TOO YOUNG FOR PILL?Justice Dept. Braces for Legal Battle Over 'Plan B'

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WASHINGTON –  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 had 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 New York 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 Wednesday'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 finally settled.

"We are deeply disappointed that just days after President Obama proclaimed his commitment to women's reproductive rights, his administration has decided once again to deprive women of their right to obtain emergency contraception without unjustified and burdensome restrictions," said Nancy Northup, president of the Center for Reproductive Rights, which filed the lawsuit that prompted Korman's ruling.

Rather than take matters into his own hands, the Justice Department argued to the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals that Korman should have ordered the FDA to reconsider its options for regulating emergency contraception. The court cannot overturn the rules and processes that federal agencies must follow "by instead mandating a particular substantive outcome," the appeal states.

The FDA actually had been poised to lift all age limits and let Plan B sell over the counter in late 2011, when Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius overruled her own scientists. Sebelius said some girls as young as 11 were physically capable of bearing children but shouldn't be able to buy the pregnancy-preventing pill on their own.

Sebelius' move was unprecedented, and Korman had blasted it as election-year politics -- meaning he was overruling not just a government agency but a Cabinet secretary.

Whatever happens in court, moving the morning-after pill over the counter, even if limited to buyers 15 or older, marks a big societal shift in the long battle over women's reproductive rights. But in the volatile debate, both sides were unhappy with FDA's surprise twist.

On Wednesday, doctors' groups including the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists urged the Obama administration not to let the FDA action be the last word, and to follow Korman's lead.

Any over-the-counter access marks a long-awaited change, but it's not enough, said Dr. Cora Breuner of the American Academy of Pediatrics, which supports nonprescription sale of the morning-after pill for all ages.

"We still have the major issue, which is our teen pregnancy rate is still too high," Breuner said.

Even though few young girls likely would use Plan B, which costs about $50 for a single pill, "we know that it is safe for those under 15," she said.

Most 17- to 19-year-olds are sexually active, and 30 percent of 15- and 16-year-olds have had sex, according to a study published last month by the journal Pediatrics. Sex is much rarer among younger teens. Likewise, older teens have a higher pregnancy rate, but that study also counted more than 110,000 pregnancies among 15- and 16-year-olds in 2008 alone.

Contraception advocates see a double standard. No one is carded when buying a condom, but under the FDA's decision they would have to prove their age when buying a pill to prevent pregnancy if that condom breaks.

"This isn't a compromise. This is wrong," said Cynthia Pearson of the National Women's Health Network.

Social conservatives were outraged by the FDA's move to lower the age limits for Plan B -- as well as the possibility that Korman's ruling might take effect and lift age restrictions altogether.

"This decision undermines the right of parents to make important health decisions for their young daughters," said Anna Higgins of the Family Research Council.

Obama aides bristled at the suggestion that the FDA decision was an attempt at political compromise, insisting the FDA merely responded to an application filed by Plan B's manufacturer which sought the 15 age limit and over-the-counter sales.

At the same time, Carney signaled that a policy allowing 15-year-olds to buy the pill off the shelf would be more palatable to Obama than the prospect of 11-year-olds having unfettered access. Pointing to Obama's comments in support of Sebelius back in 2011, Carney said, "he referred to younger girls, and I believe so did Secretary Sebelius."

If a woman already is pregnant, the morning-after pill has no effect. It prevents ovulation or fertilization of an egg. According to the medical definition, pregnancy doesn't begin until a fertilized egg implants itself into the wall of the uterus. Still, 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, a contention that many scientists -- and Korman, in his ruling -- said has been discredited.

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THOU SHALT NOT STEAL: Christian College, Alum Battle Over Domain Name

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Cybersquatting is not a very Christian — or legal — thing to do.

That’s the premise behind a Florida college’s lawsuit against a former student who has allegedly committed trademark infringement and cybersquatting for more than a decade after registering and maintaining a website critical of Pensacola Christian College.

“Gage willfully infringed on PCC’s rights in the Pensacola Christian College mark by holding the domain name hostage, demanding that PCC pay him or a charity of his choice the sum of seventy-five thousand dollars in exchange for the transfer of the domain name,” according to the lawsuit filed on March 25 in the Florida Northern District Court.

"Unfortunately, PCC throttles the hearts, minds, and spirits of their students and makes no apology for the mess they make in the long run."

- Peter Gage, PensacolaChristianCollege.com

The website, pensacolachristiancollege.com, does provide a link to the official page of the 4,500-student college at pcci.edu, but continues to cause “irreparable injury” to the school, according to a lawsuit against graduate Peter Gage seeking $100,000 in damages.

