The Obama administration is squaring off against a federal judge regarding the morning after pill; but no matter who wins the squabble, younger girls will be able to get their hands on the drug. The morning after pill, named Plan B by its makers at Teva Pharmaceuticals, is a form of emergency contraception that doctors say prevents pregnancy by stopping ovulation if taken within 72 hours of sexual intercourse (as opposed to RU-486, a drug that actually induces abortion).

Previously, the government required girls under age 17 to have a prescription to buy the drug; in April, a U.S. district judge ordered all age restrictions on the drug lifted—allowing it to be sold to anyone. The administration balked, and on April 30, the Food and Drug Administration said it would begin to allow sales of the drug to girls 15 and older—without their parents’ consent. That’s a serious problem for many moms and dads.

“It breaks my heart and saddens me and really angers me,” says Brenda Velasco Ross, who has 12- and 13-year-old stepdaughters. “It just baffles me that, with this, which has to do with pregnancy and being sexually active, I don’t have to be involved. That to me just violates my rights as a parent to have guidelines and parameters for my children.”

Others believe access to the morning after pill is an important, if unfortunate, tool to cutting teen pregnancy. Allison Guarino, who teaches sex ed to Boston-area ninth graders, said, “I would encourage any young person to go talk to [her] parents or a doctor, but that’s not the reality.” (AP)

Paul Asay has covered religion for The Washington Post, Christianity Today, Beliefnet.com and The (Colorado Springs) Gazette. He writes about culture for Plugged In and wrote the Batman book God on the Streets of Gotham (Tyndale). He lives in Colorado Springs with wife, Wendy, and two children. Follow him on Twitter.