Washington, D.C. – NARAL Pro-Choice America, the nation’s leading advocate for personal privacy and a woman’s right to choose, highlighted its nationwide efforts to enact a range of legislation enhancing access to emergency contraception (EC) and reduce the need for abortion. The group is urging its members nationwide to press their state legislatures for policies leveraging emergency contraception’s proven ability to prevent unintended pregnancies.

On a conference call dubbed the ‘Morning After Wake-Up Call,’ NARAL Pro-Choice America President Kate Michelman joined New Mexico Representative Mimi Stewart and Massachusetts Representative Doug Petersen in discussing the need for policies to expand access to emergency contraception.

Michelman said: “NARAL Pro-Choice America affiliates have been at the forefront of efforts to educate, organize and lobby for greater access to emergency contraception. We are issuing the ‘Morning After Wake-Up Call’ today to encourage state legislatures to remain committed in the 2004 legislation session to making greater access to EC a top priority. We also hope to reach beyond our own supporters on this issue. No matter what your position is on abortion rights, we should all be able to agree on such common sense steps as making emergency contraception more accessible.”

The most commonly used method of emergency contraception is emergency contraception pills (ECPs). ECPs consist of a concentrated dosage of ordinary birth control pills that can dramatically reduce a woman’s chance of becoming pregnant if taken within days of unprotected sex. Like other hormonal contraceptives, ECPs work before a pregnancy occurs by inhibiting ovulation, fertilization, or implantation of a fertilized egg. EC does not cause abortion and should not be confused with mifepristone (RU 486).

Studies have shown that increased access to emergency contraception has the potential to prevent half of the approximately three million unintended pregnancies in America each year. Moreover, an estimated 22,000 of the 25,000 pregnancies that occur in the United States each year as a result of rape could be prevented if sexual assault victims had timely access to emergency contraception. Despite EC’s tremendous potential, numerous barriers to access still exist.

Among the measures NARAL Pro-Choice America affiliates are supporting are:

• “EC in the ER” laws, requiring hospitals to provide sexual assault survivors with information about and access to EC;
• Legislation allowing pharmacists to provide EC to women directly without a doctor’s prescription; and
• State-sponsored public education campaigns about EC.