--- title: The Morning After Pill is Now Over-the-Counter | TIME description: TIME Health writer Alice Park talks about the controversy over the new FDA ruling on the so-called 'morning after pill.' canonical: https://time.com/video/pbZqMm97/ og:title: The Morning After Pill is Now Over-the-Counter og:description: TIME Health writer Alice Park talks about the controversy over the new FDA ruling on the so-called 'morning after pill.' og:url: https://time.com/video/pbZqMm97/ og:image: https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/pbZqMm97/poster.jpg?width=720 og:type: video.other twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: The Morning After Pill is Now Over-the-Counter twitter:description: TIME Health writer Alice Park talks about the controversy over the new FDA ruling on the so-called 'morning after pill.' twitter:image: https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/pbZqMm97/poster.jpg?width=720 --- # The Morning After Pill is Now Over-the-Counter > Sponsored content. Supplied in partnership with TIME. 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They are at time.com/newsletters and are separate from a paid subscription. ## Video: The Morning After Pill is Now Over-the-Counter [Watch (HLS stream): The Morning After Pill is Now Over-the-Counter](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/pbZqMm97.m3u8) (1:22)  _Published 2013-05-01. TIME Health writer Alice Park talks about the controversy over the new FDA ruling on the so-called 'morning after pill.'_ --- Jul 27, 2023 3:33 PM UTC --- ## More From This Series [All Videos](https://time.com/video/) [The First Over-the-Counter Birth Control Pill Is Here](/video/EHkTXkr7/) ### The First Over-the-Counter Birth Control Pill Is Here [What Happens Next in the Fight Over Abortion Pills](/video/YWU1AZq9/) ### What Happens Next in the Fight Over Abortion Pills [Forget to Take Your Pills? Don't Worry, They'll Call You](/video/GU5PxHu3/) ### Forget to Take Your Pills? Don't Worry, They'll Call You --- ## Transcript The morning after pill is moving out from behind the counter, right next to the condoms, according to the FDA. And any woman 15 or older can buy it without a prescription. It's been a long journey to get to this point. The drug was first approved in 1999 to anyone 17 or over. In 2009, the company that makes the drug submitted a proposal to the FDA. To bring the product over the counter for women of all ages. They provided evidence that women could take the drug safely, and that it would effectively reduce pregnancy rates. After reviewing the evidence, the FDA decided that it made sense. And it recommended that the product go over the counter without a prescription. But soon after the decision, the Health and Human Services secretary Kathleen Sebelius Overruled that descision and decided that only women 17 or older could get the drug without a prescription. Girls who were younger required a prescription from their doctor. But, in yet another development, last month a federal judge in New York decided that the FDA was right after all. And he ruled that the drug should go over the counter to all women without a prescription. Now The FDA has looked at the evidence once again and lowered the age limit to 15 so it's now available to women 15 and older without a prescription. And according to the latest recommendation it should come out from behind the counter and be available next to the condoms and other reproductive health products in the drug store. ```json {"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"VideoObject","name":"The Morning After Pill is Now Over-the-Counter","description":"TIME Health writer Alice Park talks about the controversy over the new FDA ruling on the so-called 'morning after pill.'","thumbnailUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/pbZqMm97/poster.jpg?width=720","uploadDate":"2013-05-01T16:58:05.000Z","contentUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/pbZqMm97.m3u8","embedUrl":"https://time.com/video/pbZqMm97/","duration":"PT1M22S","potentialAction":{"@type":"SeekToAction","target":"https://time.com/video/pbZqMm97/?jw_start={seek_to_second_number}","startOffset-input":"required name=seek_to_second_number"}} ```