, known as Plan B One-Step. And last night, the Department of Justice said it will fight the federal judge's broader decision that the drug should be available to all girls and women.
Julie Rovner of NPR is here to help sort it all out.
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