This was news to me, and while a single man i have never had to deal with this as a Christian, some research quickly revealed that i am not alone.
“...not all doctors are aware that the Pill can act as an abortifacient. Dr. Walter Larimore admitted that he prescribed the Pill for nearly twenty years—and used it in his own marriage before anyone informed him that it could have such an effect.”
When another doctor clued him in, he said that he had never heard of such a thing, and that the claims seemed to be “outlandish, excessive, and inaccurate.”[5] He began a search of the medical literature, “to disprove these claims to my partner, myself, and any patients who might ask about it.” However, what he discovered compelled him to stop using the Pill in his medical and personal life. Reviewing the information, he realized how many doctors (and patients) were ignorant of the abortifacient potential of the Pill. It was a humbling realization, considering that ever since the 1970s, the patient package insert for birth control pills explained how the drug reduces the likelihood of implantation.[6]
After informing his colleagues, Dr. Larimore noted, “several said that they thought it would change the way family physicians informed their patients about the Pill and its potential effects.”[7] Because many physicians felt that it was unfair to leave women in the dark, some of them submitted a proposal to the American Medical Association (AMA) calling for a vote on whether doctors should tell patients that birth control pills can act as abortifacients. However, in 2001 the AMA voted overwhelmingly against the proposal.
As for when life begins, no one knows, but ,
One reason why certain doctors may not tell women about the abortifacient nature of the Pill is that some physicians do not believe that pregnancy begins with fertilization. Until the 1960s, when the Pill was invented, it had been taken for granted that the union of the sperm and egg signaled the beginning of pregnancy. In 1963 even the United States government published health information declaring that anything that impairs life between the moment of fertilization and the completion of labor is to be considered an abortion.[8]
Because many women would never have agreed to use a drug or device that could cause an early abortion, those in favor of such contraceptives knew that the issue had to be resolved. In 1964 a Planned Parenthood doctor speaking of another type of abortifacient birth control recommended that scientists not “disturb those people for whom this is a question of major importance.” He added that judges and theologians trust the medical community, and “if a medical consensus develops and is maintained that pregnancy, and therefore life, begins at implantation, eventually our brethren from the other faculties will listen.”[9]
One year later the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG) decided to redefine pregnancy. In its words, “conception is the implantation of a fertilized ovum.”[10] Instead of defining conception as fertilization, ACOG decided that life begins nearly a week later, at implantation. At the time they said that this was because pregnancy could not be detected before then. Today science is able to detect pregnancy before implantation, but the ACOG still won’t correct its definition.[11] The original change had nothing to do with a scientific discovery in women’s health, reproduction, or biology. Unfortunately, doctors today are split on the issue.[12] http://chastity.com/chastity-qa/birth-control/abortion/do-birth-control-pills-ca
A dirty, little secret in the pharmaceutical world is that the Pill if taken in a certain way can actually work AFTER conception by preventing the embryo from implanting on the uterine wall. In other words, the pill can cause the baby to die. This is simply abortion by another name.
The “Morning After” Pill is nothing more than the regular birth control pill taken in massive dosage to insure that the embryo will not implant.
When taken as prescribed (every day) the birth control pill prevents conception by: 1. usually preventing ovulation, and 2. thickening cervical mucous to delay/interfere with sperm entry through the cervix.
If the pill fails to prevent ovulation and conception, it prevents the fertilized egg from growing through “changes in the endometrium which reduce the likelihood of implantation” (a form of abortion).
When taken as a “morning after pill” the mechanism of action is to prevent implantation of a conceptus (zygote, the fertilized egg). Prevention of implantation can also be a factor in preventing pregnancy in those women who forget to take the pill every day, and therefore ovulate. Ovulation can occasionally occur even when a woman never misses a pill [between 1 and 3 of very 100 women get pregnant while on the pill, and “research indicates that figure may be considerably higher, up to 4% for ‘good compliers’ and 8% for ‘poor compliers’” (Potter, “How Effective Are Contraceptives?” Obstetrics and Gynecology 1996; 135:13S-23S.)]. http://christiananswers.net/q-eden/edn-bcpill.html
It is harder for the women, but i think this needs to be made known. We know that the liberals do not want evangelicals to have kids, unless they can harvest them, which the schools work to do.
It’s really true, we have to share it more. I was the same, I had no idea, a time before my conversion, for five or six years I was on the Pill.
There was a website I happened on, women told about the side effects of the “morning after pill”, it was awful and they sounded so young most of them.
I think that those religions that delve so far into the personal lives of its adherents that they presume to tell a married couple what they can and cannot do in the marriage bed that is undefiled and blessed by God, is going too far. Should couples have all the information available to them about the truth of what happens with these products that help in family planning? Yes, they should and nothing should be hidden or disguised about their choices. Will non-married people take advantage of methods that aid a married couple to plan their families? Of course! Everything God has created, Satan will try to pervert but it doesn't mean no one should be allowed to invent or utilize things that help them to live.
I think the Catholic Church is being hypocritical when they insist that ALL types of birth control are "mortal sins" but then turn around and promote what they call "natural family planning". NFP is a method similar to the "rhythm method" my parents used - but which often failed - and it predicts when a woman is fertile so that intercourse can be avoided during those times. They are telling couples intercourse is for bringing children into the world, yet advise couples they can have sex "safely" without pregnancy as long as they do it the "Church's" approved way. What I think is hypocritical, is they allow a couple to have sex with the intention of NOT having children using this NFP method but call barrier methods sinful, when the result and intention is the same! I agree that abortion is morally wrong and any method that causes the death of the embryo or fertilized egg is equally wrong, but methods that prevent fertilization from happening in the first place are NOT the same and the church should butt out in telling a married couple how they should manage their families. God gave us brains for a reason.