ency contraceptive, not as a medical abortion. The adverse side affects found with combined oral contraceptives occurred less frequently for the groups given mifepristone than those given the Yuzpe regimen. (Morgan and Deneris, 1997). This drug works by binding to the progesterone receptor sites, thus blocking the action of progesterone (Morgan and Deneris, 1997). As this drug becomes available to the U.S., it may become the emergency contraceptive of choice.It is often a concern to patients whether emergency contraception is an abortifacient. The answer is no (Morgan and Deneris, 1997). In fact, emergency contraception prevents pregnancy and therefore reduces the need for induced abortion. Medical science defines the beginning of pregnancy as the implantation of a fertilized egg in the lining of a women's uterus. Implantation takes place five to seven days after fertilization. Emergency contraceptives work before implantation and not after a woman is already pregnant (Robles, 1998). So, women should be advised that fertilization may not be prevented by ECP's that are taken too late. Should pregnancy occur and it is decided to continue pregnancy, women worry that congenital anomalies may result after using emergency contraception. Unfortunately, there have been no studies that specifically evaluated the risk of congenital anomalies (Klima, 1998). There have been 48 cases of method failure in women who have chosen to continue their pregnancies. Only one infant was born with a congenital anomaly: a missing kidney (Klima, 1998). Thus, there is no reason to suspect that one time emergency use of the pills would be associated with birth defects if the pill fails to prevent pregnancy or if they are taken after a woman is already pregnant. A study examining the cost-effectiveness of emergency contraceptive pills, minipills and the intrauterine device has been done. The comparison was between a single contraceptive treatment fol...
