A federal judge ruled today that the U.S. government is required to provide the morning-after pill over the counter for all age groups – instead of asking for a prescription for girls under the age of 16.

Until today, the morning-after pill has only been available to females 17 years of age or older. After a long and disputable fight, the ruling says the pill will now be sold to females of all ages without a prescription.

This decision overrules a previous move by Kathleen Sebelius, the Obama administration Health and Human Services Secretary – who rejected a recommendation by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration in 2011 to make the pill available to females of all ages without a prescription.

The judge who made the decision, Edward R. Korman of Federal District Court, decided that the government’s choice not to grant access to the pill was “arbitrary, capricious, and unreasonable.”

The judge ruled that the FDA must remove any sale and age restrictions on the pill and its generic counterparts within 30 days.

The judge wrote:

More than 12 years have passed since the citizen petition was filed and 8 years since this lawsuit commenced. The F.D.A. has engaged in intolerable delays in processing the petition. Indeed, it could accurately be described as an administrative agency filibuster.”

He explained, “The plaintiffs should not be forced to endure, nor should the agency’s misconduct be rewarded by, an exercise that permits the F.D.A. to engage in further delay and obstruction.”

Experts at the FDA have recommended unlimited availability for the pill for years, as well as major medical groups like the American Academy of Pediatrics, the American Medical Association, and the American Congress of Obstetricians and Gynecologists.

In 2011, FDA commissioner Dr. Margaret A. Hamburg announced it was safe to sell the morning-after pill over the counter, however, at that time, she was overruled by Ms. Sebelius.

Earlier this year, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention revealed that the usage of the morning-after pill has significantly increased. The report stated that nearly one in nine women have taken the pill.

Written by Kelly Fitzgerald