What exactly is “abortifacient” birth control, and is “the Pill” an abortifacient?
Contraceptives are methods of birth control that place a physical barrier between sperm and egg, such as condoms and diaphragms. By contrast, abortifacients are hormonal-based methods of birth control that often cause early abortions. In 2019, an estimated 27% of women were using such methods in the United States alone. The principal method of abortifacient birth control is “the Pill,” which first became widely used in the late 1960s and helped fuel the Sexual Revolution.
Let’s review what birth control does.
Is the Pill an Abortifacient?
“Contraceptive” means a method of birth control that prevents pregnancy by placing a physical barrier between them. However, all birth control pills and the other hormonal methods of birth control on the market today function as abortifacients part of the time. The Pill often ends early pregnancies by preventing implantation of an already fertilized egg, or very early human being.
Human development from fertilization to birth
Over the past half-century, three general classes of birth control drugs have been manufactured in the United States and other countries — the high-dose pill, the combination pill and the progestin-only “minipill.”
The old high-dosage drugs were rarely abortifacient in their modes of action. They mostly worked by thickening cervical mucus and inhibiting ovulation. Sometimes, however, breakthrough ovulation occurred, and so the older drugs were occasionally abortifacient in their actions.
Eventually the older “high-dose” drugs gave way to the new “low-dose” drugs. Ortho/Johnson & Johnson, G.D. Searle/Monsanto, and Syntex, the three largest manufacturers of abortifacient birth controls in the United States, voluntarily withdrew their “high-dose” products from the U.S. market in 1988 on the advice of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA). These were among the last commercially-available pills in the United States containing more than 50 micrograms of estrogen.1
Each of the newer low-dose pills has between 50 and 3,000 micrograms of a variety of compounds containing progestin and between 10 and 50 micrograms of artificial estrogen in the form of ethinyl estradiol or mestranol. This is a tremendous drop in estrogenic potency compared to the high-dose drugs.2
The newer low-dosage combination and progestin-only pills have three modes of action:3
- The first of the three modes of action is the suppression of ovulation. When a woman ingests birth control drugs, they hijack her reproductive system. Her body is hormonally “tricked” into acting as if it is continuously pregnant. During those months that ovulation is suppressed, the mode of action is contraceptive (not abortifacient) in nature.
- The second mode of action is also contraceptive in nature. The drugs cause changes in the consistency and acidity of cervical mucus, making it more difficult for sperm to penetrate and live in the cervix.
- The third mode of action is abortifacient. The pills cause changes in the endometrium (lining of the uterus), making implantation more difficult. It transforms the endometrium from a welcoming, lush forest into a barren, sterile desert. In a cycle where ovulation was not prevented and fertilization takes place, it causes a “silent abortion.”
Indeed, even the Guttmacher Institute (the former research arm of Planned Parenthood) admitted that contraceptives can prevent implantation of a fertilized egg. Conveniently, they claim that pregnancy only occurs once implantation begins, instead of when a unique DNA code and living creature is created at fertilization. But this doesn’t make sense. Why would pregnancy only begin once the newly created child arrives in a specific place (e.g., in the uterus versus the ovary), rather than when the child is actually created?
Birth Control Today
There are now more than 200 brands and varieties of progestin/estrogen pills on the market. All of them — from Alesse to Zovia — sometimes prevent implantation of the developing human being. The low-dose pill works in essentially the same manner as the old high-dose pill. However, a much higher percentage of ovulation occurs in women who use the low-dose drugs due to their lower estrogen dose. This means that all of the newer oral “contraceptive” drugs act as abortifacients at least part of the time.4
Thus, women who use these drugs frequently conceive. In order to prevent the continuation of pregnancies in these cases, the low-dose drugs also prevent implantation, thereby acting as back-up abortifacients.
