Plan B explaining what it is, and having talked to people myself about it, I still hear people say the morning after pill is an abortion pill.
I can understand how some people would get confused because it is taken after unprotected sex or an accident. However, the two pills have different functions.
The morning after pill is not the abortion pill (just to clarify). It does not get rid of an existing pregnancy. Plan B, and other brands, are essentially a large dose of the same hormone found in birth control pills, levonorgestrel. This prevents ovulation and thickens the cervical mucus preventing the sperm from joining the egg, preventing pregnancy in the same manner as other forms of hormonal birth control.
Plan B is one brand of the morning after pill. It requires you to only take one pill, while others require two. You have up to 120 hours to take the pill but it is 89% effective for 72 hours. After those first 72 hours, the effectiveness of the pill decreases.
The sooner you take it, the better. In brands that have two pills the second pill is taken 12 hours after the first.
The abortion pill is taken after an egg has been fertilized, and it has attached to the wall of the uterus… simply put, after an individual is actually pregnant.
Getting a morning after pill does not require a prescription. The abortion pill requires a visit to the doctor and a discussion about alternative options.
The morning after pill should not be used as a regular form of birth control.
It is hard on your body and may make you sick for a few days following which could include nausea, abdominal pain, dizziness, breast tenderness and changes in your period. Use a method of contraception or birth control that works for you, and if intercourse happens and that method fails (the condom breaks, you forget to take the pill for a day or two, etc.,) then resort to the morning after pill.

Kourtney Bailey

Kourtney Bailey can be reached at
[email protected].