FDA Approval of the "morning-after" pill
Comments from Pro-Life Leaders
Dr. John Wilke, Director of the Life Issues Institute in Cincinnati.
"You have to talk about the physiology of this," he said. "When
the sperm is deposited in a woman's genital tract, it reaches the ovary in 15 to
30 minutes. If she has an ovum waiting, she's pregnant before she gets out of
bed. If she conceives, these are not contraceptives. These are abortion pills --
period," he said.
Some pro-life experts said women were being misled about the pills.
"It's not a contraception. It is a very, very early abortive drug,"
said Dr. John C. Willke, president of the Life Issues Institute in Cincinnati.
Conception can occur within 30 minutes of intercourse, Dr. Willke said. "So
if she has had sex, by the time she gets to taking those pills, she has
conceived. So this can't be a contraceptive," he said. "The
pills harden the lining of the womb so that the fertilized egg or embryo cannot
implant, he said. As a result, the pills "kill a one-week-old living
human."
Dr. Thomas W. Hilgers, founder and director of the Pope Paul VI Institute
for the study of Human Reproduction in Omaha, NE, said it is simply wrong to say
preventing the implantation of a fertilized egg is contraception: "That's
an abortion statement."
"Fundamentally it (Preven) is an early abortion pill. Abortion is
abortion is abortion," he said.
He said when implantation occurs despite use of Preven, the embryo will be
subject to the "teratologic effects" of the high doses of hormones
used -- deformities and abnormalities like missing or partial limbs, such as occurred
when pregnant women used thalidomide.
Alvare said Preven is being described as a contraceptive that acts
"before pregnancy occurs" only because "the scientific community
has redefined pregnancy in the last 10 years or so" to apply it only when
changes begin occurring in the woman's body after the embryo has attached itself
to the uterine wall.
She said Preven makes the woman "shed the embryo from her womb"
because it hardens the uterine wall and "makes the womb a hostile
environment so the embryo won't attach."
She said the chemical action is different from that of RU-486, an
abortion-inducing drug used later in pregnancy to cause an embryo attached to
the womb to disengage, but the practical effect in each case is an abortion.
"Neither Preven nor RU-486 is a contraceptive device," she said.
New Birth Control Kit Criticized as Abortifacient By Jerry Filteau (Catholic
News Service)
WASHINGTON -- Helen Alvare, pro-life spokeswoman for the U.S. Bishops,
sharply criticized the approval of a morning-after birth control kit described
by its supporters as an "emergency contraceptive."
"According to the experts we've consulted, it acts commonly as an abortifacient
-- an abortion-causing drug," said Alvare, director of planning and
information for the bishops' Secretariat for Pro-Life Activities in Washington.
The Food and Drug Administration Sept. 2 approved Preven, a prescription kit
consisting of four birth control pills, a pregnancy test and an information book
for use after sex to prevent pregnancy.
Gynetics, a Somerville, NJ, pharmaceutical firm, plans to have Preven on the
market by the end of September.
"It's a terrible thing to do to women to call this a
contraceptive," Alvare said. "I don't think that's fair. It can cause
a lot of mental trauma later."
She said she had a friend who had used an intrauterine device until she
learned that it did not prevent conception, but rather prevented the
implantation of a fertilized egg in the womb. When her friend learned what was
really happening with the IUD, "she was extremely disturbed that she was
doing that," Alvare said.
National Right to Life on the so-called "morning after" pill and
other related chemical compounds:
The National Right to Life Committee (NRLC) is opposed to abortion,
euthanasia and infanticide. NRLC takes no position on any drug or device that
acts to "prevent" fertilization. Some chemical compounds may work to
"either" prevent fertilization "or" kill the developing
human being which has begun to grow. National Right to Life advises women faced
with these situations to consult one or more physicians. If, in the best medical
judgment of the physicians, the drug or drugs will cause an abortion, NRLC
strongly opposes the taking of the drug. If the drug(s) will "prevent"
fertilization, the National Right to Life Committee takes no position.
(Moderator's Note: Words in quotes were in italics in the printed version of
NRLC's statement. For a copy of the statement or further clarification, contact
NRLC at 202-626-8800).
