The American Academy of Pediatrics prescribes a controversial remedy to prevent teen pregnancies.

The American Academy of Pediatrics this week prescribed a remedy to combat teen pregnancies that at first blush seems quite radical: Give young teens prescriptions for emergency contraceptives before they are sexually active.

But from a strictly practical view, the recommendation makes sense: Teenagers who engage in unprotected sex or whose primary method of birth control has failed should have immediate access — without hassle — to the means to prevent pregnancy.

Sound health advice, though, is tangled in the knot of ethics, morality and religion that binds conversations of teen sexuality.

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