The Early Word: Control

In Today's Times

• The Obama administration plans to contest a judge's order for the Food and Drug Administration to make a morning-after birth control pill available to girls under 15 without a prescription, the administration's current age limit. The appeal reaffirms the administration's election-year decision to block such sales, “and puts the White House back into the politically charged issue of access to emergency contraception,” Pam Belluck and Michael D. Shear explain.

• Americans overwhelmingly agree on the need for background checks for gun buyers and a path to citizenship for illegal immigrants, but split on partisan lines on whether President Obama or Congressional Republicans are better suited to make the best decisions on those and other domestic issues, Ashley Parker and Allison Kopicki write, summing up the latest New York Times/CBS News poll. They add that the gap could explain why Mr. Obama and Democrats “are still struggling to translate public support into tangible political backing for their initiatives.”

• Immigration is on President Obama's agenda on Thursday as he begins a three-day trip to Mexico and Costa Rica to meet with Latin American leaders. Michael D. Shear and Randal C. Archibold write that discussions between Mr. Obama and President Enrique Peña Nieto of Mexico on Thursday, which will also encompass economic and trade matters as well as the drug war, come as lawmakers in Washington are considering an immigration overhaul that would affect millions of Mexicans who are in the United States illegally.

• The death of gun legislation in Congress last month hangs over efforts on Capitol Hill to overhaul immigration laws, portending a bumpy ride, Jennifer Steinhauer writes.

• Edward Wyatt gets a feel for Tom Wheeler, President Obama's pick to lead the Federal Communications Commission, while Annie Lowrey examines the president's choice of Representative Melvin Watt, Democrat of North Carolina, to lead the regulator that oversees Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.

Around the Web

• Attempts by Republican governors to reduce income taxes have been blunted by their allies in Republican-led legislatures, where lawmakers have raised concerns about revenue losses, according to The Wall Street Journal.

Happening in Washington

• Economic reports expected Thursday include first-quarter productivity and weekly jobless claims at 8:30 a.m., followed at 10 a.m. by weekly mortgage rates.

• Adm. William H. McRaven, the commander of the United States Special Operations Command, will discuss his vision for Special Operations and the command during a program at the Woodrow Wilson Center that begins at 12:30 p.m.

• At 1 p.m., Vice President Joseph R. Biden Jr. will hold a closed-door meeting on gun safety with law enforcement officials at the White House.