1.0 IntroductionThis essay explores the recent debate over restrictions placed on the availability of the drug Plan B One-Step, which prevents pregnancy after sexual intercourse. Five main questions have been identified to analyze this debate and these five questions are presented in sections 2.0 to 6.0 respectively. Section 7.0 presents a brief conclusion and references are provided at the end of the document. As a basis for these analyses, it may be helpful to understand the timeline of events as described in the New York Times article, “Judge Strikes Down Age Limits on Morning -After Pill”: • Plan B One-Step is a pharmaceutical morning-after pill , sold by TEVA, designed to prevent pregnancy when taken after sexual intercourse; sometimes as emergency contraception • In 1999, the FDA approved Plan B as a “prescription product.” a citizen's petition to make Plan B available without a prescription. Shortly thereafter, a scientific advisory panel voted to support the citizen's petition women 18 years of age and older, but required a prescription for those 17 years of age and younger.” • In 2009, Judge Korman ordered that Plan B be made available without a prescription for women 18 years of age and younger.” or above 17 years. • In 2011, the FDA sought to lift restrictions to make Plan B universally available. • In 2011, HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius “determined that girls 16 and younger would need prescriptions” for Plan B, noting that there were insufficient studies on younger girls. • In 2013, Judge Korman ordered that Plan B be made universally available.2.0 What is the central debate?Why is Plan B generally used after sex...... half of the document.... .. Ruling (in favor of abortion) Opposition to the rulingGeneral groups • Women's reproductive health groups • Conservative groups • Anti-abortion groups Specific groups • American Medical Association • American Congress of Obstetricians and Gynecologists • American Academy of Pediatrics • Center for Reproductive Rights • Academy of Pediatrics • Reproductive Health Technologies Project • Family Research Council 7.0 Conclusion Politically, there are no easy answers to this problem and in this debate the FDA has simply become, as one wise man put it, just a pawn in the game. Judge Strikes Down Age Limits on Morning-After Pill,” New York Times, April 5, 2013, accessed January 10, 2014, http://www.nytimes.com/2013/04/06/health/judge-orders-fda - to-make-the-morning-after-pill-available-over-the-counter-for-all-ages.html?pagewanted=1&_r=3