Media Center: Emergency Contraception

After a lengthy battle and many unnecessary delays, in August 2006, the Food and Drug Administration allowed women aged 18 and older to obtain emergency contraceptive pills directly from a pharmacist. A district court ruling in March 2009 expanded non-prescription access to 17-year-olds.

Emergency contraception is a high dose of the hormones found in regular birth control pills, and can prevent pregnancy up to five days after unprotected sex.  PRCH can provide you with the facts about how emergency contraception works, and why this medication is safe for both adult and adolescent women.

What Our Doctors Are Saying

“Abortion opponents often conflate emergency contraception with abortion, despite clear evidence to the contrary. Medical studies have demonstrated that emergency contraception prevents ovulation and therefore, a potential pregnancy. If a woman is already pregnant when she takes the medication, it will have no effect.”
—PRCH fellow Raegan McDonald-Mosley, MD, MPH, The Washington Post

Resources

• PRCH’s guide to emergency contraception helps doctors and other healthcare providers answer patients’ questions about this form of birth control
• Our ARSHEP program features an educational module that trains doctors about giving emergency contraception to adolescent patients

Press Releases