By Heather Corinna

It's amazing that with something as safe, simple, affordable and revolutionary as emergency contraception that it STILL isn't being used by millions of women who could use it, and who would prefer to avoid an abortion or an unwanted pregnancy. In part, that's because so many doctors and clinics still do not inform and educate women about EC. Here's some EC clarity, on the house. Pass it on!

1) The morning after pill is the same as abortion, and I'm pro-life.
Yeah, 'cept for the part where it's not the same as abortion.

EC is called contraception, because it is birth control. Emergency contraception CANNOT work if conception has already occurred: pregnancy is not instant, it takes some time, and that is why after 120 hours, EC is unlikely to work. EC works by PREVENTING pregnancy, right from the start, not by terminating an existing pregnancy. No doctor could tell you you were pregnant within a few days of a risk, because conception takes longer that that to occur. And if you can't be pregnant that early, you can't very well have an abortion that early, now can you? Emergency contraception is not abortion: it cannot terminate an existing pregnancy.

However, if your pro-life stance ALSO includes birth control methods, then yes, EC will fall under that umbrella, as it is birth control.

2) It's difficult to get.
In most areas of the western world, it's NOT difficult to get and in most of the world as a whole at this point, some form of EC can be obtained. It remains more difficult in most areas of the world to obtain abortion and affordable prenatal care than it does to access emergency contraception, something to bear in mind if you're thinking of blowing off using EC because it just seems to hard to arrange.

Click here for information on where to obtain EC and for a list of emergency contraceptives available internationally.

If you live in an area where you are being refused EC by your doctor, pharmacist or clinic, make some phone calls. While one provider may refuse (despite it being ethically questionable to do so, no matter their personal feelings about EC), there are almost always others nearby who will gladly furnish you with EC.

Don't have a car? Me either.

But I have a bike. I have a bus system. I have taxis. I have friends with cars. I have these cute, functional things we call feet on my planet. And that given, I can get myself almost anywhere, both in daily life and certainly in crisis situations. So, call a friend. If the sex you had was consensual, call the partner who is at least half responsible for your need for EC. Look up your bus routes. Walk or use your bike.

If you found a means of transport, or your partner did, to have sex, you can find one to get EC.

If you have no other transportation resource besides your parents and they are not aware you are sexually active or have had a pregnancy risk, it might be time to consider telling them so you can get EC, rather than having to tell them when you are either seeking out an abortion or planning to bring a pregnancy to term and then parent or put a child up for adoption. Unless you know or suspect disclosure will put your physical safety in danger, scary as it seems to tell your folks about stuff like this, these things DO blow over in time and going through a pregnancy alone is a whole lot scarier, riskier and more difficult to deal with.

3) It's not legal for me to take it at my age, and I can't get my parents permission.
It is unlikely in most areas that it is illegal for a minor to obtain and use emergency contraception, or for a minor to require parental consent. So, if your provider tells you they need parental consent, they are not likely basing that on law, but personal preference. Should that happen, find a different provider to obtain EC.

If you are under 18, in some areas you will not be able to get EC unless you have a prescription for it -- rather than being able to get it over-the-counter -- but that is not about it being illegal for you to take it.

4) I was raped, but no one offered it to me, so I assumed it wouldn't work for me.
If it was LESS than 120 hours since your assault when you reported it, you absolutely SHOULD have been offered EC and counseled about it as an option. Some states are now thankfully adding laws to require that rape victims be offered EC (to date, those laws exist in New York, California, Illinois, New Mexico and Washington).

If it is still within that window and you were not, call the rape counselor, doctor or clinic you were assigned when you reported, or call back the police station or officer you went to and ask for an immediate EC referral.

If you do not want to or did not report or go to a hospital after your assault, the burden of seeking out EC lies with you.

5) It's too expensive.
Birth control -- unfortunately -- is often expensive. For that matter, partnered sex is expensive if you're going to engage in it with even a little responsibility and safety. Good condoms cost around $2 each. A month's worth of birth control pills is around $25, sometimes more. EC costs around $30 - $50. When a GYN visit is added to that cost it is higher, however, every menstruating women -- especially those who are sexually active -- should have annual GYN exams. Once you have a regular provider for those, if you call in for EC, you may not be charged at all for the call or exam. If you use or have public health services or national healthcare, EC may be provided to you at a very low cost or even no cost.

Remember that on average, an abortion in the US usually costs around $350 at a bare minimum. The cost of prenatal care and childbirth tends to be at least a few thousand dollars, and that is but the tip of the iceberg on what it costs to raise a child right now. To get an idea of how much money parenting costs -- just with basics like housing, healthcare, clothing, transportation and food -- take a look at this piece from the University of Minnesota. You'll notice that even in the lowest income range, with a two-income family, you're looking at a bare minimum of several hundred dollars a month for your child alone, and that those amounts tend to get higher with every year of a child's life you'd be supporting for at least 18 years.

So, $30 - $50? That's a bargain.

6) I can just go get it for my girlfriend.
Maybe, but maybe not. If you are over 18 then you can get it for her over the counter. If you are under 18, a prescription will be needed, which you cannot acquire for someone else. And I have to tell you: if you're saying this thinking that's the thing to do every time, guy? Nuh-uh. You CAN use a condom every time, though, and spare your girlfriend the days of nausea, the expense, and have something far cheaper, easier and more effective to use.

7) It's hazardous to my health.
Less so than regular combination pill use, actually, which is safe for users following the instructions and who do not have health conditions of lifestyle habits which make BCPs risky to use. Abortion carries more risks than EC, and pregnancy more risks than either. As well, unprotected sex -- which someone considering EC may have engaged in -- is far riskier to your health than EC is.

8) It'll make me really sick.
For plenty of women, the side effects of EC, when any are present, are not dissimilar to strong PMS symptoms. Women with an established pregnancy, heart conditions, blood clots or certain cancers, may not be able to use emergency contraception because those women do have increased health risks. For some women, EC causes some nausea, and for fewer women, some vomiting, but in most cases it is mild and does not last more than a day or two.

Pity the same can't be said for morning sickness.

9) "But I already used it a few months ago: someone told me it stops working if you've used it before."
There is nothing which supports that idea.

While EC is not a good choice for use as birth control, as used often it WOULD be expensive, and is less effective than most other reliable methods of birth control used properly, it works just as well if you've taken it three times as it will the first time you take it.

Just remember that EC is most likely to be effective, always, the sooner it is taken. It can be used within 120 hours of a risk, but the sooner it is taken, the greater chance it has to be effective, so whenever you use it, your best bet is to go out and get it the same day or the morning after you've had a risk.

10) But my doctor/pastor/teacher/parent TOLD me it is the same as abortion.
They may just not understand pregnancy, abortion and/or emergency contraception, which isn't unusual: a lot of people don't, and plenty of people don't seek out correct information, especially if they suspect the facts would conflict with their personal belief system.

Abortion is a procedure which terminates an existing pregnancy, after a viable pregnancy has occurred, which is BOTH conception and implantation (explain chemical pregnancy). Emergency contraception ONLY works by PREVENTING conception and implantation -- pregnancy -- and CANNOT terminate a pregnancy, any more than taking two oral contraceptive pills could.

Some people use the term abortion, in a way that is outside it's actual definition, to describe ANYTHING, including birth control or even natural miscarriage, which interferes with a possible birth. It is possible, too then, that someone telling you EC is abortion is using the term hyperbolically in that way.

Related Books

Contraceptive Technology -Trade 18th Ed. author: Robert A. Hatcher asin: 096649024X