A very useful article by theologian William May. Note especially his discussion of contraceptives as abortifacients and "Plan B", suggesting that this is an unresloved question.
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I think May's article and his reference to the "study" (which is a literature review and not a study) by the Amer Assn of Prolife OBGYN can be misleading. With lower dose oral contraceptives, there can definitely be ovulation a certain percentage of time as the doses are not always sufficient to suppress ovulation 100% of the time.(That's why women get pregnant on the Pill). For a talk I once gave, I referenced several OBGYN textbooks and textbooks on reproductive endocrinology and they all clearly state that one of the mechanisms of action of oral contraceptives is to thin the endometrium which thus prevents implantation if ovulation and fertilization have occurred. They say this is not abortifacient b/c pregnancy has been redefined as implantation (erroneously). To say that there is controversy over this and that it's okay to accept a certain amount of risk in the case of rape and the morning after pill ( in the "study" May references) or to compare it to the effects of breastfeeding, and that it should be left to the individual's conscience, leaves us on a slippery slope of pitting our own fears and desires against Truth and objective morality (not subjective).
Posted by: Antoinette Cosentino MD | August 28, 2010 at 08:25 AM
Antoinette, thank you for those comments.
Posted by: LifeNet | August 28, 2010 at 09:42 PM