emergency contraception

noun

: drugs (such as the morning-after pill) or devices (such as an IUD) that are used to prevent fertilization or delay or prevent ovulation following unprotected sexual intercourse or contraceptive failure

Emergency contraception can prevent pregnancy after you've had sex without birth control or after your birth control method has failed—say, the condom broke or slipped off, your diaphragm got knocked out of place, or you forgot to take your birth control pills.

—The Courier-Times (Roxboro, North Carolina)

There has been confusion about whether emergency contraception is an abortifacient—that is, a medication that triggers an abortion. The key difference is that the abortion pill works only when a woman is pregnant, and emergency contraception works only when she is not.

—Amie Ashcraft

Examples of emergency contraception in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Another had taken emergency contraception after having been date-raped but still became pregnant. —Bracey Harris, NBC News, 10 Apr. 2024

But Americans' access to emergency contraception remains unchanged for now. —Nicole Fallert, USA TODAY, 26 Mar. 2024

Her organization has won lawsuits recently around access to emergency contraception and the rights of trans youth to play sports. —Thalia Beaty, Quartz, 19 Mar. 2024

Some Americans began hoarding Plan B after Roe v. Wade fell in 2022, causing confusion and panic that emergency contraception was the next best thing, or would be next to be restricted. —Nicole Fallert, USA TODAY, 26 Mar. 2024

The pharmaceutical company Cadence OTC is making its emergency contraception medication, the Morning After Pill, available at convenience stores across the U.S., the company said Tuesday. —Francisco Velasquez, Quartz, 19 Mar. 2024

Alongside this kind of advertising, the brand hopes to address common myths, like the fear that repeat use of emergency contraception could lead to infertility, and has donated 1 million boxes of its emergency contraception to community health organizations and other partners. —Emma Hinchliffe, Fortune, 18 Mar. 2024

The brand launched following Roe v. Wade being overturned and works every day to change the conversation around emergency contraception to expand access to communities most in need. —Christy Piña, The Hollywood Reporter, 15 Mar. 2024

Pictures of condoms and emergency contraception handed out at shows have gone viral this week, prompting international media coverage. —Jazz Monroe, Pitchfork, 15 Mar. 2024

Word History

First Known Use

1972, in the meaning defined above

Medical Definition

emergency contraception

noun

: drugs (such as the morning-after pill) or devices (such as an IUD) that are used to prevent fertilization or delay or prevent ovulation following unprotected sexual intercourse or contraceptive failure