President Barack Obama on Thursday said he didn't intervene in a decision by his top health official to overrule the Food and Drug commissioner to block the Plan B emergency contraceptive pill from becoming available to young teens without a prescription.

Obama also said he supports the decision by Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius on Wednesday to step in and prevent the FDA from approving a request by the drug's manufacturer, Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd. (TEVA, TEVA.TV), to remove the current requirement that girls under age 17 need a prescription for the drug.

It was the first time an HHS secretary has overruled an FDA decision, according to an FDA spokeswoman.

Obama said "as the father of two daughters. I think it's important for us to make sure that we apply some common sense to various rules when it comes to over-the-counter medicine."

He said he was concerned that the medicine would be sold alongside "bubblegum or batteries."

"And I think that most parents would feel the same way," he said.

-By Jared A. Favole, Dow Jones Newswires; 202-862-9256; jared.favole@dowjones.com