Gage, of Spokane, Wash., graduated from the private school in 1996, five years before registering the website in 2001. Some two years later, Gage ceased all use of the website but continued to maintain its registration as recently as February, according to the lawsuit.

Gage, who declined to comment when reached by FoxNews.com on Tuesday, last updated the website in 2003 and bills it as “The Student Voice,” or the “unofficial” informational website for the Florida college. In a frequently asked questions section of the website, Gage details his “main problem” with PCC.

“The fact is, an institution trying to follow God (more or less) is going to have problems, hurt people, and make mistakes,” the website reads. “Many of us have probably seen churches try to enact biblical discipline only to have it end up in courts or with hurt families or misunderstandings, etc. We can't expect PCC to be perfect. Unfortunately, PCC throttles the hearts, minds, and spirits of their students and makes no apology for the mess they make in the long run. They won't even own up to it.”

Gage also dissuades potential students from attending the bible-centered institution.

“No, I do not think you should go to PCC,” the website reads. “That is my educated opinion, based upon my experience and the experience of thousands of others. The Christianity you are exposed to by the administration is not one you want to emulate throughout your life. The Christian emphasis, godly peer-pressure, and good academics can be found at numerous other good Christian colleges which don't put you through all the garbage.”

In 2001, PCC officials filed a complaint against Gage with the National Arbitration Forum, which oversees disputes regarding websites. Its decision, however, sided with Gage and dismissed PCC’s complaint, finding that the Washington state man clearly identified the site as an unofficial information portal and included a link to the school’s official website. Gage’s site also utilized a .com suffix rather than .edu, thus avoiding confusion that it was officially affiliated with PCC.

“The panel determine that respondent has rights and legitimate interests in respect of the domain name at issue,” according to the ruling. “Accordingly, the complaint is dismissed.”

Amy Glenn, a spokeswoman at the school, told FoxNews.com on Tuesday that a settlement may be forthcoming.

“Since that time, our attorney heard from Mr. Gage and discussions began regarding a resolution,” Glenn wrote in an email. “We are waiting on final confirmation since this is in the hands of the attorneys, but are hopeful that a favorable resolution will be reached quickly so we can take ownership of this site.”

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Film critic Roger Ebert loses battle with cancer- VIDEO: Remembering Roger Ebert

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Roger Ebert, the most famous and most popular film reviewer of his time who become the first journalist to win a Pulitzer Prize for movie criticism and, on his long-running TV program, wielded the nation's most influential thumb, died Thursday, the Chicago Sun-Times reported. He was 70.

Ebert had been a film critic for the Chicago Sun-Times since 1967. He had announced on his blog Wednesday that he was undergoing radiation treatment after a recurrence of cancer.

He had no grand theories or special agendas, but millions recognized the chatty, heavy-set man with wavy hair and horn-rimmed glasses. Above all, they followed the thumb — pointing up or down. It was the main logo of the televised shows Ebert co-hosted, first with the late Gene Siskel of the rival Chicago Tribune and — after Siskel's death in 1999 — with his Sun-Times colleague, Richard Roeper. Although criticized as gimmicky and simplistic, a "two thumbs up" accolade was sure to find its way into the advertising for the movie in question.

Despite his power with the movie-going public, Ebert wrote in his 2011 autobiography "Life Itself," that he considered himself "beneath everything else a fan."

"I have seen untold numbers of movies and forgotten most of them, I hope, but I remember those worth remembering, and they are all on the same shelf in my mind," Ebert wrote in his 2011 memoir, "Life Itself."

He was teased for years about his weight, but the jokes stopped abruptly when Ebert lost portions of his jaw and the ability to speak, eat and drink after cancer surgeries in 2006. But he overcame his health problems to resume writing full-time and eventually even returned to television. In addition to his work for the Sun-Times, Ebert became a prolific user of social media, connecting with fans on Facebook and Twitter.

The thumb logo remained the property of Ebert and Siskel's widow, and in early 2011, Ebert launched his new show, "Ebert Presents At the Movies." The show had new hosts, but featured Ebert in his own segment, "Roger's Office." He used a chin prosthesis and enlisted voice-over guests to read his reviews.

While some called Ebert a brave inspiration, he told The Associated Press in an email in January 2011 that bravery and courage "have little to do with it."

"You play the cards you're dealt," Ebert wrote. "What's your choice? I have no pain, I enjoy life, and why should I complain?"

