WASHINGTON ( CNN ) -- Seventeen-year-old women should be able to buy the `` morning-after pill '' without a prescription within a few weeks , a government spokesman said Thursday . Plan B , also called the morning-after pill , is intended to prevent pregnancy after unprotected sex . The Food and Drug Administration announced Wednesday that the contraceptive will be available over the counter to 17-year-olds , as it currently is for women 18 and older . Agency spokesman George Strait said Thursday the approval process for the change will not take long . `` It 's likely to be weeks , rather than months or years before it 's approved , '' he said . The FDA just needs to review the label changes from the drug 's maker , Duramed , Strait said . Once that 's done , the approval will be complete . On March 23 , a federal court ordered that Plan B , an emergency contraception pill , be made available over the counter to those 17 and older , the agency said in a statement on its Web site . The agency will not appeal that order , the statement said . In the order , U.S. District Judge Edward Korman also asked the agency to consider whether the pill should be available to women of all ages without a prescription , saying that such a determination is best left to the expertise of the FDA rather than a federal district judge . Watch more on the Plan B controversy » . And he rebuked the FDA for apparently departing from its own procedures with respect to making decisions on the pill 's over-the-counter status , noting the `` unusual involvement of the White House in the Plan B decision-making process . '' The plaintiffs in the case presented `` unrebutted evidence of the FDA 's lack of good faith '' toward the application to switch Plan B from prescription to non-prescription use , the judge wrote . `` This lack of good faith is evidenced by , among other things , ( 1 ) repeated and unreasonable delays , pressure emanating from the White House , and the obvious connection between the confirmation process of two FDA commissioners and the timing of the FDA 's decisions ; and ( 2 ) significant departures from the FDA 's normal procedures and policies ... as compared to the review of other switch applications in the past 10 years , '' Korman wrote . In August 2006 , the FDA approved the sale of Plan B without a prescription to those 18 and older , but those 17 and under needed a prescription to obtain it . But , the agency said in Wednesday 's statement , `` in accordance with the court 's order , and consistent with the scientific findings since 2005 by the Center for Drug Evaluation and Research , FDA sent a letter to the manufacturer of Plan B that the company may , upon submission and approval of an appropriate application , market Plan B without a prescription to women 17 years of age and older . '' `` No useful purpose would be served by continuing to deprive 17-year-olds access to Plan B without a prescription , '' Korman wrote in his order . `` Indeed , the record shows that FDA officials and staff both agreed that 17-year-olds can use Plan B safely without a prescription . The FDA 's justification for this age restriction , that pharmacists would be unable to enforce the prescription requirement if the cutoff were age 17 , rather than 18 , lacks all credibility . '' Watch bloggers debate the merits of Plan B » . Planned Parenthood Federation of America President Cecile Richards said in a statement that the FDA 's announcement is `` a strong statement to American women that their health comes before politics . And that 's the way it should be . This decision is common-sense policy that will help reduce the number of unintended pregnancies and protect the health and safety of all women . '' The morning-after pill -- made by Duramed , a subsidiary of Barr Pharmaceuticals -- is intended to prevent pregnancy after unprotected sex . It works by stopping ovulation and decreasing the chances that a fertilized egg will attach to the uterus . When used within 72 hours of unprotected sex , it can lower the risk of pregnancy by almost 90 percent , the maker says . Some critics charge that the drug 's action amounts to an abortion , and opposed making it available over the counter . Others expressed health concerns . `` Plan B is a high dose of birth control pills . ... The FDA violated its standards when it made the high-dose Plan B available nonprescription to adults . But now the FDA is making the drug available to minors without parental consent , '' the Concerned Women for America , a Washington-based conservative Christian group , said Wednesday . `` Parents should be furious that the FDA is putting their minor daughters at risk , '' the group said .
Judge asks FDA to limit availability to women of all ages . Judge ordered in March that Plan B be made available only to women over 17 . The FDA will not appeal the order . This plan prevents pregnancy after unprotected sex .