EC: The Back-Up I Needed

I am a 23-year-old female and have used emergency contraception twice in my life. The first time was when I was a freshman in college - I had stupidly slept with a guy without a condom, and while he had pulled out, I was still nervous that I could get pregnant. At that time EC wasn't available over the counter, so I knew I had to go to Planned Parenthood. I deliberated back and forth, knowing that I should go, but not wanting to because of the time it would take to get there, the time I would have to wait, the money I would have to spend, etc. Ultimately, I decided the risks of not going outweighed the inconvenience of rearranging my schedule a bit. I went by myself and was definitely nervous, even a little ashamed, at going inside the Planned Parenthood. But the experience I had there was excellent. There were a number of other girls there for the same reason I was, and we were taken in as a group (those that didn't mind doing it all together - we were given the option to meet with the nurse privately). She talked a bit about safe sex and prevention methods, but not in a patronizing or lecturing manner. I felt that she was easy to relate to and passed no judgment. After she spoke for a bit, she handed out prescriptions for EC to all of us, and we were on our way.

The second time was a little less than a year ago on Memorial Day. I had had sex the night before, and when I went to take my birth control that morning, I saw that I had actually missed two pills in a row, instead of the one I knew I had forgotten to take. After mentally kicking myself really hard, I started to freak out: "It's a holiday; is Planned Parenthood even going to be open?" Then, I vaguely remembered reading that EC was now available over the counter (I still am not sure where I had heard this). I called CVS, and it was confirmed - EC was available over the counter! I immediately went to retrieve it. Again, I had a good experience. The pharmacist, incidentally, a man, was totally cool and gave me no problems (though I do think I was asked for my ID).  Money again was a concern of mine, but I decided it would be better to be safe than sorry (thankfully, I had the funds to allow me to purchase it).

I actually can't remember where I first learned about EC. A health class, perhaps? Commercials? It was common knowledge that it existed among me and my friends at the time. When I first used it, though, I'm pretty sure I thought I only had 72 hours to take it. Between that time and the second time I used EC, I learned that there was the bigger window of 5 days in which you had the opportunity to take it.

What was not and is not publicized enough is that EC is available over the counter. Since I had gotten it over the counter myself, I have informed a number of people who had no clue of it's much easier accessibility (most recently including my 20 year old cousin, who was in absolute distress over a broken condom and who didn't want to pay a visit to the doctor. She was relieved, to say the least, to learn a simple trip to the pharmacy would solve her problems.)