A Short History of Morning After Pill on France

While pills and condoms are widely used in France, the number of abortions remains very high and emergency contraception, like morning after pill is under-utilized.

Morning after pill is now available in pharmacies without a prescription and anonymously and free for minors.

Women face real difficulties in the daily management of contraception, for emotional, social, sexual reasons.

• Emergency Contraception France is a country where contraception is the most widely used: 63% of women 18 to 44 years using a contraceptive method. However, two thirds of abortions (abortions) are practiced among these women (21% using the pill and condoms 12%);
• Only 6% of women using oral contraceptives use morning after pill after a forgot to take anti-pregnancy pill and 42% after bad use of condom
• 30 to 36% of pregnancies are unwanted and 20% of pregnancies lead to abortion (more than 200 000 abortions for 760 000 births each year).
• An estimated 10% of women of childbearing age are likely to use morning after pill at some point in their lives. In fact, only 3% adopt this approach.

If the use of morning after pill is becoming more common, various surveys show however its under-utilization, lack of information or awareness of the risk of pregnancy.

• Over 800 000 NorLevo boxes were sold between June 2003 and June 2004. These figures reflect an increase of 10% over the previous year;
• 95% of boxes were purchased in pharmacies without a prescription. The rest was issued on medical prescription or nurses or school free of charge to minors;
• The issuance by school nurses represents 15 000 boxes per year, and 75% of high school students come from minor;
• The effectiveness of morning after pill is 95% if the taking occurs within 24 hours after sexual intercourse, 85% between 24 and 48 hours and 58% between 48 and 72 hours