They used a condom, but unfortunately it broke. It didn’t seem to matter much last night, but now Beth’s mind was racing with questions: What if I’m pregnant? Jeremy’s had sex with other girls – what if he has an STD and gave it to me? What if my parents find out?
Nicole was Beth’s best friend—and she had a pregnancy scare a few months ago—surely she would know what to do. She recommended that Beth go to the pharmacy and buy Plan B – the “Morning After Pill.” Although it wouldn’t protect Beth from getting a sexually transmitted infection, Nicole said it would prevent a pregnancy if she took it right away.
Beth had heard you could get the Morning After Pill at the pharmacy without a prescription, but she still had a lot of questions about it, and she needed them answered…fast.
What is the “Morning After Pill”?
The Morning After Pill contains a mega dosage of the hormone progestin, and when it is used as directed, it prevents or ends pregnancy. It is marketed as an “emergency contraceptive.”
How does the “Morning After Pill” work?
Depending on where you are in your menstrual cycle, the pill could affect you in one of three ways:
- Ovulation may be prevented if you haven’t already started ovulating (the egg will not be released to meet with the sperm).
- The lining of the fallopian tubes (where fertilization occurs) may be affected so that sperm cannot reach the egg, preventing fertilization, also known as conception.
- The lining of your uterus will become irritated, and if an egg has already been released and fertilized by the sperm, this irritation will interfere with the ability of the embryo to implant in your uterus.
Are there side effects?
Yes. There are several short-term side effects from taking the Morning After Pill. These may include:
- Nausea and vomiting
- Irregular and unpredictable menstrual periods
- Breast tenderness
- Fatigue
- Headache
It wouldn’t be like I was getting an abortion…right?
If an egg has been fertilized, and you take the Morning After Pill, it will work to prevent the embryo from implanting in your uterine wall. If this happens, an abortion will occur, because each human life begins as an embryo.3
Shortly after the sperm penetrates the egg, 46 human chromosomes come together into a complex genetic design that helps to determine the unique characteristics of a new individual-the eye and hair color, gender, skin tone, height and even the intricate swirl of the fingerprints. That new life may not be able to implant and continue to grow because of the effects that the hormones in the pills have on your uterine wall.
How can you know if an egg has been fertilized? That’s the problem – you can’t know. But we do know that sperm can reach the fallopian tubes mere minutes after intercourse,4 and if an egg has already been released, conception could occur.
So, there is a possibility that by the time you wake up the “morning after,” a new human life may have come into being. If that’s the case, when you take the Morning After Pill, it will cause a very early abortion.
The “Morning After Pill” cannot guarantee the prevention of pregnancy, nor does it protect you from
sexually transmitted infections or diseases.
1. http://www.go2planb.com/For Consumers/TakingPlanB/Default.aspx.
2. http://www.go2planb.com/ForConsumers/About PlanB/HowItWorks.aspx.
3. Moore, K.L. and Persaud, T.V.N. The Developing Human, Clinically Oriented Embryology, 6th Edition, W.B. Saunders Company; Copyright 1998, pages 2 &3.
4. Speroff, L. and Friz, M.A., Clinical Gynecological Endocrinology and Infertility, 7th Ed. Lippincott Williams & Wilkins; Copyright 2005, p. 235.
