The Plan B pill which was initially only available to 18 year olds and above will now be made available to 17 yr olds and above, and that too without a prescription. Food and Drug Administration revealed on its website that a federal court ordered that the emergency contraception pill be made available over the counter to those 17 and up.

"The government will not appeal this decision. In accordance with the court's order, and consistent with the scientific findings since 2005 by the Center for Drug Evaluation and Research, FDA sent a letter to the manufacturer of Plan B that the company may, upon submission and approval of an appropriate application, market Plan B without a prescription to women 17 years of age and older," the agency said in a statement issued Wednesday afternoon on its Web site.

In the order, U. S. District Judge Edward Korman also proposed to the FDA the idea of making the pill available to women of all ages without a prescription adding that such a determination is best left to the expertise of the FDA rather than a federal district judge.

However, religious conservatives are objecting to Plan B on the pretext that consumption of this pill amounts to abortion pill because it can prevent a fertilized egg from attaching to the uterus, and easy availability of this pill could also encourage premarital sex.

Essentially, Plan B is an extra high dose of regular birth control which, if taken within 72 hours of unprotected intercourse, prevents pregnancy by delaying ovulation and not by interrupting an already implanted pregnancy.