Dominic Lombardi of Respect Life Office, Archdiocese of Philadelphia,
writes that Preven -- recently approved by the Food and Drug Administration is
"a form of abortion that is being marketed under the disguise of 'emergency
contraception. [Preven] prevents the embryo from implanting in the uterine wall
and the tacit presumption that pregnancy does not take place until implantation
is both inadequate and inaccurate. What is just as disheartening is the news
media's acceptance of the so-called morning-after pill as a treatment that
'prevents' pregnancy....All those who acknowledge the dignity of the unborn at
conception should be deeply concerned by the intensive marketing of 'emergency
contraception' ... [and] should also be concerned by the news media's apparent
acceptance of marketing based on 'facts' that just aren't true."
From: Laura Echevarria, Communications Director - National Right to Life
"Our position on the issue has been confused by a number of reporters.
I'm sure by now you've seen the stories quoting Carolyn Gerster--she has been
repeatedly taken out of context by many reporters who apparently want a cut and
dried response and don't know what to do with our position on the issue. I truly
don't think any of them comprehend our definition of when life begins.
Because they have placed Carolyn out of context repeatedly--we've been
getting calls from individuals wondering if we have changed our position on when
life begins. The answer is "NO!" Life begins at fertilization--the
joining of egg and sperm--National Right to Life has always and will always
stand by this as the definition of when life begins. The idea that pregnancy
begins at implantation (which is how the FDA and the AMA define pregnancy) and
thus when life begins--is preposterous."
National Catholic Bioethics Center:
"Government approval of the emergency abortion kit shows the reckless
disregard for human life typical of the present administration. This
administration seems committed to promoting irresponsible behavior, especially and
most tragically among the young. "The government needs to promote
abstinence, marriage and a naturally ordered approach to sexuality." --
Edward J. Furton, PhD, Staff ethicist.
"The newly approved 'emergency contraceptive pill' may give women
another option for the prevention of unwanted pregnancies, but having one more
option does not make it good. One use of the pill will be to prevent the embryo
from implanting in the womb, which is nothing short of directly taking an
innocent human life." -- Peter J. Cataldo, PhD, NCBC Director of Research
Texas Right to Life Committee - Houston
For the first time ever, a company has won government permission to advertise
and sell birth control pills as "morning-after" pills for use as
emergency contraceptives. The makers of the PREVEN kits, Gynetics Inc. of
Somerville, N.J., claim that these pills work to prevent pregnancy by acting
before pregnancy occurs. However, the anti-life side has conveniently redefined
pregnancy as beginning at implantation, roughly a week after conception, so as
to claim that these pills do not affect an established pregnancy. What has not
been said is that these pills, which are regular birth control pills taken in
higher doses, have a secondary mechanism of action: the alteration of the
uterine lining so that any newly-conceived human being cannot implant and grow.
The bottom line is that these pills do not solely work to prevent conception,
they also function as abortifacients to prevent implantation.
"After fertilization, the pre-implantation embryo remains extremely
vulnerable. The "morning-after" pill, with its high estrogen content,
alters the endometrium so that implantation fails to occur..." --
"Human Embryology and Developmental Biology", Bruce M. Carlson, M.D.,
Ph.D., 1994, p. 110.
"The Texas Right to Life Committee, Inc. strongly opposes any drugs or
devices which interfere with the implantation of a newly-conceived human. Since
the so-called "morning-after pills" have a secondary mechanism of
action -- the prevention of a human life from implanting after conception -- the
Texas Right to Life Committee strongly opposes the sale, advertising, and use of
these pills. However, we take no position on drugs or devices that work solely
to prevent conception. We believe it to be a grave disservice to American women
that the truth as to the abortifacient properties of this chemical cocktail has
been obfuscated and in some cases, overtly denied," said Dr. Joseph Graham,
founder and President of Texas Right to Life.
President: Joseph Graham, Ph.D. 713-464-3070 713-525-3598 State Headquarters:
6776 Southwest Freeway, Ste. 430; Houston, Texas 77074 Office Phone:
713-782-5433 Office Fax: 713-952-2041 Website: www.texasrighttolife.com E-mail:
txprolife@infohwy.com
Dr. Dianne Irving
"I have worked in pro-life for many years; I am a former career
appointed bench NIH research biochemist; my Master's and Doctorate degrees are
in philosophy and bioethics. The following quotes from just a few human
embryology text books makes it perfectly clear that the use of the "morning
after pill" for contraception purposes could possibly be abortifacient if
the embryo is prevented from implanting in the uterus. Every human being begins
at fertilization as a single-cell embryo - the zygote. What follows is not my
opinion, nor is it a religious or a "faith" position. In fact, it is
not even a "prolife" opinion. It is hard, cold, unrelenting,
objective, scientific fact - and the FDA knows it. It is way past time that profilers
know it (or admit it) too":
-- "Human pregnancy begins with the fusion of an egg and a sperm ...
