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Hey there! I haven't been on Scarleteen in a long time. I am so thankful that I found this site back when I needed it. I read all the articles about virginity when I was getting ready to have sex for the first time. They helped to shape my views of sexuality in a positive and empowering way! Thanks!
I'm very pleased that Plan B will be available without a prescription because it gives women another option in their reproductive health, which is never a bad thing! It is advised to be taken up to 72 hours after unprotected sex, but I don't understand what good that would do. Once a man's semen is inside the woman and the conditions are right for conception, why wouldn't the conception occur right away? What is the sperm doing inside the woman for 72 hours if it's not trying to meet up with the egg?!
Posts: 23 | From: Massachusetts, USA | Registered: Sep 2006
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The following is from the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA).
Plan B works like a birth control pill to prevent pregnancy mainly by stopping the release of an egg from the ovary. It is possible that Plan B may also work by preventing fertilization of an egg (the uniting of sperm with the egg) or by preventing attachment (implantation) to the uterus (womb), which usually occurs beginning 7 days after release of an egg from the ovary. Plan B will not do anything to a fertilized egg already attached to the uterus. The pregnancy will continue.
Here's something from Princeton University.
Plan B is believed to act as an emergency contraceptive principally by delaying ovulation or preventing fertilization. In addition, it may inhibit implantation by altering the endometrium. Plan B is not effective if a woman is pregnant. Plan B cannot terminate an established pregnancy.
Posts: 220 | From: Massachusetts, USA | Registered: Jul 2006
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Even if the sperm do meet an egg, that egg will then take a few days to reach the uterus and implant. If this happens, the main thing EC tries to do is thin the uterine lining so that the egg can't implant - if it's too late to prevent ovulation.
FERTILISATION is quick, but it's the actual implantation that takes the time, which is why EC is said to be effective up to five days following the risk.
Posts: 336 | From: Manchester, UK | Registered: Apr 2004
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Actually, the latest research suggests that EC works primarily by preventing fertilization, and that post-fertilization effects are minimal-to-non-existent.
What is the sperm doing inside the woman for 72 hours if it's not trying to meet up with the egg?!
Hanging around in case an egg comes along, basically.
By the way, EC can be effective up to 100-120 hours after the risk, so it's not just 72 hours. But it's more likely to be effective the sooner it's taken.
-------------------- "Do not be daunted by the enormity of the world's grief. Do justly, now. Love mercy, now. Walk humbly, now. You are not obligated to complete the work, but neither are you free to abandon it." - the Talmud Posts: 6944 | From: UK | Registered: May 2002
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