Hot Topic (12/6): Are morning after pills abortion or contraception?

[Cafe GroupAdmin]

 

Are morning after pills abortion or contraception?

It seems that this question has gotten everyone up in an uproar as of late.  Proponents of emergency contraception (EC) claim that the morning after pill, also known as Plan B, only prevents pregnancy, while those argueing against EC claim that it can abort pregnancies. 

So who is right?  We don't really know. 

A lesson in reproduction...  Sex-education classes often give the impression that the egg waits for sperm to show up. It's usually the other way around. An egg loses its fertility within 12 to 24 hours. It takes sperm about 10 hours to reach the egg, and sperm can survive in the female reproductive tract for up to five days. If you want to get pregnant, you'd better send in the sperm before the egg shows up. But if you don't want to get pregnant, and the sperm are on their way or already there, you still have time to stop the egg.

That's the idea behind Plan B. "It prevents pregnancy mainly by stopping the release of an egg," says the manufacturer, Barr Pharmaceuticals Inc. However, Barr adds, the drug "may also prevent the fertilization of an egg" or prevent a fertilized egg "from attaching to the uterus."

Here's the issue.  If you think a fertilized egg is a human than technically Plan B could abort a pregnancy, by not allowing implantation.  Yet, pregnancy tests cannot detect pregnancy before implantation.  So we don't know whether the embryo is in effect being terminated or prevented.  Either way, an embryo cannot survive without implanting on the uteran wall.  The only way to truly know if an embryo is fertilized before implantation is to surgically open the woman and look -- something the embryo wouldn't survive anyway. 

Plan B prevents future sugical abortions.  And if we want to effectively reduce the number of abortions sought we would all get behind Plan B, whether it prevents implantation or not.  In the grand scheme of things, such a minute technicality seems nonsensical to fight over.  The woman's desire to have or not have a baby isn't reversed easily and I don't see any benefit to making it harder to acquire Plan B.

So the big question is -- Should Plan B be considered contraception or abortion?

[mytiquah]

Before i share my opinion, let me first state that as a sexually active young woman,( still with my boyfriend of 4 years whom i plan to marry) i would never take this pill myself. I dont see it as an abortion pill though. women are supposed to take it the morning following unprotected sex. There isnt anything to abort. It takes 7 days for sperm to travel to the egg. thats if they can survive the acidic environment. I hope this helps clarify things. have a good night ya'll.

[Mergath]

Contraception.  I don't think it's considered an abortion if the egg hasn't actually implanted yet.

[alyssamj24]

one time when i was with my ex we were having sex and the condom broke....we panicked and i called my doctor who gave me a prescription for the morning after pill.  i took it cuz i didnt want to get pregnant ( i was 19 at the time).  but i have always wondered if i hadnt taken it would i have gotten pregnant and i have always felt guilty that i could have potentially killed my baby.

i think that i would consider it to be more abortion than contraception.....contraception is what you do ahead of time to prevent pregnancy.  and  the morning after pill is taken after you have already had sex, and is used to stop the egg from being fertilized....so it is more like abortion. both the pill and abortion are used to end a pregnancy.

 

[PamR]

It's contraception.  You can't abort a pregnancy that doesn't exist, and these pills will not abort an existing pregnancy.

[cherry41089]

Contraception, plan B is basically a super spermicide. It kill the sperm before it gets to the egg and if you are pregnant and don't know it yet then the pill won't work and it does not do anything to the pregnancy. that's what my doc told me.

[Della529]

Quoting PamR:

It's contraception.  You can't abort a pregnancy that doesn't exist, and these pills will not abort an existing pregnancy.

This.

[home-sweet-home]

I believe life begins at conception and that anything that prevents a fertilized egg from implating is abortion. That includes plan B, herbal abortificiants and most birth control pills.

[eaglemama2]

emergency contraception - brilliant idea btw

[tashntim]

this

Quoting cherry41089:

Contraception, plan B is basically a super spermicide. It kill the sperm before it gets to the egg and if you are pregnant and don't know it yet then the pill won't work and it does not do anything to the pregnancy. that's what my doc told me.

[tashntim]

Oh, I also want to add I think it should be used only as Emergency contraception..not contraception. At $50 a pack, that would be pretty expensive birth control!