Dear Dr. Sophia:
I have heard about the "morning after pill" and Emergency Contraception. Are they the same thing? Are they abortion pills?

Dr. Sophia: The "morning after pill" and Emergency Contraception pills (ECP) are the same thing. The two are not abortion pills. An abortion is when an egg and sperm have hooked up and stuck to the uterus and the conceptus is then scraped off the side of the uterus; whereas, ECPs do not do this. ECPs work in the same way as birth control pills by:

1. Preventing the egg and sperm from hooking up (blocking the egg from coming out of the ovary, blocking the sperm from going into the uterus and/or blocking the motility of these two towards each other)

2. If the egg and sperm have already hooked up, ECPs make the uterus like Teflon. The egg/sperm will not stick to the uterus and thus the woman does not become pregnant.
If the egg/sperm have hooked up and stuck to the side of the uterus, a woman is pregnant. If you take ECPs when you are pregnant, NOTHING happens. You do not harm the growing conceptus. and an abortion does not happen.

All women who are sexually active should have a package of ECPs at their bedside in case of an accident such as:
- the condom broke or slipped off
- you missed some birth control pills
- you were raped
Every hour a woman waits to take the medication the egg and sperm could be hooking up and sticking to the uterus. Once they are hooked up and stuck to the uterus, the medicine does not work and the woman is pregnant.

To get ECPs, you can:
1. Ask your doctor at your next visit for a prescription
2. If it is an emergency, pharmacies are allowed to give out ECPs as long as they have a contract with an MD. Most Walgreens in Northern California have contracted with Planned Parenthood Golden Gate to do this. Thus, in an emergency call your local Walgreens, and ask if they can give out ECPs and go to that Walgreens. Note: pharmacies may charge a counseling fee.
3. In an emergency, you can also try calling your own doctor and getting him/her to call in a prescription.

When getting ECPs, ask for “Plan B”. It is a progesterone only formulation which has 1/2 the side effects and twice the efficacy of combination (estrogen/progesterone) ECPs.

For more information on ECPs checkout: http://www.backupyourbirthcontrol.org/

All information presented here is simply educational. BAARE and Dr. Yen are not legally liable for any action you take based on this information. You are advised to seek the advice of doctor in person before taking any action based on this column.

Have a question? Write to DrSophia@baare.org