An emergency contraceptive that works up to five days after unprotected sex has been launched by Australia's sole supplier of medical abortion drug RU486.
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The EllaOne pill, from non-profit pharmaceutical group MS Health, is available from Wednesday.
While the group recommends that women using the drug take it "as soon as possible" after unprotected sex, it said it was effective for up to five days, the maximum time sperm can survive in a body after intercourse. This is in contrast to commonly used emergency contraceptive pills, which are recommended to be taken within three days of unprotected sex.
The new drug is available by prescription only, unlike the morning-after pill, which is sold over the counter at chemists. MS Health said this was because EllaOne was "a new chemical entity".
While it works in a similar way to the morning-after pill to delay ovulation by modifying the natural hormone progesterone, it contains a substance known as ulipristal acetate.
The group estimated that about two of every 100 women who took the drug would still become pregnant.
MS Health, which is part of reproductive health group Marie Stopes International, successfully applied to the Therapeutic Goods Administration in 2012 to import the controversial RU486 - medications mifepristone and misoprostol - making it widely available in Australia after a 10-year ban on the drug was lifted in 2006.
MS Health general manager Carl Arico said: "By supplying EllaOne, MS Health and Marie Stopes International are providing women with another choice of emergency contraception in line with our global mission of children by choice, not chance."
Reproductive Choice Australia president Jenny Ejlak said the drug would most benefit women in rural or remote communities who had greater difficulty accessing the morning-after pill. This may include privacy reasons for those in small towns.
"They may request it [from a city chemist] the day after, but not receive it for some days or the pharmacy may not stock it," she said.
The drug could also help sexual assault victims, who might delay seeking health services because of trauma, she said. "In family violence situations, where a woman is not able to leave the house safely, she may not be able to obtain assistance for a few days after the assault."
Right to Life Australia chief executive Katrina Haller said it was "deceitful" to call the drug an emergency contraceptive, because it was intended to be taken after sex.
Ms Haller said the group had no policies on contraceptives such as condoms, only drugs that prevented human life, which it believed began at the point of conception.
"We believe everyone has a right to life and life is very precious," she said. "The value of human life needs to be defended and protected, because if we lose respect for any part of human life, we lose respect for all human lives."
