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One in nine women in the U.S. (a total of 5.8 million or 11 percent of all women) who are sexually active have used the morning-after pill, which is significantly higher than 4.2 percent women who had used the emergency contraception method in 2002, according to a new federal report released Thursday.

The report found that young women, in their 20s, are more likely to use the pill, with about one in four or 23 percent of women between the ages of 20 and 24 using it at least once.

The data for the study was obtained from sexually active women between the ages of 15 and 44 years in the period from 2006 to 2010.

The emergency contraception pill, or just "the pill", was approved for use by the FDA in the late 90s (1998). However, experts note that these pills aren't widely used.

"There are price issues and access issues and they are not insubstantial. It's not universally stocked and available," Beth Jordan Mynett, medical director of the Association of Reproductive Health Professionals, based in Washington, D.C., told USA Today.

And, there is the whole issue of these pills being confused with the abortion pill.

"Emergency contraception does not cause an abortion. You take emergency contraception pills to largely prevent ovulation from happening. This is pregnancy prevention. The abortion pill stops a pregnancy that's already existing. The abortion pill is taken after you already know you're pregnant and it's given by a health care provider," Deborah Nucatola of Los Angeles, an OB-GYN in clinical practice and senior director of medical services at Planned Parenthood, told USA Today.

In a related federal report, researchers examined the trends in the use of birth control methods in the U.S. The study found that between 2006 and 2010, nearly all women (99 percent) who were sexually active reported that they had used some birth control, including birth control pills, intrauterine devices, patches and rings.

Although the use of birth control pills has remained the same over time, the use of patches and IUDs has increased. Also, more men are now using condoms than before, reports Reuters Health.

Lawrence Finer from Guttmacher Institute, which tracks birth control use, said that the costs of birth control may make it harder for people, especially for disadvantageous women, to get access to these methods, reports Reuters Health.