The Department of Justice has given up on its appeal to keep emergency contraception out of the hands of children.

A federal judge out of New York previously ruled emergency contraception should be made available to girls of all ages (including children) without parental consent or notification. The DOJ challenged the ruling, appealing it, but decided yesterday to drop that appeal. That means the current ruling stands.

This follows an FDA decision to move Plan-B emergency contraception from behind the counter of drugstores and allow children as young as 15 to purchase it without any input from a doctor.

So let’s put this in perspective. Our government:

  • Won’t let schoolchildren have an aspirin without a signed waiver from a parent or guardian giving the school permission to administer medicine;
  • Is concerned about and researching the effects caffeine may be having on children;
  • Has campaigned for the removal of soft drinks and sweet snacks from public school cafeterias and vending machines;
  • Thinks it’s OK to let children have emergency contraception without any input from doctors or parents–even though the long term consequences of emergency contraception have not been thoroughly studied and its use by young teens has not been evaluated.