Morning After Pill Comes Up Short

Ivanhoe Newswire
Thursday, April 19, 2007; 12:00 AM

(Ivanhoe Newswire) -- Ready access to emergency contraception isn't living up to expectations.

A new review of the medical literature shows women aren't any more likely to make use of the pills -- called Plan B -- if they already have them in their medicine cabinets than they are if they have to acquire them after having unprotected sex. Overall, women became pregnant at about the same rate whether they had the pills on hand or whether they had to go out and get them.

Some experts have speculated the pills would make a greater impact if women could have them on hand all the time, rather than having to acquire them should an incidence of unprotected intercourse take place. Because the pills must be taken within 72 hours of unprotected sex, the theory is women would be more likely to take them if they were already in their medicine cabinets.

While emphasizing women should have easy access to these pills, the researchers believe these findings point to a need for better ways to ensure this form of contraception is used among women facing unwanted pregnancies.

"Future research should address the behavioral issues surrounding the failure to use emergency contraception when needed, even when it is readily available," the Johns Hopkins authors were quoted as saying.

The study was based on eight previous trials conducted among women in the United States, China and India. Researchers compared ready access to emergency contraception to usual methods of contraception, including provision of emergency contraception following unprotected sex.

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SOURCE: The Cochrane Library, published online April 17, 2007