Several studies have shown that women on the low-dose pills experience an early “silent abortion” during a wide range of 2% to 65% of their cycles, depending upon the formulation used.5
The mechanisms of action of minipills (progestin-only pills, or POPs) are similar to that of the standard progestin/estrogen combination.6
These progestin-only pills interfere with implantation by affecting the endometrium, thickening the cervical mucus, and suppressing ovulation in some women by reducing the presence of follicle-stimulating hormone (FSH).
The manufacturers of the minipills acknowledge this mode of action. For example, Syntex Laboratories announced that its progestin-only drug Norinyl “did not interfere with ovulation….It seems to affect the endometrium so that a fertilized egg cannot be implanted.”7
What are the Side Effects?
The Searle Pharmaceutical Corporation developed Enovid, the first birth control pill, in the late 1950s.
Enovid and other high-dose birth controls have generally fallen out of favor in the United States. However, they are still used in some developing countries. They contain from 1000 to 12,000 micrograms of progestin and/or 60 to 120 micrograms of estrogen, a natural female hormone. This high dosage had a variety of side effects, including blurred vision, nausea, weight gain, breast pain, cramping, irregular menstrual bleeding, headaches, and possibly breast cancer.
Beginning in about 1975, drug makers, reacting to extensive publicity about the severe side effects of the high-dosage drugs, steadily decreased the content of estrogen and progestin in their products.
However, the patient information pamphlets continue to feature a long list of very serious side effects. A review of some of the most common brands shows many similar effects.
These include blood clots, venous thromboembolism (VTE), stroke, hyperkalemia (high potassium levels), carcinomas of the breasts and reproductive organs, liver disease, high blood pressure, numbness, chest pain, cerebral thrombosis, and gallbladder disease. They also list a host of less dangerous side effects, to include headaches and nausea, weight gain, back pain, skin pigmentation changes, bleeding irregularities, depression and breast tenderness, most of which have an incidence of between 8% and 33%.8
Pharmeceutical Companies Abuse Poor Women
“Progressives” frequently virtue signal by bragging about their “responsible and non-exploitative” methods of consumption. But they have no problem at all with the horrible way that poor women in other nations have been treated by the big pharmaceutical corporations when testing their birth control products.
In keeping with its defensive anti-lawsuit strategy, Searle tested its Enovid birth control on poor Puerto Rican women before concluding in 1961 that it was safe for women in North America and Europe to use.9
Experimentation on foreign women has been a typical tactic of the leading pharmaceutical corporations. They have often tested abortifacient chemicals and devices on poor women in developing countries to make any mistakes or serious health problems easier to cover up. Women in these nations had little recourse when their health was destroyed or damaged by this kind of testing, because the investments of large pharmaceutical companies bring huge amounts of money to their homelands. Thus, any protest against the testing programs can easily be suppressed by corrupt local or national governments. We do not know if such testing on poor women in developing nations is still being conducted. But the plans laid out in the now declassified Kissinger Report describe secretive ways to continue such operations while trying to conceal them.
Why don’t we know whether such heinous practices are currently happening? This may be due to worldwide condemnation of such practices in the past, causing a greater degree of secrecy, or simply a move to all-animal testing.
One of the most dangerous population suppression organizations on earth, the Population Council, produced the insertable abortifacient Norplant. The Population Council was funded in this effort by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), and tested Norplant on poor women in several Asian nations. Doctors testing the drug refused to remove it from Bangladeshi women who were suffering horribly from its disastrous side effects. Korean women were not informed that Norplant was experimental and were not told of any side effects. Many women were bribed to use the drug and instructed not to report side effects so that the test program results would be skewed to show lower rates of health problems. When women became too sick to avoid seeking medical attention, proper care was withheld from them.10
Taking the Pill and Ectopic Pregnancies
What happens if you take birth control but become pregnant? Some studies have shown that, while it decreases the chances of pregnancy (thereby also ectopic pregnancy) overall, when pregnancy does occur, there are higher rates of ectopic pregnancies as opposed to normal.