Ebert joined the Sun-Times part time in 1966 while pursuing graduate study at the University of Chicago, and got the reviewing job the following year. His reviews were eventually syndicated to several hundred other newspapers, collected in books and repeated on innumerable websites, which would have made him one of the most influential film critics in the nation even without his television fame.

His 1975 Pulitzer for distinguished criticism was the first, and one of only three, given to a film reviewer since the category was created in 1970. In 2005, he received another honor when he became the first critic to have a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.

Ebert's breezy and quotable style, as well as his knowledge of film technique and the business side of the industry, made him an almost instant success.

He soon began doing interviews and profiles of notable actors and directors in addition to his film reviews — celebrating such legends as Alfred Hitchcock, John Wayne and Robert Mitchum and offering words of encouragement for then-newcomer Martin Scorsese.

In 1969, he took a leave of absence from the Sun-Times to write the screenplay for "Beyond the Valley of the Dolls." The movie got an "X'' rating and became somewhat of a cult film.

Ebert's television career began the year he won the Pulitzer, first on WTTW-TV, the Chicago PBS station, then nationwide on PBS and later on several commercial syndication services. Ebert and Siskel even trademarked the "two thumbs up" phrase.

And while the pair may have sparred on air, they were close off camera. Siskel's daughters were flower girls when Ebert married his wife, Chaz, in 1992.

"He's in my mind almost every day," Ebert wrote in his autobiography. "He became less like a friend than like a brother."

Ebert was also an author, writing more than 20 books that included two volumes of essays on classic movies and the popular "I Hated, Hated, Hated This Movie," a collection of some of his most scathing reviews.

The son of a union electrician who worked at the University of Illinois' Urbana-Champaign campus, Roger Joseph Ebert was born in Urbana on June 18, 1942. The love of journalism, as well as of movies, came early. Ebert covered high school sports for a local paper at age 15 while also writing and editing his own science fiction fan magazine.

He attended the university and was editor of the student newspaper. After his graduation in 1964, he spent a year on scholarship at the University of Cape Town in South Africa and then began work toward a doctorate in English at the University of Chicago.

Ebert's hometown embraced the film critic, hosting the annual Ebertfest film festival and placing a plaque at his childhood home.

Ebert also was embraced online in the years after he lost his physical voice. He kept up a Facebook page, a Twitter account with nearly 600,000 followers and a blog, Roger Ebert's Journal.

The Internet was where he forged relationships with his readers, posting links to stories he found interesting and writing long pieces on varied topics, not just film criticism. He interacted with readers in the comments sections and liked to post old black-and-white photos of Hollywood stars and ask readers to guess who they were.

"My blog became my voice, my outlet, my 'social media' in a way I couldn't have dreamed of," Ebert wrote in his memoir. "Most people choose to write a blog. I needed to."

Ebert wrote in 2010 that he did not fear death because he didn't believe there was anything "on the other side of death to fear."

"I was perfectly content before I was born, and I think of death as the same state," he wrote. "I am grateful for the gifts of intelligence, love, wonder and laughter. You can't say it wasn't interesting."

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BATTLE FOR SYRIA:US Training Rebel Forces In Jordan, Sources Say

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    Are events coming to a head in Syria?

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    America's Mideast ally being dragged into war?

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    Was the 'red line' crossed in Syria?

American Special Operations forces and Special Force troops tasked to work with U.S. intelligence agents are training small groups of Syrian opposition forces in Jordan, U.S. military sources told Fox News.

The U.S. trainers are working alongside their Jordanian counterparts to facilitate the training, which has been going on for the past eight to 12 months, the sources say. 

The training program, first reported by the Associated Press, involves classes of about 50 to 60 secular Syrian fighters led by about 100 American trainers, a number that was capped by the Jordanian government. The program is part of a bid to bolster forces battling President Bashar Assad's regime and stem the influence of Islamist radicals among the country's persistently splintered opposition.

But there remain concerns that Al Qaeda figures have infiltrated the Free Syrian Army, making any official support and training to the opposition all the more difficult. At the same time, a senior defense official downplayed the reports, saying the U.S. military is helping to train only Jordanians, not the Syrian opposition.

The Associated Press added that the forces being trained aren't members of the Free Syrian Army. Those in Washington also stressed that the U.S. is providing only nonlethal aid at this point. Others such as Britain and France are involved, the AP's sources said, though it's unclear whether any Western governments are providing materiel or other direct military support after two years of civil war that according to the United Nations already has killed more than 70,000 people.

The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they weren't authorized to speak publicly about the program.

