The Obama administration filed an appeal Wednesday of a U.S. district court ruling that ordered it to end all age restrictions on the Plan B emergency contraceptive pill.
The move came a day after the Food and Drug Administration lowered the age for which the product can be purchased without a prescription from 17 to 15.
NPR's Julie Rovner reported on Wednesday's development for our Newscast unit:
"Last month Judge Edward Korman gave the FDA 30 days to make the product, Plan B, and its generic equivalents fully over-the-counter. That's not quite what the FDA did, although it will now let the one-pill version of drug be sold on pharmacy shelves, rather than from behind the counter.
"But the changes are not what the judge required. Thus, the Justice Department is asking him to stay his order while the appeal works its way through the process.
"Women's health groups who hoped the original ruling would settle a battle that has raged for more than a decade were disappointed in the administration's action, calling it politically motivated."
Julie also reported on the FDA's Tuesday decision to lower the age at which Plan B can be bought without a prescription.
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