It's a campaign believed to be unprecedented in its size and aggressiveness: New York City is dispensing the morning-after pill to girls as young as 14 at more than 50 public high schools.
The effort to combat teen pregnancy in the U.S.'s largest city contrasts sharply with the views of politicians and school systems in more conservative parts of the country.
Valerie Huber, president of the National Abstinence Education Association in Washington, calls it "a terrible case once again of bigotry of low expectations" - presuming that teen girls will have sex anyway, and effectively endorsing that.
But some doctors say more schools should follow.
Emergency contraception is safe and effective "if you use it in a timely fashion. It provides relief or solace to a young woman or man who has made a mistake," said Dr. Cora Breuner, a Seattle physician and member of an American Academy of Pediatrics' committee on teens.
Plan B emergency contraception is about 90 per cent effective at preventing pregnancy if taken within 72 hours after unprotected sex.
New York's program was phased in at health clinics at about 40 schools in the one-million-student school system starting four years ago. It has since expanded to 13 more schools. The little-known program was recently reported in city media.
Nurse practitioners or physicians dispense the pills, and parents can sign an opt-out form. Less than two per cent have opted out, according to the city Health Department.
More than 7,000 New York City girls ages 15 to 17 get pregnant each year. More than two-thirds of those pregnancies end in abortions.
"We are committed to trying new approaches ... to improve a situation that can have lifelong consequences," the Health Department wrote.
Felicia Regina, Parent Association president on Staten Island, supports the effort: "The children nowadays are not going to abstain from sexual intercourse. How many unwed mothers do we need?"
Anne Leary, a conservative blogger in Chicago with grown children, said the idea undermines parents' authority.
"These kids are under 16, which is the age for statutory rape in most states. I just think it's subsidizing and encouraging behaviour that's probably not healthy," Leary said.
Emergency contraception has been a controversial topic. Many scientists say Plan B works by blocking ovulation or fertilization. But Plan B's label says it may also prevent a fertilized egg from implanting in the uterus, and those who believe life begins at conception contend it amounts to an abortion pill.