Officially, the Obama administration has been vague on the subject of what type of military training it may be providing, while insisting that it is doing all it can -- short of providing weapons to the rebels or engaging in its own military intervention -- to hasten the demise of the Assad family's four-decade dictatorship.

White House spokesman Josh Earnest said Monday the U.S. has "provided some logistical nonlethal support that has also come in handy for the Syrian rebels who are, again, fighting a regime that is not hesitating to use the military might of that regime against its own people.

"That is something we're going to continue to work to bring to an end," he told reporters.

It's unclear what effect the training has had in the conflict, which has become a quagmire with Assad's regime unable to snuff out the rebellion and Syria's opposition incapable thus far of delivering any serious blow to the ruling government's grip on Damascus and control over much of the country.

Some of the Syrians the U.S. is involved with are in turn training other Syrians inside the border, officials said.

They declined to provide more information because they said that would go too deep into intelligence matters. Defense Department officials insisted the Pentagon isn't involved with any military training or arms provisions to the Syrian rebels, either directly or indirectly. The CIA declined to comment.

The New York Times reported Monday that the CIA helped Arab governments and Turkey sharply increase their military aid to Syria's opposition in recent months, with secret airlifts or arms and equipment. It cited traffic data, officials in several countries and rebel commanders, and said the airlift began on a small scale a year ago but has expanded steadily to more than 160 military cargo flights by Jordanian, Saudi and Qatari planes landing in Turkish and Jordanian airports.

The training in Jordan, however, suggests the U.S. help is aimed somewhat at enhancing the rebels' capacity in southern Syria, the birthplace of the revolution two years ago when teenagers in the sleepy agricultural outpost of Dara'a scribbled graffiti on a wall and were tossed into jail, spurring Syria's own version of an Arab Spring uprising. Much of the violence since, however, has been in the northern of the country where rebels have scored several military successes after the Assad regime cracked down brutally on peaceful protesters.

Despite months of U.S. and international support to build a cohesive political movement, however, Syria's fractured opposition is still struggling to rally Syrians behind a common post-Assad vision. And the opposition coalition appears as much hampered by its political infighting as its military deficiencies against an Assad regime arsenal of tanks, fighter jets and scud missiles.

The coalition's president, Mouaz al-Khatib, resigned his position on Sunday because of what he described as restrictions on his work and frustration with the level of international aid. He said Monday he would still represent the opposition this week in Doha, where the Gulf state of Qatar will host a two-day Arab League summit starting Tuesday.

Al-Khatib's resignation comes only days after the opposition chose Ghassan Hitto, a long-time Texas resident, to head its interim government after intense wrangling over posts and influence that U.S. officials say has strained the opposition's unity and caused friction among its primary benefactors Saudi Arabia, Qatar and Turkey.

It's also unclear how al-Khatib's departure will affect the U.S. goal of political negotiations with amenable members of the Assad regime to end the civil war, given the moderate preacher's support for talks. Much of the Syrian opposition rejects such talks.

"He's been a courageous leader," State Department spokesman Patrick Ventrell said of al-Khatib.

"But the bottom line is what we're looking for is unity," Ventrell said. "We continue to support the coalition's vision for a tolerant, inclusive Syria. We want them to continue to work together to implement that vision."

Secretary of State John Kerry travels to Paris on Wednesday to meet French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius for talks expected to focus on arming Syrian rebels. The discussions also are expected to touch on the suspected use of chemical weapons in Syria, according to French officials.

U.S. officials say there are strong indications that chemical weapons weren't used in an attack last week in northern Aleppo, over which the regime and the rebels have issued counterclaims.

Washington has said it will support a U.N. investigation.

Fox News' Jennifer Griffin and The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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Chavez Dies After Battle With Cancer

CARACAS, Venezuela –  Venezuela's vice president announced that President Hugo Chavez died on Tuesday, ending 14 years of rule by the firebrand socialist but leaving his party firmly in control of the nation.

Vice President Nicolas Maduro said that Chavez died "after battling a tough illness for nearly two years."

The death apparently sets up a presidential election to replace Chavez, whose illness prevented him from taking the oath of office for the term to which he was re-elected last year.

Under the constitution, the head of Congress, Diosdado Cabello, would assume the interim presidency.

The announcement came just hours after Maduro announced the government had expelled two U.S. diplomats from the country.

Maduro also said "we have no doubt" that Chavez's cancer, which was first diagnosed in June 2011, was induced by foul play by "the historical enemies of our homeland."

