“I’m very comfortable with the decisions [the FDA] [has] made right now, based on solid scientific evidence, for girls fifteen [years of age] and older,” President Obama said to an audience in Mexico City in early May, referring to the Food and Drug Adminis­tration’s (FDA) approval of lowering the age of sale of emergency contraceptive pills (ECPs, also known as Plan B) to women fifteen years of age and older without a prescrip­tion.

The debate surrounding this new regulation is highly controversial. Supporters be­lieve that this new ruling will significantly lower the number of unwanted pregnancies in the United States, while oppo­nents to the idea believe that it will encourage teenage pro­miscuity in addition to margin­alizing the role of parents now that minors no longer need parental consent to purchase the pill. It is important for high school students to evaluate all sides of this extremely perti­nent topic in order to fully un­derstand the effect that it will have on their lives.

Supporters of the deci­sion have pointed to studies showing a potential decline in teenage pregnancy as a major reason to make Plan B more readily available. After reviewing research regard­ing the effects associated with making emergency contracep­tives more readily available, FDA officials concluded that women ages fifteen and older understood how to use Plan B properly. By educating teen­age audiences about the drug, officials feel that there is little risk in making ECPs more widely available.

“The data reviewed by the agency demonstrated that women fifteen years of age and older were able to under­stand how Plan B One-Step works, how to use it properly, and how it does not prevent the transmission of a sexu­ally transmitted disease,” FDA Commissioner Dr. Margaret Hamburg said.

Many people fear that girls will be encouraged to have sex earlier because of the pill’s relative ease of accessi­bility. Thus, rates of transmis­sion for sexually transmitted infections (STIs) could poten­tially increase. Childhood in­nocence has also been called into question, as this decision has further reduced the role that parents play in their chil­drens’ lives.

Technically, a fifteen-year-old needs a signed docu­ment from a physician to bring Tylenol on a school trip. How­ever, that same fifteen-year-old can now buy an emergency contraceptive pill without her parents’ knowledge. That idea alone makes some parents across the country very un­easy. Opponents believe that the new public policy should have greater involvement from parents, rather than disregard­ing their voices entirely.

“Parent-teen commu­nication regarding the medi­cal and moral issues involved with sexual behavior should be encouraged,” Anna Hig­gins, Family Research Coun­cil’s Director of the Center for Human Dignity, said.

In the midst of the con­troversy regarding the FDA’s decision, some social progres­sives have suggested going even further in easing age re­strictions on contraceptives. Proponents of lifting require­ments for age identification state that while children need a prescription to bring medica­tion to school, there is nothing stopping them from walking to a pharmacy and buying medi­cine there, and that Plan B is held to a higher standard be­cause it involves sex.

“While we fully sup­port this expansion of access to birth control, we continue to believe that the administra­tion should lift all unnecessary restrictions to emergency con­traception,” Cecile Richards, president of Planned Parent­hood, said. “[It is critical] that women be able to get emer­gency contraception quickly and without hurdles.”

Although Planned Par­enthood has declared Plan B One-Step to be universally safe, the effects of the pill on younger girls are not yet known completely because the regulation was passed so recently. For this reason, many believe that politics have taken precedence over science and women’s health. If a young girl is in a situation in which she needs to take an emergen­cy contraceptive pill, she may need the counsel of an adult.

“[The use of the pill] de­pends on the responsibility of the child and the guidance of the parent. It should be some­thing that parents should be involved in if it is going to be available to younger teens,” health teacher Mr. Michael LaBella said.

Over the course of this debate, it has become highly apparent that the public is split on the impact that access to Plan B will have on the social and family lives of teenagers. Optimistic students believe that in some cases the pill would allow a person to have more control over a seemingly difficult situation.

“I think that making the Plan B pill so accessible is im­portant because it can reduce the number of unwanted or unplanned pregnancies, and it will also give women a third option besides pregnancy,” ju­nior Christie Flanders said.

On the other hand, some students think that the new­found freedom associated with the pill may come with a price.

“I think that the pill en­ables teenagers to make poor decisions,” junior Sarah Rud­nick said. “There are other ways to handle bad situations. Fear keeps people from mak­ing poor decisions. This regu­lation takes away the fear.”

Ultimately, students should be aware of the conse­quences of using emergency contraceptive pills and the risks of engaging in unprotect­ed sex. The use of emergency contraceptive pills is such a controversial issue because it has the potential to change one’s life.