The American College for Obstetrics and Gynecology reports the prevalence of ectopic pregnancies based on method. The results were from a survey of 9,256 women. For those using no contraceptive or condom, about 1.37% of pregnancies surveyed were ectopic. For users of levonorgestrel intra-uterine devices (IUDs), the incidence rose to 7.84%. Cooper IUDs had lower rates, at 4.17%. Implant users and depot medroxyprogesterone acetate users were reported as having 0 ectopic pregnancies in the survey. Finally, users of oral contraceptives, a contraceptive patch, or vaginal ring reported 0.28%.
Other sources report varying numbers. The Australian government’s Better Health Channel says the prevalence of ectopic pregnancy is about 5% in women using copper IUDs or minipills, 10% in women using implants, and up to 50% for users of hormone-releasing IUDs.
The copper IUD is an abortifacient.
While it’s important to acknowledge that not every pregnancy that occurs despite contraception will be ectopic, it is worthwhile to consider the effects the pill has on a woman’s body. Thus, if you are pregnant, it is essential to get an ultrasound to locate where the child implanted.
If You Take Birth Control While Pregnant, Will It Kill the Baby?
If you’re pregnant while taking birth control, what are the effects? Studies on this topic are inconclusive. Some studies show that taking birth control after implantation carries no risk to the pregnancy, and others say it may carry a risk of birth defects. The reason there is so little data on this topic is due to the unethical nature of having pregnant women take birth control to study whether it contributes to birth defects or a miscarriage. That being said, if you are taking birth control, it is better to stop taking it when you are pregnant.
Another form of birth control is the aforementioned IUD. As with any form of birth control, IUDs are not 100% effective at preventing pregnancy. Pregnancies with IUDs carry an increased risk of late miscarriage, premature birth, and bleeding, among a few other risks.
What Now?
What is one to do if one wants to get off birth control, but is afraid? Don’t be. You can stop taking birth control fairly easily and quickly. If you are using the patch, pills, or the ring, you are able to stop completely at any time. If you’re using a hormonal implant or IUD, you must schedule an appointment with your doctor to have these removed. Trying to remove them yourself can result in serious harm or complications. If you’re using shots like Depo-Provera, simply do not receive the next shot.11
Women coming off birth control sometimes experience cramping, irregular periods, or acne, among other effects. Fertility will return in most cases. That’s a good sign of health.
Summary
Although it is routinely referred to as the “oral contraceptive pill” or OCP, the Pill is not conception control, or contraception. Though that may have been the original intention, developments in medicine have led to the creation of drugs and other devices that also act as abortifacients in cases where conception is not prevented. Some of these have truly Orwellian names such as the IUCD, the “Intrauterine Contraceptive Device,” and the UTS, or “Uterine Therapeutic System.”12
In other words, oral “contraceptives” are not true contraceptives.
Women don’t need contraceptives, they need compassion, assistance, and respect. Birth control simply carries far too many risks. You can click here to learn about some of the risks of birth control.
This article was originally published in April 2021 by Dr. Brian Clowes and was most recently updated in October 2023 by Marisa Cantu.
+ Endnotes
[1] Bogomir M. Kuhar, Ph.D. “Pharmaceutical Companies: The New Abortionists.” Reprint 16 from Human Life International, 4 Family Life Lane, Front Royal, Virginia 22630.
[2] Review of about 150 pill compositions in patient information pamphlets downloaded from the National Institute for Health’s website DailyMed. Birth control pills contain artificial progestins with many different formulations, including levenorgestrel, norethindrone, desogestrel, drospirenone, norgestrel, ethynodiol diacetate and gestodene.
[3] “Minipill (Progestin-Only Birth Control Pill).” Mayo Clinic, January 13, 2023. https://www.mayoclinic.org/tests-procedures/minipill/about/pac-20388306#:~:text=The+minipill+thickens+cervical+mucus,may+keep+you+from+ovulating; “Progestin-Only Hormonal Birth Control: Pill and Injection.” ACOG, January 2023. https://www.acog.org/womens-health/faqs/progestin-only-hormonal-birth-control-pill-and-injection#:~:text=How+do+progestin%2Donly+pills,does+not+do+so+consistently.
