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EC for transgender and nonbinary patients

January 2021. The American Society for Emergency Contraception just published EC for Transgender and Nonbinary Patients. This fact sheet is a great resource for all healthcare providers offering care to patients of reproductive age. “Pregnancy is possible for any individual with a uterus and ovary(ies) who has receptive penis-in-vagina sex with partners who produce sperm,…

Some policy makers still don’t understand emergency contraception mechanism of action

December 2020.  In Malta, a discussion is being held in Parliament these days, about the need for all pharmacies in the country to carry emergency contraception (EC) pills, in order to ensure timely access to this contraceptive method. Surprisingly, some members of parliament still consider that EC pills can threaten Maltese law, under which human…

EU Parliament urges Polish authorities to repeal law restricting access to emergency contraception

December 2020. On November 26, the Members of the European Parliament adopted a resolution condemning the setback to women’s sexual and reproductive rights in Poland, and drawing attention to the legal obligation of the European Union to uphold and protect these rights. The resolution also urges Polish authorities to repeal the law limiting access to the…

Spain: increase in EC use

November 2020. The Spanish Society for Contraception (SEC) just published the findings of its annual National Contraception Survey 2020, based on phone interviews conducted among 1800 women of reproductive age, between July and August 2020. With regards to emergency contraception (EC) use, 38% of the women surveyed reported having ever used EC at some point…

UK: access to EC, coronavirus, and confidentiality

November 2020. In September 2020, BPAS undertook a mystery shopper survey to assess whether and how pharmacies in the United Kingdom deliver the mandatory consultation for emergency contraception (EC) during the COVID-19 pandemic; and to assess whether and how easily women can access EHC without compromising on social distancing practices. In the UK EC can…

UK: Innovative ways to bridge EC to ongoing contraception

November 2020. After using oral emergency contraception (EC), women remain at risk of unintended pregnancy, and thus subsequent use of effective contraception is advised. A study in the United Kingdom tested innovative strategies to bridge EC provision to the uptake of ongoing contraception methods. In this study, a supply of the progestogen-only pill, and an invitation…

Delaying versus immediately starting Combined Oral Contraceptive pill after UPA EC

November 2020. A study investigating timing of combined oral contraceptive pill (COC) restart after missed pills and use of ulipristal acetate emergency contraception (UPA EC), was recently published. According to the study (Banh C, Rautenberg T, Duijkers IJ, et al. The effects on ovarian activity of delaying versus immediately restarting combined oral contraception after missing…

European Contraception Policy Atlas 2020

November 2020. The European Parliamentary Forum for Sexual and Reproductive Rights launched the 4th edition of the European Contraception Policy Atlas on November 12th. The map scores 46 countries throughout Europe on access to modern contraception. Some of this year’s findings are the following: • Access to modern, effective and affordable contraception remains a  challenge…

Using EC after missed oral contraceptive pills

November  2020. The European Society of Contraception and Reproductive Health (ESC) organises the webinar “Dilemmas in contraception”, which will include a discussion on what to do when emergency contraception pills are needed because of missed oral contraception pills. The webinar will take place on November 18 at 16h00 Central European Time. Register here: https://us02web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_xNT5kKbAQMSzet3u2rOHtA   …

Malta: Buying the “morning-after pill” on Sunday is an arduous task

November 2020. A journalist from MaltaToday, recently conducted a phone survey to find out if the pharmacies who will be on-call in the coming 6 weekend and holidays (November until December 8th, 2020) stock EC pills or not. On Sundays and public holidays, only 20 pharmacies across the country’s two islands are open. From the…

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Switzerland: a qualitative study of young women experiences obtaining EC in pharmacies 

November 2020. Last April, Unisanté published “Remise de la contraception d’urgence en pharmacie : une étude qualitative sur l’expérience des clientes”, the report of a qualitative research exploring the opinions and perceptions of young women who obtained EC in community pharmacies in Switzerland. Individual face-to-face interviews were conducted between April and August 2019 with 30 women…