Calling all UL students! Join us for our #MyMorningAfter panel where we say no to morning-after pill stigma

Brought to you by ellaOne

Down with that sort of thing.

We're just about 150 percent done with the stigma that surrounds getting the morning-after pill. Of course, we're all about that safe sex (always use a condom, ladies!) but, look, mistakes happen. Condoms break or we have a forgetful moment, which may mean that we aren't fully protected against pregnancy. Well, we've had enough. Which is why we've teamed up with the morning-after pill brand ellaOne to set up a panel and talk about it with you guys. For #MyMorningAfter in association with ellaOne, our very own Niamh Maher from Girls With Goals will be heading to UL's Millstream Common Room on Thursday, October 24th, at 6pm, to ask why the morning-after pill is such a taboo topic and what we can do about it. (Note: We have needed to reschedule our superb event to take place at the above time instead of its previous date due to bad weather conditions  — thank you Storm Lorenzo!) Niamh will be joined on the panel by author Stephanie Preissner, model Shauna Lindsey and Niamh Webb O'Rourke who will be talking about their own experiences of and thoughts on the morning-after pill. A while ago, ellaOne asked the Her readers to let us know about their morning-after experiences and the results were pretty interesting. The survey showed that 59 percent of women aged 18 to 24 who have had unprotected sex said that they have felt judged in real life, or through the media, for their decisions when it comes to emergency contraception. Almost 9 in 10 females aged 18 to 24 claim to have had sex previously where the contraception failed or where no contraception was used.

Coming back to you on the UL editorial - just one amend to make:

While 92 percent of those surveyed say they feel empowered to make the decisions that affect their body by themselves, 76 percent of those surveyed believe there is still a stigma associated with taking the morning-after pill. Now, that's just not acceptable in this day and age, ladies. It's 2019. We shouldn't have any stigma around a topic that's all about looking after ourselves and making our own life and health decisions. So we're starting the discussion. So much has happened in the past few years in terms of women's voices being heard but there's still a lot more progress to be made. So come see our panel and join in the talk at the Millstream Common Room in UL at 6pm this October 24 for a bit of banter, some great discussion, and (of course) some nice little treats to munch on too. Register for the event here (it's free!) and we'll see you there, ladies! Brought to you by ellaOne ellaOne is an emergency contraceptive pill that is available from pharmacies without a prescription. No other morning-after pill is more effective at preventing pregnancy after unprotected sex. ellaOne consists of one film-coated tablet which should be taken as soon as possible, but no later than 5 days (120 hours) after unprotected sex or contraceptive failure. Each film-coated tablet of ellaOne contains 30 mg ulipristal acetate. Always read the label.