Emergency Contraception

September 18, 2025

This fact sheet was written by Talia Curhan and Mollie Fairbanks. It was edited by Ian Lague.

Emergency contraception (EC) can prevent pregnancy when taken shortly after unprotected sex. Access to emergency contraception has been expanding in recent years. Many states mandate that hospitals provide emergency contraception or information about EC to people who have been sexually assaulted. Some states have expanded access to emergency contraception by expanding insurance coverage of EC, by allowing pharmacists to prescribe EC, or by requiring public colleges to make EC available to students. Although all methods of contraception have been under attack following the Dobbs decision in 2022, opponents of sexual and reproductive rights have long targeted emergency contraception. Refusal clauses, which allow clinicians, pharmacists, medical institutions and insurers to refuse to participate in care provision, often focus on emergency contraception. Some of these clauses do not single out emergency contraception but allow refusal for any type of care.

Highlights

32 states and the District of Columbia have policies that protect or restrict access to emergency contraception.

22 states and DC require hospital emergency departments and other health care facilities to provide information about emergency contraception to survivors of sexual assault.
17 states and DC require emergency departments and other health care facilities to dispense emergency contraception upon request to survivors of sexual assault.
14 states allow pharmacists to dispense emergency contraception without a prescription.
8 states and DC explicitly include emergency contraception in the state’s contraceptive coverage requirement.
2 states explicitly exclude emergency contraception from the state’s contraceptive coverage requirement.
5 states require public colleges and universities to facilitate student access to emergency contraception through provision or referrals.
14 states have refusal clauses that allow medical providers, institutions or insurers to refuse to dispense or cover emergency contraceptives.

Current Policy Status Table

Emergency Contraception
Jurisdiction	Emergency depts./health care facilities must provide info to survivors	Emergency depts./health care facilities must dispense to survivors upon request	Pharmacists may dispense without prescription	Explicitly included in contraceptive coverage requirement	Explicitly excluded from contraceptive coverage requirement	Colleges and universities must provide access and/or referral	Refusal allowed
Arizona			X				X (by pharmacy, hospital or health professional, or any employee of a pharmacy, hospital or health professional)
Arkansas	X				X		X (by physician, pharmacist, or authorized paramedical personnel)
California	X	X	X			X	X (by licensed health care provider)
Colorado	X		X	X			X (by health care professional at hospital/health facility)
Connecticut	X	X	X
District of Columbia	X	X		X (Medicaid/DC Health Alliance only)
Delaware				X		X	X (by providers or institutions, not specific to EC)
Hawaii	X	X	X (under collaborative practice agreement)*				X (by providers or institutions, not specific to EC)
Illinois	X	X				X	X (by physicians, health care personnel, not specific to EC)
Louisiana	X	X (requires negative pregnancy test)					X (by any person involved in health care, not specific to EC)
Maine			X (collaborative practice agreement*)				X (by pharmacist)
Maryland				X (only managed care organizations^†)		X
Massachusetts	X	X	X	X
Michigan			X
Minnesota	X	X
Nevada	X	X		X
New Hampshire			X
New Jersey	X	X
New Mexico	X	X	X	X			X (by provider or institution, not specific to EC)
New York	X	X		X			X (by providers, private hospitals, not specific to EC)
North Carolina					X
Ohio	X
Oregon	X	X	X
Pennsylvania	X	X					X (by hospitals)
South Carolina		X
Tennessee							X (by private institution or physician, or any agent or employee of such institution or physician can refuse to provide any type of contraception)
Texas	X
Utah	X	X
Vermont			X			X
Virginia	X		X
Washington	X	X	X	X			X (by providers, insurers, facilities, not specific to EC)
West Virginia	X
Wisconsin	X	X (not required in case of positive pregnancy test)
TOTAL (32 + DC)	22 + DC	17 + DC	14	8 + DC	2	5	14

*Collaborative practice agreements are formal agreements between pharmacists and physicians that allow pharmacists to provide services normally outside their scope of practice.

†Managed care organizations, in this context, refer to health maintenance organizations or corporations that receive medical assistance payments, as well as corporations that enroll only state CHIP recipients.

Suggested citation: Guttmacher Institute, Emergency contraception, State Laws and Policies (as of September 2025), 2025, https://www.guttmacher.org/state-policy/explore/emergency-contraception.