He compared the situation to the death of the Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat, claiming Arafat was "inoculated with an illness."

Chavez's inner circle has long claimed the United States was behind a failed 2002 attempt to overthrow him, and he has frequently played the anti-American card to stir up support. Venezuela has been without a U.S. ambassador since July 2010.

Maduro is Chavez's self-anointed successor and has been taking on a larger role since the socialist leader urged Venezuelans to choose him as president before disappearing in early December to undergo a fourth round of cancer surgery in Cuba.

Venezuela's Constitution calls for snap presidential elections to be held if Chavez dies, and some analysts wondered whether Maduro's suggesting the country was under attack by U.S. subterfuge might not be an excuse to delay the election and tighten his grip on power.

The government announced late Monday that Chavez's condition was "very delicate" due to a "new, severe" respiratory infection threw an already anxious nation into even greater uncertainty

"We don't know if he's alive or if he's dead, because they are manipulating the public," Antonio Perez, a retired 60-year-old public servant, said of the government. "Everyone want to just see the president to know if it's true that he's still with us."

Supporters of the 58-year-old president prayed for Chavez on Tuesday at a chapel outside the military hospital where the government says he has been since Feb. 18.

Maduro aired his claim of an alleged attempt to destabilize "Venezuelan society" and the "political system constructed in recent years" before the nation's high command, and the governors of 20 of 23 states loyal to President Chavez, half of them former military officers.

He accused U.S. Embassy's Air Force attache Col. David Delmonaco of spying on Venezuela's military and seeking to involve officers in "destabilizing projects." Maduro gave Delmonaco 24 hours to leave, and U.S. officials said he had already departed the country.

Later Tuesday, Foreign Minister Elias Jaua said a second U.S. Air Force attache was being expelled, also for alleged espionage.

"Let's remember that active participation of the United States in the fascist coup of 2002," Jaua said.

Chavez had neither been seen nor heard from, except for photos released in mid-February, since submitting to a fourth round of surgery in Cuba on Dec. 11 for an unspecified cancer in the pelvic area. It was first diagnosed in June 2011.

The government said Chavez returned home on Feb. 18 and has been confined to Caracas' military hospital ever since.

Maduro said Tuesday that the government was "on the trail of other elements that figure in this entire venomous scenario and are seeking to stir up trouble."

The man Chavez defeated in Oct. 7 presidential elections, the youthful Miranda state Gov. Henrique Capriles, would be expected to represent the opposition in any new elections.

Maduro repeated government claims that Capriles met in the United States over the weekend with right-wing U.S. conspirators and was planning to meet over the weekend with Roberta Jacobsen, assistant U.S. secretary of state for the hemisphere.

One provocateur on state TV even accused the Capriles family of buying a New York City apartment with stolen funds.

Capriles responded via Twitter Tuesday by calling Maduro a liar.

"Lie after lie in every speech," he said.

According to Venezuela's Constitution, elections were to be called if the president could not be sworn in on Jan. 10, but a Supreme Court packed with Chavez loyalists said that wasn't necessary.

The campaigning, though undeclared, has nevertheless already begun. Maduro has frequently commandeered all broadcast channels, Chavez-style, to tout the "revolution" and vilify the opposition.

Chavez has run Venezuela for more than 14 years as a virtual one-man show, gradually placing all state institutions under his personal control. But the former army paratroop commander, who rose to fame by launching a failed 1992 coup, never groomed a successor with his same kind of force of personality.

Maduro said last week that the president had begun receiving chemotherapy around the end of January.

Doctors have said such therapy is not necessarily to beat Chavez's cancer into remission, but could have been palliative, to extend Chavez's life and ease his suffering.

Dr. Carlos Castro, scientific director of the Colombian League Against Cancer, said "it's difficult to predict" when Chavez might die, but he believes "it's a matter of days."

Castro said Chavez could face further respiratory complications if he receives more intense chemotherapy treatment.

If the president's medical team "gives him strong chemotherapy again, then it would not be surprising if some infections reappear," Castro said in a telephone interview.

While in Cuba, Chavez suffered a severe respiratory infection in late December that nearly killed him, Maduro said last week. A tracheal tube was inserted then, and government officials have said his breathing remained labored.

Libardo Rodriguez, a 60-year-old orange juice vendor, said he was very worried after Monday evening's announcement and the government should provide more information about Chavez.

"We are worried because he does not appear. The truth is that I don't know what's happening," said Rodriguez, who identified himself as a Chavez supporter.

"There are many rumors and nobody knows who to believe," he said. "We hope he's alive."

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