The term "emergency contraception" refers
to several contraceptive methods that can be used to
prevent pregnancy after sex. These methods include Emergency
Contraceptive pills (ECPs) -- special doses of ordinary
birth control pills -- as well as insertion of an intrauterine
device (IUD). They offer women an important second chance
to prevent pregnancy when a regular method fails, no
method was used, or sex was forced.
Research over the past 30 years has shown that these
methods are safe and effective. It is endorsed by the
World Health Organization and many other international
and national organizations. View the WHO’s fact
sheet on levonorgestrel emergency contraceptive pills
in English
or Spanish.
Depending on the method used, emergency contraception
can reduce a woman's risk of becoming pregnant from
a single act of intercourse by between 75 and 99 percent.
