There's A New Emergency Contraceptive Pill On The Market 

Now women have even more options when it comes to their reproductive health

An important tenet in women’s reproductive health rights is the ability to make choices about birth control. And until recently, that just didn’t exist in the emergency contraceptive market, where offerings have historically been slim — generally, Plan B One Step and a generic brand containing the same active ingredients would be a woman’s only choices when looking for emergency contraception.

But that’s all changing. The makers of Vagisil just released their own emergency contraceptive, Preventeza, which contains the same active ingredient as Plan B One Step (levonorgestrel) in the same amount.

Levonorgestrel is an ingredient common in birth control pills, but emergency contraceptive pills typically contain a higher dose of it. It can stop the release of an egg, stop the egg from being fertilized or stop a fertilized egg from implanting in the uterus. Preventeza is basically just another version of the same medication that’s already available, but it gives women another choice in a market where they’ve historically had very little.

Having more options in the market can only be good for women. June Gupta, associate director of medical standards at Planned Parenthood Federation of America, told Well and Good, “Having more options for emergency contraception stocked on store shelves will make it more accessible to everyone—and that means more people can prevent unintended pregnancy.” And she’s right. More options means stores are less likely to be out of stock of emergency contraceptive pills when women need them, which does mean that more women will have access to medication that can help them prevent unwanted pregnancies.

Preventeza will be available in stores where emergency contraceptive pills are sold, but can also be picked up at Planned Parenthood or ordered from Vagisil’s website (next-day delivery is available). At $47, it’s the same price as Plan B, but the key benefit here is the fact that there will be another option for women looking to prevent a pregnancy.

Since 2013, morning-after pills have been available over-the-counter to women of all ages at pharmacies, drugstores and supermarkets. You can even order emergency contraceptives online. So why, five years later, are there still so few options for women seeking to prevent an unplanned pregnancy? This is helping change that, and hopefully, this means even more options will become available in the future.