By LAURAN NEERGAARD AND JOSH LEDERMAN. The Associated PressWASHINGTON -- The Obama administration on Wednesday appealed a federal judge's order to lift all age limits on who can buy morning-after birth control pills without a prescription.. The decision came a day after the Food and Drug Administration lowered the age that people can buy the Plan B One-Step morning-after pill without a prescription to 15 -- younger than the current limit of 17 -- and decided that the pill could be sold on drugstore shelves near the condoms, instead of locked behind pharmacy counters.. With the appeal, the government is making clear that it's willing to ease access to emergency contraception only a certain amount -- not nearly as broadly as doctors' groups and contraception advocates have urged.. The order by U.S. District Judge Edward Korman of Manhattan would allow girls and women of any age to buy not only Plan B but its cheaper generic competition as easily as they can buy aspirin. Korman gave the FDA 30 days to comply, and the Monday deadline was approaching fast.. In yesterday's filing, the Justice Department said Korman exceeded his authority and that his decision should be suspended while that appeal is under way, meaning only Plan B One-Step would appear on drugstore shelves until the case is settled.. Rather than take matters into his own hands, the Justice Department argued to the Second U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals that Korman should have ordered the FDA to reconsider its options for regulating emergency contraception.. Some critics say Plan B is the equivalent of an abortion pill because it may also be able to prevent a fertilized egg from attaching to the uterus