14 DAY TRIAL // Many believe that the "morning after pill" can allow women to turn into sex thirsty vamps, with a riskier sexual behavior, which defies condoms.
But according to a new meta-analysis made on 8 studies with more than 6,000 females in the US, India and China, these fears are not founded. "We found there was absolutely no difference in sexually transmitted infection rates between the two groups. There's absolutely no difference in terms of unprotected sex, condom use or changes in use of other contraceptive methods," the lead reviewer Chelsea Polis.
Moreover, even if the pill is a good option for women in crisis, it does not decrease the level of unintended pregnancies: women who were supplied with "morning after pills" had a similar chance of becoming pregnant to women who did not.
There are various types of birth control medications that can impede pregnancy after sex.
The pills must be taken within five days after unprotected sex and sooner is better for EC. "We had expected that easier access to emergency contraception could help women use the pills more quickly when they needed them, and that in turn -- since EC is a time-relevant medication -- this could help women avoid unintended pregnancy," Polis added.
"Our review is really about the effectiveness of advance provision as a strategy to reduce unintended pregnancy at a population level. The review is not about the effectiveness of EC; that is a separate matter", she explained.
In 2001, roughly 50 % of pregnancies in the US were unintended and there is an effort to lower them to 30 % by 2010. "Easier access to emergency contraception will not slow the rate of unintended pregnancy in the United States. For individual women, it is definitely a last chance to prevent pregnancy after unprotected sex. But it is not going to have a major population impact because people will never use it enough," said Princeton University demographer James Trussell.
The analysis reveals that even if women use higher amounts of emergency birth control pills, this is not translated into a drop of the pregnancy rate. "Even though advance provision increased use, we don't know if women were using EC at the times when they were at risk for pregnancy, when it was really needed," said Polis.
"If women aren't going to use Plan B when they are given it for free in a clinical trial and are counseled beforehand about using it every single time they have unprotected sex, then having to go to CVS and having to pay $45 each time -- it isn't going to happen," Trussell said.
"Women deserve the chance to protect themselves from unintended pregnancy and EC is a safe, effective way to do that. Emergencies like rape, contraceptive failure and unprotected sex occur, and easier access to EC eliminates a medically unwarranted barrier to taking emergency contraception within the recommended timeframe. So steps like making EC available over the counter are still incredibly important," said Polis.