Five-day pill gets all-clear

A NEW morning-after pill that can be used up to five days after sex has been approved for use on the NHS in Scotland.

The drug, Ellaone, was one of seven treatments given the green light by the Scottish Medicines Consortium yesterday.

Anti-abortion campaigners warned that Ellaone was an "abortive agent" and should not be freely available on prescription. Josephine Quintavalle, of the Pro-Life Alliance, said: "If this pill works for five days, there is no argument. This is not a contraceptive; it is an abortive agent."

Professor Anna Glasier, of Edinburgh University, who led a large study of the drug, said Ellaone could be useful to thousands of women.