Finally the fertilized egg, now properly called an embryo, must make its way
into the uterus ..." (p. 3) ... "After fertilization, the
preimplantation embryo remains extremely vulnerable. The "morning
after" pill, with its high estrogen content, alters the endometrium so that
implantation fails to occur. Similarly, intrauterine devices (IUDs) appear to
function by preventing implantation ... After implantation, birth control is
accomplished by aborting the embryo. (p. 110)
... "The sex of the embryo is determined by the chromosomal complement
of the spermatozoon. (If the sperm contains 22 autosomes and 2 X chromosomes,
the embryo will be a genetic female, and if it contains 22 autosomes and a X and
a Y chromosome, the embryo will be a male.
... Through the mingling of maternal and paternal chromosomes, the zygote is
a genetically unique product of chromosomal reassortment...) (p. 31)(Bruce M.
Carlson, Human Embryology and Developmental Biology; St. Louis, MO; Mosby;
1994).
-- "Zygote: This cell results from the union of an oocyte and a sperm. A
zygote is the beginning of a new human being."(p. 2) (Keith L. Moore and
T.V.N. Persaud, The Developing Human; 6th ed.; W.B. Saunders Company,
Philadelphia; 1998).
-- "Fertilization is the procession of events that begins when a
spermatozoon makes contact with a secondary oocyte or its investments, and ends
with the intermingling of maternal and paternal chromosomes at metaphase of the
first mitotic division of the zygote... The zygote is characteristic of the last
phase of fertilization and is identified by the first cleavage spindle. It is a
unicellular embryo." (p. 19)
... "The embryo grows from a zygote about 0.1 mm in diameter to a
complicated embryonic body approximately 3 mm in length at 3 weeks ... During
the first week, the embryo becomes a solid mass of cells and then acquires a
cavity, at which time it is known as a blastocyst." (p. 23)[my note: it is
this blastocyst - a human embryo which is a human being - which is prevented
from implanting into the uterus through the action of the "morning after
pill"]. (Ronan O'Rahilly and Fabiola Muller, Human Embryology &
Teratology; New York, Wiley-Liss; 1994).
-- "Fertilization takes place in the oviduct. After the oocyte finishes
meiosis, the nuclei of the male and female gametes unite, resulting in the
formation of a zygote containing a single diploid nucleus. Embryonic development
is considered to begin at this point." (p. 1) ... "This moment of
zygote formation may be taken as the beginning or zero time point of embryonic
development." (p. 17)(William J. Larsen, Human Embryology, New York;
Churchill Livingstone; 1997).
Serrin Foster, Executive Director of Feminists for Life:
"Having intercourse and then using a contraception is not
contraception," she said. Ms. Foster and Dr. Willke also questioned whether
the pills might cause blood clots or other problems in women who use the kits
frequently, or cause problems for a fetus who survived."
The Urban Family Council, William Devlin, RN: "Let no American woman
be fooled, this newly approved drug does cause abortion and thus prevents a
human life from developing. As well, this is one more item in a long list of
items that has been marketed to American women claiming that it will improve
their quality of life and reproductive health. Have we forgotten the tragedies
of Thalidomide, the Dalkon shield, the Lippes loop and silicon breast implants?
All these items were marketed as healthy and life-enhancing to women. They were
neither."
Reverend Robert Fleischmann, National Director of WELS Lutherans for Life:
"It is disappointing that the FDA has approved of the so-called Emergency
Contraceptive Kit. While it sounds like this is recourse for women who engaged
in unprotected sex yet fear they may become pregnant it is, in fact, a kit
designed to end pregnancy - it does not prevent conception. The name of this kit
misleads women. The kit does not prevent the fertilization of a woman's egg.
Rather, it is designed to change the uterine lining to prevent this youngest of
human life to embed and grow. The kit is designed to kill a developing
youngster."
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