[4] Patient information pamphlets downloaded from the National Institute for Health’s website DailyMed.
[5] Walter L. Larimore, M.D. and Joseph B. Stanford, M.D., M.S.P.H. “Postfertilization Effects of Oral Contraceptives and Their Relationship to Informed Consent.” Archives of Family Medicine (American Medical Association), February 2000 (Volume 9). Interestingly, a postscript by Dr. Larimore describes how he and his wife stopped using the birth control pill and how he stopped prescribing it due to its abortifacient action. To see a complete book on the abortifacient action of the pill, which includes citations of many scientific studies on this topic, read Randy Alcorn’s Does the Birth Control Pill Cause Abortions?
[6] “Minipill (Progestin-Only Birth Control Pill).” Mayo Clinic, January 13, 2023. https://www.mayoclinic.org/tests-procedures/minipill/about/pac-20388306#:~:text=The+minipill+thickens+cervical+mucus,from+implanting+in+the+womb.
[7] United Press International news release in the Cincinnati Post, January 11, 1973.
[8] “Azurette (28) Oral: Uses, Side Effects, Interactions, Pictures, Warnings & Dosing.” WebMD. Accessed October 19, 2023. https://www.webmd.com/drugs/2/drug-151684/azurette-28-oral/details#:~:text=Nausea%2C+vomiting%2C+headache%2C+bloating,first+few+months+of+use; Durbin, Kaci, ed. “Yaz: Side Effects, Dosage & Uses.” Drugs.com, 2023. https://www.drugs.com/yaz.html; “Heather Side Effects: Common, Severe, Long Term.” Drugs.com. Accessed October 19, 2023. https://www.drugs.com/sfx/heather-side-effects.html; Superdrug Online Doctors. “Microgynon Side Effects.” Superdrug Online Doctors. Accessed October 19, 2023. https://onlinedoctor.superdrug.com/microgynon-side-effects.html; “Yasmin Side Effects: Common, Severe, Long Term.” Drugs.com, May 4, 2023. https://www.drugs.com/sfx/yasmin-side-effects.html.
[9] Bogomir M. Kuhar, Ph.D. “Pharmaceutical Companies: The New Abortionists.” Reprint 16 from Human Life International, 4 Family Life Lane, Front Royal, Virginia 22630.
[10] UBINIG (Bangladesh) Research Report. “Norplant, the Five-Year Needle: An Investigation of the Norplant Trial in Bangladesh from the User’s Perspective.” Reproductive and Genetic Engineering: Journal of International Feminist Analysis, 1990 (Volume 3, Number 3); Elizabeth Sobo. “NORPLANT: Lab-Tested on Third World Women.” Our Sunday Visitor, February 3, 1991, pages 10 and 11.
[11] “Your Guide to Going off of Birth Control.” Cleveland Clinic, January 19, 2023. https://health.clevelandclinic.org/your-guide-to-going-off-of-birth-control/.
[12] E.B. Connell. “The Uterine Therapeutic System: A New Approach to Female Contraception.” Contemporary OB/GYN, June 1975, pages 49 to 55.
Related Content
Dr. Brian Clowes has been HLI’s director of research since 1995 and is one of the most accomplished and respected intellectuals in the international pro-life movement. Best known as author of the most exhaustive pro-life informational resource volume The Facts of Life, and for his Pro-Life Basic Training Course, Brian is the author of nine books and over 500 scholarly and popular articles, and has traveled to 70 countries on six continents as a pro-life speaker, educator and trainer.
Marisa Cantu has an MS in political science and international affairs with a BA in political science and has also studied international studies and French. She has a strong background in nonprofit work, research, writing, and policy proposal and analysis.
