Plan B - Emergency Contraception (Birth Control)

WASHINGTON - By the end of the year, U.S. women will be able to walk into any pharmacy and buy emergency contraceptive pills without a prescription as a result of a Food and Drug Administration decision on Thursday, August 24.
 
The decision means women will not have to go to a doctor as long as they prove they are 18 or older to a pharmacist, who will keep the drugs behind a counter. Younger teens still will need a prescription, and the pills will not be sold at gas stations, convenience stores or other outlets that do not have pharmacists. Plus-Size Apparel | MySpace.com | Tubal Reverse Surgery

The approval marks the first time a hormonal contraceptive will be available in the United States without a prescription. The pills, which will be sold as Plan B, will probably cost about $25 to $40 per dose, and men also will be able to buy them.

The Plan B package instructions state that you should take 1 white pill within 120 hours after unprotected sex and 1 more white pill 12 hours later. Each dose contains 0.75 mg of levonorgestrel. 

However, recent research indicates that both doses can be taken at the same time: take 2 Plan B pills as soon as possible after unprotected intercourse. The user should be instructed that if she vomits within one hour of taking either dose of medication she should contact her health care professional to discuss whether to repeat that dose.

Emergency contraception (EC) (also known as Emergency Birth Control (EBC)the morning-after pill, or postcoital contraception)

refers to measures, that if taken after sex, may prevent a pregnancy.

Forms of EC include:

• Emergency contraceptive pill -referred to simply as "emergency contraception," "ECPs," or "ECs", or "morning-after pill" -are hormones that act both to prevent ovulation or fertilisation, or possibly, post-fertilisation, subsequent implantation of a blastocyst (embryo). ECPs are not to be confused with chemical abortion methods that act after implantation has occurred.
• Intrauterine devices (IUDs) - usually used as a primary contraception method, but sometimes used as emergency contraception.

As opposed to regular methods of contraception, ECs are considered for use in occasional cases only, for example in the event of contraceptive failure. Since they act before implantation, they are considered medically and legally to be forms of contraception. However, some who are pro-life define pregnancy as beginning with fertilization, so they consider EC to be an abortifacient.