The Food and Drug Administration's welcomed decision to permit pharmacies to sell the morning-after pill over the counter to adults strikes a balance, weighing the need to protect contraceptive freedom against the duty to protect the health of younger teens.

But, like most compromise rulings, this one signals the need for more research into that issue of consumer safety before making the birth control drug more broadly available to minors as well.

In Hawai'i, advocates for the "Plan B" pills can breathe a sigh of relief that FDA action would not roll back access to the drug among adults. Having over-the-counter access to the drug is important because there is a narrow window during which pregnancy can be avoided.

And it seems the ruling will not further tighten restrictions on its issue to underage females. Since Hawai'i's liberal policy became law in 2003, teens have needed a prescription for birth control. But they've generally had no trouble getting one through a cooperative partnership of physicians and pharmacists.

In essence, nothing in the new FDA rules precludes this arrangement from continuing.

Some opposition coalesces around a moral issue: Emergency contraception, some argue, could encourage promiscuity. But having Plan B should do little to change a society where many other forms of birth control are widely available. Those who believe Plan B differs because it intercedes after the moment of conception are raising a religious objection that should not be a factor, given that U.S. courts still upholds a woman's legal right to follow her own moral guideposts.

The other point by critics — that too little is known about the effect of the drug on younger teens — is better founded. The relatively small cohort of teen users means scientific evidence of its safety is inconclusive. Clearly, the effect of Plan B on this group needs more study.

Nevertheless, both issues are likely to become talking points in the politically charged atmosphere of the current election cycle. Already conservative groups are calling on President Bush to withdraw Andrew von Eschenbach's nomination as FDA commissioner.

But it seems the commissioner's first major decision was one based on science. Politics should not be allowed to interfere.