To provide clarity and an evidence base for discussions and advocacy around emergency contraception, ICEC is creating a series of annotated bibliographies to explore specific themes reported on in the research literature.

The first of these bibliographies explores the scientific work that has been done to define EC's mechanism of action. By carefully reading and summarizing close to 20 scientific articles, we concluded that there is strong evidence that EC's primary mechanism of action is delaying or preventing ovulation.

Read the ICEC Annotated Bibliography on EC's Mechanism of Action here.

Coming soon: ICEC Annotated Bibliography on EC and Behavior.
EC opponents have charged that easier access to EC can lead to changes in behavior, such as increased sexual risk taking and less use of condoms. A number of carefully controlled studies, however, have found that women with access to EC do not have more risky sex. This bibliography describes and summarizes these studies.

In addition, ICEC works with WHO to compile scientific articles on EC. Key information and abstracts of these articles can be searched in our database.