The FDA approves Plan B, the emergency contraception pill, for over-the-counter sale: Yay!

The FDA denies access to plan B for women 17 and younger, arguing that pharmacies already restrict sales of cigarettes and cold medicine to people 18 years and older.

Overwhelming evidence shows that Plan B is effective at preventing pregnancy among women of any age, and not—unlike, say, cold medicine, cigarettes, and teen pregnancy—potentially hazardous to young women’s health. According to a 2006 survey, nearly a third of sexually active girls between 15 and 19 had been pregnant, a rate that is higher, unsurprisingly, among poor, minority, and less educated women.

(Also, is it just me or is the phrase “morning-after pill” totally condescending? “Whoo-hoo! I can have sex with reckless abandon thanks to this over-the-counter bottle of Baby-Be-Gone pills!” Then again, I’m grouchy.)