Imagine my surprise when I saw that the FDA refused to make the emergency birth control pill Plan B, available over the counter. I?m not being facetious ? I really was surprised. Just when you think you?re caught up on all the bad decisions this administration is making, they throw you a real jaw-dropper.What really gets me is why they've denied women access to this pill, which has been available by prescription since 1999. Unlike RU-486, which actually induces an abortion, Plan B prevents pregnancy from occuring by delaying ovulation (which is why it's most effective when taken within 36 hours of unprotected sex). So Plan B's opponents can't argue that the pill takes a life, since pregnancy never occurred. Bummer for them. Instead they came up� with this reason: Plan B's availability will result in increased promiscuity in young teens. (Does this sound a lot like the reason condoms aren't distributed in schools?)So, women are being denied easy access to a proven form of contraception because of horny teenagers. Teenagers, I might add whom the Bush Administration is doing everything within their power to keep in the dark regarding their sexual health and sexual responsibility. But that's not the real reason, in my opinion. I think they?re exercising the last shred of control they have over early abortion. If women buy Plan B at their local drugstore, there will be fewer unwanted pregnancies, thus fewer abortions performed in clinics, and fewer targets for anti-abortion activists. Allowing this pill to be sold over the counter privatizes the matter, this profoundly personal matter, and that irks the anti-abortion people. And if you think the FDA (or the CDC) are free from political influence, you ought to know that the�Director of the FDA, the one who made the recommendation to reject the over-the-counter status despite objections from his collegues and advisory board, just so happens to be a staunch anti-abortionist.When the FDA claims that youth may abuse this pill, what we?re hearing is the echo of the very powerful anti-abortion lobby?s real view of women. We?re the children in their eyes, and we shouldn?t be trusted to make decisions about our bodies. We can and should be trusted, and we should have every reproductive option available to us.And I say if they (or you) really are worried about the effect on teens? sexuality, why not trust�our youth�too? Give them the information and the tools to make good decisions about their sexual health rather than leaving them to find their way in the dark. For a great discussion of teen sexuality, read the enlightening Teen Sexual Bill of Rights in The Good Vibrations Guide to Sex.So there. Fight on, sisters and brothers. Read more about this controversy.