The Morning After Pill

The Morning After Pill

The morning after pill or Emergency Contraceptives goes by several different names, each describing the same immoral drug. That is at least the preconceived notion I had when I started researching it. In the United States, Plan B or emergency contraceptives were approved by the FDA for sale without a prescription to women and men 18 years and older on August 24, 2006. Women aged 17 and younger will still require a prescription to buy Plan B. Although, there is much debate on how readily available Plan B should be made to consumers. The major concern being the time it takes to get the pills. After all, getting a doctor's appointment and buying the pills takes time, wasted time that may make the pills less effective. That's why many leading medical associations, including the Society for Adolescent Medicine and the American Academy of Pediatrics have criticized the FDA age limit for making it harder for teens in the US to get emergency contraceptives and prevent a pregnancy. The FDA wrote in a letter that it was not satisfied with the research done on how younger teens would respond to the pill. Which is why they did not approve the pill the first time around in the 90’s. Researchers today have identified several ways in which emergency contraceptive pills are likely prevent pregnancy. However, predicting how the pill will work is really the key to ending the conflicts and debates about he pill.
Progestin-only emergency contraceptive pills are pills that contain levonorgestrel, a type of the hormone progestin researchers have found prevents pregnancy when taken as many as five days after sex. In the United States, the only progestin-only emergency contraceptive pill is Plan B. If you already have a pack of regular birth control pills, you may be able to use them for emergency contraception. However, these brands of pills are not as effective as pills containing only progestin, such as Plan B in the United States.
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