In her free time, Marisa enjoys painting, writing, cooking, spending time with her husband and playing with her dog.
I strongly disagree with the comparison to the Crusades. The Crusades were about killing and destroying. This is the exact opposite. It’s a simple and easy way to get poison out of a loved one’s body. What happens next is not up to any of us; if it’s not the right time then she won’t be blessed with a child. As for her free will and autonomy, she already has about a 10% chance of getting pregnant on the pill in the first year of typical use, so the way I look at it, she’s already accepted the possibility that her intimacy with her husband could result in pregnancy. You’re just increasing the likelihood that will happen.
If your daughter never spoke to you again or let you have any contact with their children, would you still sabotage their birth control in the idea of righteousness?
If the answer is no, then this situation is about you- you want grandchildren or her to have grandchildren and wish to justify in making it happen.
Sabotaging their birth control would violate so many personal boundaries and undermine their position of authority as an adult. If it were me, I would never be able to trust you nor trust you with a child again for you have proven you will not respect my authority. Even if I could forgive you, forgiveness is not about forcing a relationship with someone who abuses or violates your boundaries.
There is a line as Christians that you do not cross despite the morality. If you don’t believe me, there are stories already of people would did this and you can see what happened to them.
Not to mention, this action can be illegal.
I fear you will not listen no matter what I say- but your actions would be like those in the crusades long ago.
M.S., I must respectfully disagree. Just a few decades ago, it was a crime that could result in imprisonment to provide any form of contraception for use by a married woman. Back then we understood as a Christian nation that a married woman who seeks sexual gratification without being open to bearing her husband’s child commits a grievous sin that corrupts her marriage, her body, and her eternal soul. An “accidental” pregnancy that teaches her to trust God and not the Pill is an entirely appropriate way and maybe the best way sometimes to confront this evil.
Criminally sabotaging your daughter’s life is not very loving or motherly at all, regardless of how badly you want grandchildren right now. Think about what you are actually considering. Ridiculous.
You’re right…Evil is Evil.
That is in no way your place. It goes against free will, which God gives us.
God creates life in the womb. It is an exercise of God’s will that results in conception, not the woman’s. Yes, God gives us free will even to commit murder, and a woman who takes the pill exercises her free will in a profoundly evil way by murdering the new life God has placed in her womb. It is one of the most profound differences between God and man that man can take life but not create it.
God bless you for sharing these wonderful facts about how simple it is for an originally devil made pill to be transformed into something so harmless, that could lead to the creation of something so wonderful:)
Thank you. Spread the word and take action!
I love this!!! Neutralizing the poisons in these pills transforms them from abortifacients to an aid to motherhood. It’s a very special kind of placebo effect, isn’t it? A harmless little pill is all it takes to persuade her to give her womb to her husband to fill in the procreative act as God and nature created her.
God recently blessed 170 women in Chile with unintended pregnancies:)) This was the wonderful result of some very prayed for defective birth control pills:) This blessing of some out of order pills helped 170 women obtain some much needed religious and family values by teaching them to leave it in gods hands as to wheather or not their act of love would result in the creation of a child:) Love how God continues to work in mysterious ways in order to help unite an unprotected egg cell with a sperm cell by removing the barriers between them in order to allow a precious egg to get submerged in a sea of sperm, so that life can begin. I continue to pray for and thank God every time he blesses a couple with either a BC failure or a condom break:)
Actually, it’s even better than just a placebo. A woman who is ovulating naturally experiences heightened desire for physical intimacy with her husband when she is fertile. A wife taking these harmless pills will be eager to initiate intimacy with her husband at the very best time for conception. She’ll have absolutely no idea that when she tells him she is “in the mood” it is because her womb is ready for his seed.
