Women over 16 in Britain will be able to buy the morning-after pill over the counter from New Year's Day, health officials confirmed yesterday.
"Pro-family" politicians and campaigners condemned an "appalling" move they claim will encourage promiscuity and harm young women's health. But the decision was defended by supporters as a "commonsense" measure that could safely help to cut Britain's teenage pregnancy rate, the highest in Europe.
Dr Howard Stoate of the Commons Health Select Committee also rejected criticisms, saying: "It is the usual sort of reaction from the religious right They should not cause confusion by using health arguments to back up their moral arguments."
Currently the morning-after pill is available in Britain only on prescription. It has been cleared for over-the-counter sale in pharmacies to over-16s by the Medicines Control Agency. But officials said the pills were unlikely to be available until late January or early February.
The Tory spokesman Dr Liam Fox said he was "alarmed and appalled" by the decision. "Making the morning-after pill available to all girls over 16 in this way sends the wrong message about the need for responsible sexual activity," he said.
"It can only increase the risk of worsening the current epidemic of sexually transmitted disease and could result in repeated and unsupervised exposure of young girls to this powerful drug."
The shadow home secretary, Ms Ann Widdecombe, also condemned the move.
Mrs Valerie Riches of Family and Youth Concern said it amounted to a "no-questions-asked abortion" that would be available to girls under 16. "Who is going to check on the age? Girls of 13 can make themselves look like 16-year-old girls."