Plan B will become available to minors: How young is too young to make birth control decisions?

Who are these opponents?!

If a child - under 18 we are talking about CHILDREN - is old enough to have sex then they are old enough to purchase and use birth control, no matter what form that may take. Hormones from anything other than a condom with a lubricant is probably harmful to girl but so is pre-teen and teenage pregnancy.

If my daughter had an "oops" at 13, 14, or 16, I would buy the Plan B pills for her myself.

when i graduated middle school, there were 2 girls in our graduation, 1 pregnant and 1 gave birth at the beginning of the year. and previously, i did not really know it, but after i watched the "ides of march" movie i searched it and it was true, a medical abortion stands a (albeit very small) chance of killing the mother as well. birth control should be free and available at whatever age that child begins having sex since it is possible to get pregnant at any age once you have started your period

i believe that a 17 year old girl who is having sex and needs the plan b pill should talk to her parents. i dont thnk that the age is the problem. its just that if a girl is going to have sex she needs to think about the consequences. if she knows her parents would be disapointed or mad if she went up to them and asked them for the Plan B pill or any toher type of thing involving safe sex and if she would be ashamed of that then maybe she shouldn't be having sex to begin with. i also disagree with people saying that the Plan B pill is like abortion because its not. if yu are pregnant and yu take the pill the pill wont kill the baby. IT PREVENTS PREGNANCY! it doesnt end it. people seem to turn the other cheek when it comes to their own childern. i'm a teenager myself and i believe that if my parents would've talked to me about sex before anything ever happened i think that my choices would've been different. i say that any parent who has any doubt should be open with their kids. dont threaten them either. i remember when my dad told me he'd kick me out if i ever ended up pregnant. that just makes us shut down and not wanna talk about anything. so talk about it. but also listen.

Well i just turned 18 about a month ago and i took this pill like one week before my birthday....i only took it because it just so happens i had bad luck n a break accurd so i dont see how it shouldnt be available to anyone who has this happen to them...its a responsibility n it shouldnt be abused...

Well, geraldine, if you're so worried about children thinking you can just take a pill and make all your troubles magically disappear, why don't you get cancer, so you can show them that's not true? K? K.

Audrey, A-MEN!

I'm getting a headache reading this, I can't believe people's response to why Plan B should not be given to minors is "because teenagers should not be having sex."

WELL OF COURSE THEY SHOULDN'T BE HAVING SEX, thanks for stating the obvious. And this stupid recession shouldn't have happened, and JFK shouldn't have been shot and George Bush should never have stepped foot in the white shouse (sorry couldnt help the last one). Point is, things happen.

So now what? Do we continue to whine about how teenagers shouldnt have sex while these children continue to have children of their own? Or do we do something about it? Plan B allows us to do something about it.

So please, feel free to ground your children till the cows come home if you find them doing inappropriate things with their date. Do teach them the values of abstinence and the importance and sanctity of love. But when they make what could be the biggest mistake in their lives let them know they have PLAN B.

I'd say more but Angela's covered it all with her usual wit ;)

Angela...my screen name has nothing to do with "lunatic". Take a trip to Google Translate and you will find it means, Sister Moon in Italian. Now that we have that squared away.

I am 50 yrs young and have lived more of life than you think. It was my generation who fostered the sexual revolution. And sadly, for women, it didn't work out.

I believe you totally missed the point on rape and sexual harrassment, so let's leave it at that. I work with men every day in a blue collar job. In a man's world. A man can lose his job in the blink of an eye if he even thinks about sexually harrassing a woman. I have had the men I work with apologize to me for swearing. Not a problem for me, because I can too.

As far as the case of the 13 yr old and the adult man...it is the "adult" that should be immediately prosecuted. Don't know why you brought that one up. It's plain common sense.

I do know what I am talking about I raised a daughter and a son. And I was a teenager as well.

I do know quite abit about adoption. My daughter placed a child for adoption. She chose to give her son "LIFE" and then to give him "A LIFE" vs. chasing a scumbucket down for child support and with no education and no job, raising a child on her own. Yes, dear Angela, I do know quite a bit about the subject, my family has lived through it.

I have not adopted any children. My children were "planned" after marriage. Yes, that still works despite what you think.

You are absolutely correct, women can have as much sex as they want, keeping in mind that So can men. If you feel bad about yourself, sucks to be you. Get some therapy. But keep your bad thoughts to yourself. No one cares about your hang ups.

Like I said to the other woman who is so afraid that kids are learning that a magic pill fixes everything, you can prove it doesn't by getting cancer, or AIDS, or having a limb cut off, or loosing your home, or any one the millions of problems we can't actually fix in the world.

They had an issue like this in the 50's and 60's. Family planning is always a good thing, in my opinion. Even if you set the age requirement to 21 it won't deter young people from having sex. Condoms and birth control don't make a bad person and pretending that we don't live in the "let's all grow up early" world is just silly. Talk to your children about waiting and peer pressure, but also mention what to do if something DOES happen, no matter how hard it might be.

Hummm anyone ever heard this line?

"Men want a lady in the streets, but a freak in the bed?"

sarcasm anyone?

Thank you Audrey. Words to live by, Maria.

Angela-I'm not trying to attack you and I know we don't get along but I saw where you said that if Luna was such a great mother then why is her kid having sex out of wedlock? I have wonderful parents but I had sex out of wedlock. I think kids will do what they want to do when they want to do it even if it means lying to their parents. Just my opinion.

Girls are losing their virginity earlier and earlier now. Anyone should have the option to remain young, further their education, and be free of responsibility that they are not ready to take on. I am glad to hear that a 17 year old can walk in and pay $40 versus adding instability to their life or humiliating themselves in front of family and friends. We are human and we can not refuse a girl to make a choice.

if a girl is old enough for sex she is old enough to care for a baby

Kids today are exposed to sex on tv, in movies, even sexually explicit song lyrics. 17 may be young to be on the pill- but then again, teens are getting pregnant at the drop of A HAT these days!!!!!

Monsherelashere go back to biology class or learn how to read a book.

I think it's GREAT plan b is available, and hopefully in time it will be available to everyone over the counter tacked right next to the condoms.

I can't believe people are using this as an excuse to trash teenage girls, and generalize them all as stupid, sluts, or weak willed. BS! It takes two to tango and boys are just as much to blame as girls, if not more in some circumstances. So we should be THANKFUL that there's an option in case the condom breaks. We should ALSO be THANKFUL that teenage girls in this country are smart enough to realize that they are NOT ready to be parents yet. Yay! Go America!

Can we please stop calling girls "sluts"?

I am mad that this is even offered over the counter period. I seem to be in minority also. If you are old enough to have sex(consensual not rape and other type of abuse) then your old enough to tell parents and get some form of birth control. Also if you are old enough to have sex you better know nothing is 100%. To me plan B is an abortion pill plain and simple. I would rather my daughter have a child or give it up for adoption then abort it. If my daughter came to me and said she wanted the pill I would be sad but help her. I was a teen mother and I have been there. I think Plan B should be regulated by doctors. So girls and women are not using this every month as birth control. I know to many teens who do this.

amberlamos,

That's EXACTLY what pills, condoms, and ALL forms of birth control and safe sex devices are for: so that BOTH men and women can enjoy safe sex without being burdened by children or killed by disease.

If you have sexual hang ups, then that's on you. It isn't for you or anyone else to force your belief system onto others.