Let’s say you didn’t use birth control, the condom broke, you forgot to take the pill for a few days, or you were raped. If you don’t want to become pregnant, you have three choices: do nothing and roll the dice, have a copper IUD or a Mirena IUD installed within 5 to 10 days—which will also take care of your birth control needs for the next several years—or take Plan B or Ella and hope they work. Both Plan B and Ella will prevent the egg from leaving the ovary if taken soon enough before ovulation and if the woman is under 165 lbs. If you take them after the egg has entered the Fallopian tubes, they will not prevent pregnancy. This is why it is important to take them as soon as possible and not wait until the next day. Ella is more effective than Plan B, but you would need a prescription for it and that’s a process that coule take days. Plan B and Ella have been shown to be extremely safe, but they may not work for women who weigh more than 165 – 175 pounds. Plan B and Ella do not cause an abortion, but people who don’t know what they are talking about claim that they do. When used correctly by women who weigh less than 165 lbs, Ella has about a 2% failure rate and Plan B has a 2% to 3% failure rate. IUDs that are used for emergency contraception have a .1% to .3% failure rate (1 to 3 out of 1,000). For comparison: if 1,000 women have unprotected intercourse during the middle two weeks of their menstrual cycle, 80 of them will become pregnant. If they have an IUD inserted for emergency contraception after having had unprotected intercourse, less than 1 in 1,000 will become pregnant. If you have any questions about emergency contraception, check with your healthcare provider.