# reducing chance of pregnancy?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/reducing-chance-of-pregnancy/149984>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [January 21, 2003, 3:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/reducing-chance-of-pregnancy/149984 "2003-01-21T15:27:14Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 5\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![caffeine\_overdose](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/85e7bf/32.png) [@caffeine\_overdose](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/caffeine_overdose)\
**Post date:** [January 21, 2003, 3:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/reducing-chance-of-pregnancy/149984/1 "2003-01-21T15:27:14Z")

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I have a health project and I am not sure how to google this so:

A girl had unprotected sex and may be pregnant. She doesn’t want to be pregnant but won’t take the morning after pill. Any (natural) ways of decreasing her chances.

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**Author:** ![Dunderman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ecb155/32.png) [@Dunderman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dunderman)\
**Post date:** [January 21, 2003, 3:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/reducing-chance-of-pregnancy/149984/2 "2003-01-21T15:35:00Z")

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Wait about a month and then keep running into hard, stomach-height objects. I don’t think there is another way apart from abortion.

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**Author:** ![Daij](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/45deac/32.png) [@Daij](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Daij)\
**Post date:** [January 21, 2003, 3:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/reducing-chance-of-pregnancy/149984/3 "2003-01-21T15:47:14Z")

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I would ask why the person doesn’t want the morning after pill.

Here’s a FAQ sheet  
[http://www.emergencybirthcontrol.org/FAQ\_1.htm](http://www.emergencybirthcontrol.org/FAQ_1.htm)

From what it says, it’s not abortion.

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**Author:** ![bup](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/6bbea6/32.png) [@bup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bup)\
**Post date:** [January 21, 2003, 3:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/reducing-chance-of-pregnancy/149984/4 "2003-01-21T15:55:14Z")

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If she doesn’t want to take the morning-after pill because it’s like an abortion, anything else that would reduce the chance of pregnancy would be the same - if there’s been a conception, anything that prevents it from developing is just as ‘abortive’ as the RU-486.

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**Author:** ![msgotrocks](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/8edcca/32.png) [@msgotrocks](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/msgotrocks)\
**Post date:** [January 21, 2003, 6:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/reducing-chance-of-pregnancy/149984/5 "2003-01-21T18:18:22Z")

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Just to clarify: the “morning after” pill and RU-486 are not the same thing. The “morning after” pill or emergency contraception is essentially a high dose of BCP (or an IUD) which prevents an egg from embedding itself in the uterus. RU-486 is a drug (Mifepristone) taken early in a pregnancy which causes miscarrage. One _prevents_ pregnancy and the other _terminates_ pregnancy.