Seventeen-year-olds may now buy "morning after" pills without a prescription, the result of a action by an federal judge. The ruling bypasses a 17-year-old, a minor child, consulting with a physician and, practically speaking, the parents. It does so based on peculiar logic.

The drug combination, known as Plan B, has had FDA approval since 1999 for those 18 years of age and older, without a prescription, but the line was drawn there under pressure from the Bush administration.

Plan B is an emergency contraceptive that must be taken 72 hours after unprotected sex.

Judge Edward R. Korman from the Federal District Court of New York found the prescription requirement was driven by politics and not science. The Obama administration has chosen not to appeal.

According to the FDA, Plan B "acts primarily by stopping the release of an egg from the ovary. It may prevent the union of sperm and egg. If fertilization does occur, Plan B may prevent a fertilized egg from attaching to the womb. If a fertilized egg is implanted prior to taking Plan B, Plan B will not work."

That doesn't sound like politics, it sounds like science. Lawmakers and those who draw up government regulations nearly always apply political views and philosophy to science in enacting rules and laws. Science does not stand alone as a part of public policy.

Parents and 17-year-olds should talk about such things unprotected sex, abstinence and related issues.

Allowing use of Plan B for 18-year-olds without a prescription apparently has not affected the number of pregnancies by young women of this age group, and, therefore, it's unlikely to do so for younger women. The issues that lead to teen pregnancy go well beyond availability of contraceptives and abortions. They're issues that have stymied societies for as long as records have been kept, or longer. Issues that Plan B will not resolve.

We cannot beseech parents to take responsibility for their children, and then, here and there, take that responsibility away.

Will all parents and young people be able to talk through such important issues? Not likely. But parents' rights can't be ignored, whether they are rights based on science or politics.

Others will find compelling religious reason for opposing Plan B. Again, that's not science, but it doesn't diminish the position of people with those beliefs.

The Obama administration should appeal the ruling, and should assess the federal government's role in reducing the number of unwanted, teen-aged pregnancies. While even reasonable and prudent minds may disagree on core reproductive issues, there is common ground in the concern for young women who find themselves in a difficult position and for children that grow out of these situations.

Some 17-year-olds are mature, and some are not. All 17-year-olds are minors. Such is the law.