What is Emergency Contraception?
Emergency contraception is birth control that is available for women who fear they may have become pregnant because their regular birth control method was damaged, slipped out of place, or wasn't used, or they were sexually assaulted. The emergency contraceptive pills or copper-T IUD must be prescribed by a health care provider and used within 72 hours of the unprotected intercourse.

To learn more about emergency contraception, check out the Emergency Contraception web site at: http://ec.princeton.edu/

Why Use it Just for Emergencies?
Some educators have reservations about teaching youth about emergency contraception because they do not want to appear to encourage youth to be sexually active without protecting themselves in advance.

If you have reservations about educating youth about the availability of emergency contraception, be sure to read these reasons why using birth control before having sex makes a lot more sense than relying on emergency contraception after having sex.