A compromise by the Food and Drug Administration that will allow adults to buy the Plan B emergency contraception pill without a prescription won't stop all the arguing over the medication.

But it's the best decision the nation could expect of this administration.

The decision to limit over-the-counter sales to those older than 18 is about moral preference, not science; about preserving parents' control over minor children, not medical prudence.

To those arguing that the FDA didn't offer medical proof to support its decision yesterday, acting FDA head Andrew von Eschenbach counters that advocates of unrestricted sales can't prove either that those under 18 will use the drug safely without a physician's help.

The FDA decision won't please family planning groups that argued against this age restriction, but neither will it please those who consider Plan B a form of abortion. Actually, Plan B prevents pregnancy. It functions like a high dose of birth-control pills and, if taken within 72 hours of unprotected sex, can reduce the possibility of pregnancy by up to 89 percent. It should not be confused with the RU-486 pill, which induces abortion.

Had politics not interfered, the FDA might have made a similar decision years ago. Now, the Senate may confirm von Eschenbach as its permanent head. Plan B supporters had blocked him. The former director of the National Cancer Institute should be judged on more than one issue.