Birth Control Pill Works Five Days After To Be Approved

Thought Plan B was full proof?

Scientists have created a pill that can prevent pregnancy five days after unprotected sex. Called “ella,” the pill is from government labs and is said to be more effective than the over the counter Plan B. While there is still some mystery over how the drug works, it does contain a chemical used in the abortion pill– which is where the debate about it comes into play.

According to The New York Times:

That mystery spurred a fierce debate outside the committee over whether it should be considered an abortion drug, a debate that prompted the posting of several uniformed police officers around the meeting room.

Even though ella is somewhat more effective and can be taken later than Plan B, the new drug would, if approved, probably do little to solve this epidemic of unplanned pregnancies. Plan B has been available without a prescription since 2006 for women 18 and older, but abortion and unintended-pregnancy rates have remained largely unchanged.

Women who have unprotected sex have about one chance in 20 of becoming pregnant. Those who take Plan B within three days cut that risk to about one chance in 40, and if ella is approved, that risk would be cut further to about one chance in 50. Ella is less effective in obese women, studies show.

Dr. Valerie Montgomery Rice, a committee member and dean of Meharry Medical College in Nashville, pressed the company and F.D.A. to make the drug available over the counter, as is Plan B. “Why would we not move to O.T.C. status?” she asked. Dr. Gainer said the medicine was too new to consider such a step.