[Mrs. Don-o]

Maybe the info in this aticle is misleading or I'm not understanding it, but it seems that this decision doesn't change anything. It is always licit to give a contraceptive after rape if it is determined that the woman has not already ovulated. The purpose of the pill is to prevent ovulation; it may also have the effects of altering cervical mucus to impede sperm motility, or even be directly spermicidal.

However it is not to be given after ovulation.

Therefore -- in this time frame --- it could not act as an abortive drug.

This does not violate the teaching against the sin of contraception, because the sin of contraception means the choice of contracepted sex. The raped woman didn't choose sex at all, therefore can't be guilty of "choosing contracepted sex."

Am I missing something here? If so, correct me please!

[NYer]

Am I missing something here?

If I am following your thinking on this matter, then another step must be included in the process of determining when and if to administer the morning after pill: has the patient recently ovulated?

Given the dynamics of these situations, I intentionally posted the above article on the Morning After Pill. It delves deeper into the topic:

“That pill has at least four effects, and there is absolutely no pill in the world which could dissociate these four phases,” Vierling told CNA on Feb. 22.

“These phases include acidification of the vagina, which destroys sperm,” as well as the prevention of ovulation, she said.

Vierling explained the third phase will cause an abortion if an embryo is present because it causes the fallopian tube to lose its ability to move the child into the mother’s womb.

She noted that “the fourth phase thins the lining of the uterus, preventing the embryo from implanting itself onto the uterus, so this is also an abortifacient.”

Therefore, she explained, pills taken after sexual intercourse are capable of producing either a contraceptive or abortive effect, depending on whether the woman has ovulated or not.

There is no new formulation of the morning-after pill that functions only as a contraceptive with no potential to cause early abortions, she stressed.

According to Der Spiegel:

In a significant reversal just one month after two Catholic hospitals refused to treat a victim of sexual assault, Germany's bishops on Thursday approved the use of the "morning-after pill" in rape cases. German commentators say the step doesn't go far enough.

German Bishops Accept Morning-After Pill

Just conjecture on my part but my reading on this is that the German bishops caved to public sentiment and the media.