all your morning-after pill questions, answered

Both Plan B One-Step® and the Julie Morning After Pill™ have the same active ingredient — 1.5mg of levonorgestrel (a synthetic progesterone). They work identically and have the same efficacy when used correctly.

Hard no. The morning-after pill only stops ovulation short-term. When you take it after unprotected sex, it reduces your chance of getting pregnant now. When you start a new cycle next month, you’ll go through a brand new ovulation phase, which is a new opportunity to get pregnant. Basically, you’re planning on having babies in the future, rest assured your chances of getting pregnant won’t be affected by the Julie Morning After Pill™.

Technically, no. The Julie Morning After Pill™ can be used by anyone with a uterus regardless of weight. However, studies have shown that the effectiveness of the morning-after pill does decrease in people who have a body mass index (BMI) over 25. For those with a BMI under 25, pregnancy risk after taking the morning-after pill is less than 2%. For those with a BMI over 30, the risk of pregnancy increases to 5.8%, meaning that out of every 100 individuals with a BMI over 30 who take the Julie Morning After Pill™, six may become pregnant.

Why? Unfortunately, we don’t really know, and preliminary research hasn’t come up with any better ideas. Read more here.

Yes! the morning-after pill is legal for over-the-counter purchase in all 50 states. You can get the Julie Morning After Pill™ at your local Target, CVS, Walmart, Amazon or get it delivered on GoPuff, UberEats, Instacart and Doordash — no ID required, ever. You can find a store that carries the Julie Morning After Pill™ here.

No, not in the slightest.

The morning-after pill (including Julie’s, Plan B One-Step®, Aftera®, Take Action®, and other generics) contains a 1.5mg dose of levonorgestrel, which mimics the action of the naturally occurring hormone progesterone. Levonorgestrel works by temporarily delaying ovulation. Think of it as pulling the emergency brakes on your ovaries so an egg can’t be released. If there is no egg, then there’s nothing for sperm to fertilize, which means a pregnancy can’t develop.

On the other hand, the abortion pill (which requires a prescription) generally refers to the medication mifepristone (with or without its partner medication misoprostol). When taken together, mifepristone and misoprostol can end an existing pregnancy, which is something that the morning-after pill cannot do. If you’re already pregnant, the morning after pill cannot end an existing pregnancy. And that’s science.

The active ingredient in all over-the-counter morning-after pills, including Julie’s, is levonorgestrel. Levonorgestrel is a synthetic hormone commonly used in many types of birth control as well as emergency contraception. At the dose found in the morning-after pill, levonorgestrel pulls the emergency brakes on your ovaries so an egg can’t be released. Medically speaking, it delays ovulation. If there’s no egg, then there’s nothing for sperm to fertilize, which means a pregnancy can’t develop. Read more about how the morning-after pill works here.