Condoms don't discriminate.

Available almost everywhere from Olin Health Center to Walgreens, condoms are sold to anyone willing to dish out a couple bucks in exchange for pretty good protection against unwanted pregnancies and most sexually transmitted infections.

But think of all the sperm collected in that thin, latex contraption that could have otherwise fertilized an egg and developed into a real-life walking, talking human being.

Still, condoms live on. Sold with no age limitations across the world, creating little to no controversy, condoms are any sexually active man's best friend.

Later this year, women too will find a friend in another option to protect themselves from unwanted pregnancies.

Last week, after a three-year battle, Plan B emergency contraception was approved by the Food and Drug Administration, or FDA, to be sold over the counter.

Plan B is a form of emergency contraception to be used after unprotected sex or following contraceptive failure, such as a broken condom.

The emergency contraceptive is a series of four pills. A pregnancy-fearing woman can take the first two up to 72 hours after unprotected sex or a contraceptive mishap, and the remaining two pills are taken 12 hours later. The pills work by either temporarily stopping the release of an egg from an ovary or by preventing fertilization.

This advancement in women's health, although long overdue, is worthy of celebration.

But still, there are a few catches.

While the FDA has finally put its stamp on over-the-counter emergency contraceptives, it leaves a chunk of the sexually active community in the dark. Plan B will only be available to women age 18 or older — despite the FDA's advisory committee finding no basis for the age restriction.

If a 16-year-old can buy a condom, he or she should also be able to purchase Plan B. Although Plan B shouldn't be used as a primary method of birth control, there's no difference between people choosing to protect themselves from an unwanted pregnancy with either of these two different methods.

According to Cecile Richards, Planned Parenthood president, the United States has one of the highest rates of teen pregnancy in the Western world. Restricting the sale of Plan B to only adults will hinder the possibility of cutting the nation's annual 3 million unplanned pregnancies in half, which supporters of unrestricted over-the-counter sales believe is possible if the drug becomes available for all to purchase.

And although Plan B essentially performs the same task as a condom, this little pill has created controversy across the nation.

Keeping the contraceptive behind the counter has the potential to limit access because it can only be purchased at a pharmacy when the pharmacist is on duty. This restricts a person's ability to purchase the drug at any time of day. And with a handful of pharmacists who want to interfere with the contraceptive choices of women, this scenario assumes that any pharmacist will readily hand over the pills to a purchasing adult.

This has been a problem even when women seeking Plan B were accompanied with a prescription. In late July in Washington, nine women with prescriptions for Plan B said they were denied access to the drug. As of last week, the Washington state Board of Pharmacy has 170 days to complete an investigation. This same board allows for pharmacists to opt out of filling prescriptions if they object on moral grounds.

With only a small window of opportunity for Plan B to work correctly, there isn't time for morals to get in the way of a woman's choice.

With the cost of the pills estimated between $25 and $45, many women seeking this form of contraceptive will not be able to foot the pricey bill. This leaves a segment of the population without adequate access to Plan B.

Of course the largest opposition to the FDA's choice to allow Plan B to be sold over the counter comes from groups that believe the pills are tantamount to abortion.

But if a woman is already pregnant, Plan B has no effect. This is what makes emergency contraceptives vastly different from the abortion pill, and those opposing Plan B who claim it's the same thing are just plain wrong.

Expanding access to Plan B is a start, but there are still hurdles to jump before all women can choose for themselves which birth control methods they want to utilize.

Vaness Notman, State News opinion writer, can be reached at notmanva@msu.edu.