New Morning After Pill in Works

Just as the pill turns 50, a new, longer-lasting alternative may be on the way. Dubbed ella, the new pill, produced by a French drug company, could prevent pregnancy for up to five days after having unprotected sex. A chemical relative of the abortion pill RU-486, the drug is, not surprisingly, sparking controversy, because it could theoretically be used to induce abortion. “It kills embryos, just like the abortion pill,” said Donna Harrison, president of the American Association of Pro-Life Obstetricians and Gynecologists. Proponents, meanwhile, dismiss such concerns. Ultimately, the long-running debate will prove, as The Washington Post puts it, “whether doctors have an obligation to write prescriptions for medication they oppose on moral or religious grounds and whether pharmacists have an obligation to fill them.”