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To evaluate the availability and accessibility of emergency contraception (EC) to adolescents in U.S. pharmacies across four Southwestern states, 3 years after the federal Food and Drug Administration (FDA) removed age restrictions for over-the-counter sales of levonorgestrel-only pills.

Using a mystery-caller approach, we trained male and female data collectors to phone pharmacies posing as 16-year-olds who wanted to prevent a pregnancy after recent unprotected sex. From April to May 2016, they called 1,475 randomly selected retail pharmacies in Arizona, California, New Mexico, and Utah and completed an online survey about their experience. Caller data were analyzed by state and pharmacy type (i.e., national chains, regional outlets, and individually owned outlets).

Of pharmacies contacted, 80.6% had EC available at the time of the call. Availability of EC varied by state (p < .01 …