The Morning After Pill is a so-called emergency contraceptive that can be taken within the first 72 hours after intercourse to prevent pregnancy.[1] The Morning After Pill is a high dosage of the birth control pill, and when it is used properly, it prevents or ends pregnancy.[2] Typically, each kit includes a pregnancy test, pills and an information book.
The Morning After Pill comes with a pregnancy test. No urine pregnancy test will show positive until 7 to 10 days after conception; therefore, a positive pregnancy test at this point means that the woman is pregnant from an earlier sexual encounter. The instructions in the kit say that "it will give you 'peace of mind' to know you are not pregnant from sex earlier in the month or in previous months." The literature provided in the kit states over and over that women who are pregnant should not take the pills. The effects of doing so are not known because no direct studies have ever been done.
Are there any other names for the Morning After Pill?
Yes. Although Plan B® is the most common brand of the Morning After Pill, there are other brand names as well. You may know the Morning After Pill by the names Ovrette®, Cryselle® and Alesse®.
Depending on what brand you use, a set number of pills need to be taken within the first 72 hours, followed by more pills 12 hours later.3 According to where you are in your menstrual cycle, the pill could affect you in three different ways:
Yes. There are both short-term and long-term side effects to taking the Morning After Pill. Short-term side effects may include:
Long-term side effects may include:
If an egg has been fertilized (conception), and you take the pill, the pill will work to prevent the egg from implanting in your uterine wall. If this happens, an abortion will occur, because the egg has already been fertilized. The fertilization of an egg can occur as early as 15 minutes after intercourse.[6] The fertilized egg contains all 46 human chromosomes. These chromosomes are the complex genetic design that will determine the hair, sex, eye color, skin tone and height of a child.[7]
If the Morning After Pill is taken after the egg is fertilized, the egg may not be able to implant because of the effects that the hormones in the Pill have on your uterine wall. If these are the circumstances inside your body when you take the Morning After Pill, the Pill is "not a contraceptive; it's a very, very early abortifacient drug."[8]
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