Morning After Pill

The morning-after pill is otherwise known as emergency contraception. It is typically taken up to 72 hours after sexual intercourse to prevent or terminate a pregnancy. The morning-after pill is made up of a high dosage of the birth control pill. It works in one of the same three ways as birth control pills do:

1. Ovulation is inhibited, meaning the egg will not be released;
2. The normal menstrual cycle is altered, delaying ovulation; or
3. It can irritate the lining of the uterus so that if the first and second actions fail, and the woman does become pregnant, the human being created will die before he or she can actually attach to the lining of the uterus.

The result of the third action is a chemical abortion.

Some of the side effects of emergency contraception include:

• nausea
• vomiting
• infertility
• breast tenderness
• ectopic pregnancy (can be life threatening)
• blood clot formation

Currently there are no long-term studies of emergency contraception to know whether such high dosages of these chemicals are harmful.