Yes, Plan B is legal in Arkansas. It’s sold over the counter at pharmacies statewide, with no age restriction and no prescription required, the same as everywhere else in the United States. Arkansas law treats emergency contraception as separate from abortion, so the state’s abortion restrictions do not apply to it. The one real catch: Arkansas lets pharmacists refuse to sell it on religious or moral grounds, which can send you to a second pharmacy if the first one turns you away.
Buying Plan B in Arkansas
Plan B One-Step (levonorgestrel 1.5 mg) has been available without a prescription and without age limits nationwide since the FDA approved unrestricted over-the-counter sales in 2013.1U.S. Food and Drug Administration. Plan B One-Step (1.5 mg levonorgestrel) Information Arkansas does not add state-level restrictions on top of that approval. If a pharmacy stocks it, anyone can walk in and buy it.
Expect to pay roughly $40 to $50 at major chains without insurance. Generic levonorgestrel versions work the same way and often cost less. The pill is most effective taken as soon as possible after unprotected sex and is approved for use up to 72 hours afterward, with effectiveness dropping with each passing day.
Pharmacist Refusals Are Legal in Arkansas
Under Arkansas Code 20-16-304, no pharmacist or other authorized medical personnel can be required to furnish contraceptive procedures, supplies, or information. Private institutions and their employees can refuse to provide contraception on religious or conscientious grounds, and they face no liability for doing so.2FindLaw. Arkansas Code 20-16-304
In practice, a pharmacist at any Arkansas pharmacy can decline to sell you Plan B, and the pharmacy has no legal duty to override that refusal. If this happens, try another location or a different chain. Large retailers and online pharmacies also stock levonorgestrel, and because the medication is time-sensitive, having a backup option in mind before you need it is worth a few minutes.
If You’re Past 72 Hours or Weigh More Than 165 Pounds
Ella (ulipristal acetate) is a second emergency contraceptive, approved by the FDA in 2010, that stays effective longer than Plan B.3U.S. Food and Drug Administration. Ella (Ulipristal Acetate) Prescribing Information It can be used up to 120 hours (five days) after unprotected intercourse.4National Center for Biotechnology Information (NCBI). Ulipristal Acetate (ella): A Selective Progesterone Receptor Modulator For Emergency Contraception Ella also works better than levonorgestrel for people who weigh more than 165 pounds, though its own effectiveness decreases above 195 pounds.
Ella requires a prescription, which means a provider visit or a telehealth appointment. Telehealth services that prescribe ella and ship it directly to you also sidestep the in-person pharmacist refusal issue. If you think you may need emergency contraception in the future, you can ask your regular provider for an advance prescription.
Insurance and Cost
The Affordable Care Act requires most health insurance plans to cover FDA-approved contraceptive methods, including Plan B and ella, without cost-sharing when prescribed by a provider.5U.S. Department of Labor. FAQs About Affordable Care Act Implementation Part 64 The catch is the word “prescribed.” If you buy Plan B off the shelf without a prescription, your insurer likely will not reimburse you. Asking your provider to write a prescription for the same medication you could buy over the counter is often the difference between paying nothing and paying $40 to $50.
Some employers with religious or moral objections qualify for exemptions from the contraceptive coverage requirement.6Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 42 USC 300gg-13 – Coverage of Preventive Health Services If your plan is covered by an exemption, you may need to pay out of pocket.
If You’ve Been Sexually Assaulted
Arkansas Code 20-13-1403 requires every licensed healthcare facility that provides emergency care to sexual assault survivors to update its evidence-collection protocols to include two things: promptly informing the survivor that emergency contraception is available, and educating the survivor on how to use it and what follow-up care is needed.7Justia. Arkansas Code 20-13-1403 – Emergency Contraception Information Required
Two limits are worth knowing. The law requires that survivors be informed; it does not require the facility to dispense the medication on-site, so you may be directed to a pharmacy. And the same statute allows a healthcare professional to refuse to provide the information itself on religious or moral grounds, and the facility has no obligation to provide emergency contraception to a survivor who is not at risk of pregnancy from the assault or who was already pregnant.
Why Arkansas Abortion Law Doesn’t Apply
Arkansas Code 20-13-1402 defines emergency contraception as any FDA-approved drug that prevents pregnancy after sexual intercourse, and it explicitly excludes RU-486, mifepristone, and any other drug or device that induces a medical abortion.8Justia. Arkansas Code 20-13-1402 – Definitions Plan B works by delaying or preventing ovulation, not by ending an existing pregnancy, and Arkansas law reflects that distinction. The state’s abortion restrictions are a separate legal category and do not reach levonorgestrel or ulipristal acetate.