Emergency contraceptives are a combination of two to four birth control pills, taken within 72 hours of unprotected intercourse, that can prevent women from getting pregnant. In 49 of the 50 U.S. states, women need a doctor's prescription to get the pills. But researchers at the University of Edinburgh, who studied nearly 1,100 women, found that women who were given the pills in advance used them correctly and suffered no ill effects when compared with women who had to see their doctors for the pills. Washington state recently became the first U.S. state to allow pharmacists to dispense emergency contraception to women without a prescription. In just two months, more than 1,000 women made use of the service.
Emergency contraceptives are so safe.
All women should have an emergency contraceptive pill kit in their medicine chest, for themselves or for a friend. An editorial accompanying the study in the journal by Dr. Phillip Stubblefield of Boston University Medical Center recommends making emergency contraception available without prescription. Last year, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration ruled that six brands of birth control pills could be safely and effectively used as morning-after pills. But one recent survey found that just one in 10 women were aware that such emergency contraception was available. The debate about the use of morning-after pills has become entangled in the debate over abortion.