I thought this information from Mrs. Sara worthy of notice. (I don’t mean to be “a lazy and unscholarly student” 😉 So maybe this helps some of you who also do not have the time to do any extensive research at the moment on the abortifacient properties of birth control pills.
Thanks Mrs. Sara!
“I’d like to point out that you don’t have to go far to find out if the pill is abortifacient or not. I’ve actually held a box of chemical contraceptive in my hand, taken out and read the sheet of medical indications for the drug, and found that RIGHT IN THE BOX they tell you exactly how the contraceptive is abortifacient.Since I no longer have the box, I’ll quote from the website for Yasmin:
“Combination oral contraceptives (COCs) act by suppression ofgonadotropins. Although the primary mechanism of this action is inhibition of ovulation, other alterations include changes in the cervical mucus (which increases the difficulty of sperm entry into the uterus) and the endometrium (which reduces the likelihood of implantation).”
This info can be found at the following link:http://berlex.bayerhealthcare.com/html/products/pi/fhc/Yasmin_PI.pdf
…My point is that in order to find out if a chemical is abortifacient, it doesn’t take looking at an actual medical study. The manufacturers of the pill have done the medical studies, and by law, they have to disclose how their product works….
The only way you can really argue that chemical birth control isn’t abortifacient is if we have a differing view of what abortion is. If we do, we can definitely discuss that. “
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I don’t think anyone was disputing whether oral contraceptives effect the uterine lining. What has not been conclusively researched (I don’t know if you’ve had time to look at the links I posted in the previous thread; it’s dense reading and very medical, but very thorough and informative) is how often the inhibited ovulation aspect — which is the PRIMARY function of ORAL contraceptives — fails. Further, as chemical pregnancies (failure of a fertilized egg to implant, thus being flushed out with a woman’s period), it is uncertain how “hostile” the altered endometrium really is to eggs that may be fertilized. And whether failed ovulation necessarily results in fertilization is another iffy area, as the altered uterine lining makes it more difficult for sperm to reach any eggs that might have released.
I understand and respect that a lot of people would rather not split hairs by avoiding the pill altogether (especially if you’re not in the pregnancy prevention camp to begin with). The only person I can speak for is myself, knowing that the pill does inhibit ovulation in me (not to mention regulates my cycle, which has always been a huge problem for me).
There are other methods to at least try before taking such an extreme route with birth control pills.
There are actually quite a few herbal remedies that regulate a woman’s cycle, alleviate cramping, etc.
It does not work on everyone, but for the majority of women that try it, it does. With an added benefit that there’s no “iffy” area of if it can or cannot abort.
http://www.aimforherbs.com/herandwomhea.html
There *have* been studies done on herbs, many of them, as well. Just not in the capitalist country of America (which I love), where no money can be made off of plants and weeds found in most people’s backyards. 😉
A good source of the studies can be found in the HealthNotes book, “The Natural Pharmacy.” Most of the studies we done in Europe.
It’s a HUGE book, and it’s really cheap on Amazon right now, compared to what I paid for it!
http://www.amazon.com/Natural-Pharmacy-Revised-Updated-3rd/dp/0307336654
Well, I think if there is even a slight chance that taking the pill can cause this to happen, a prolife Christian should abstain from it. It seems that simple to me. Even if the chance is 1 in 10000000000000. That’s enough chance for me.
The thing about breakthrough fertilization with birth control pills is that there is SUCH a tiny, tiny chance of it happening. The problem with finding research studies documenting exactly HOW many times it happens that a fertilized egg is aborted is that without a fertilized egg implanting, at this point there’s no way to tell if an egg was fertilized or not. We can only look at failure rates of certain forms of birth control and know that somewhere within those rates, there are fertilized eggs that are being aborted as a result of a hostile endometrial environment.
The failure rate for different forms of chemical birth control lies between .09 percent (the lowest failure rate, for an implanted device like Norplant), and 5 percent, the highest for a combined estrogen/progesterone pill. That failure rate is something that each woman needs to look at and ask, “Am I willing to take the chance?” Anyone who takes the pill is toying with a certain failure rate. It’s impossible to say that birth control is 100% effective for any woman… and somewhere in that failure rate is a smaller chance that they are actually aborting their child. Yes, the risks are incredibly, infintesimally small. But they’re still there.
I have several dear friends and family members that are aware of the risks and that are still willing to take the pill for various personal reasons, even risking an abortion. I am not.