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Emergency contraception (EC) serves as an important backup method used to prevent unplanned pregnancies after episodes of unprotected sexual intercourse (UPSI) as a result of contraceptive omission or failure, or an incident of rape. Here we review some of the landmark research studies over the past five decades and consider how they have informed the development of current EC methods, which include oral hormonal methods and the copper-bearing intrauterine device (IUD).