The pill’s poisons extend far beyond the prevention of forming your grandchild, for they increase your daughter’s weight and put her at high risk for forming blood clots that could lead to her having a heart attack or stroke:( In addition to the health risk they create, the longer she has been exposed to the pill’s poisons, the greater the risk for her to experience fertility problems which could result in her having problems conceiving once she finally decides to :0! If her pills were to fail;), then this might be just what she needs in order to strengthen her religious and family values:) You’ll feel good when she starts to complain of God’s natural mild side effects of nausea and sore tender breasts as the cells of a new life continue to divide and grow:) Once she discovers she is pregnant it will not only make the both of you very happy but, it will strengthen your bond to each other and to God. Plus, once she experiences the joy of life growing inside her, this may be just what she needs to convince her to forever ditch the pill. This will help her re-discover her faith by using natural methods of BC that will hopefully lead to God blessing her with many more children and you with many more grandchildren:)
As a former pill user, I will tell you that when my birth control failed and I learned I was pregnant with our first, it was one of the most transformative moments of my life and my marriage. We actually considered abortion, which terrifies me now to think how close we came to killing our oldest son. The realization and the horror of what we were thinking about doing is what brought us to repentance. We now have five children from my womb and two adopted children. Looking back I had more faith in the pill that killed our babies than I had in God. Having the pill “fail” was exactly what I needed and my husband needed. Not only did it save my son’s life, it saved us from the bondage of grievous sin.
So does it seem a little sneaky to secretly render another woman’s pills safe for conception? Of course it does, their evil is so deep in our world we forget they are even poisons. Is it the right thing to do? Absolutely! I doubt mine failed because of this sort of intervention by someone, but if I could, I wish I could go back in time and stop my own pills from working this way to save the children I know I probably killed, and I wish I had back then someone in my life who had the love and wisdom to save me from those terrible pills.
From “The Heavens Opened” by Anna Rountree-
“Our God can speak to the spirit of a child from conception. Its spirit can respond from the beginning of life in the womb.”
From “A Divine Revelation of Hell” by Mary K Baxter-
“From the time of conception, that is a soul. My angels go down and bring the children to Me when they die. I have a place where they can grow, learn and be loved.”
Thank you HL1 staff for your work and your clear answers to comments.
Then which birth controls are non abortive
Actually Miku, all have the ability to act as an abortifacient, if you look at the inserts that come with them. This means that if an embryo is fertilized – and therefore a human being at its initial stage – many will either prevent the implantation in the uterine wall. But some can act other ways, like preventing the release of the egg, etc.
So when you are married what do you do, stay off the pill and get pregnant. I understand and agree with the articles. But do we have babies until you stop making babies
Good question, Rosa. The Church asks couples during the during the Rite of Marriage whether they will accept children lovingly from God and bring them up according to the law of Christ and the Church. That said, spouses have latitude when it comes to acting responsibly in their decision making about having children. The Church does allow couples to work with a woman’s natural fertility to limit or space children in discernment and openness to God’s holy will.
Are you referring to periodic abstinence?
Billy, Married couples may use Natural Family Planning (NFP) in their decision making about having children. NFP is an umbrella term for certain methods used to achieve and avoid conception. I refer you to HLI article “The Wonder of Natural Family Planning” for a more detailed description: https://www.hli.org/resources/what-is-nfp/. Married couples using NFP to postpone conception abstain from intercourse and genital contact during the fertile phase of the wife’s cycle. Married couples who use NFP to attempt a pregnancy, make use of the fertile window – the optimum time when conception is likely. It is important to note that every marital embrace is open to life.
Do you have any estimate of the annual number of abortions worldwide caused by the Pill and other abortifacient forms of birth control, such as the IUD? This would be excluding surgical abortions and explicitly chemical abortifacients, such as RU-486.
A recent report by LifeSite News estimates a billion have died in the last century. Of course, this number is very hard to pinpoint exactly.
Father Paul Marx wrote article on the pill being an abortifacient could you send this to me. God Bless you
Beth, we’re unable to locate the article you reference (not all of what Fr. Paul Marx wrote is available in electronic format), but here are links to a few of the many resources on our website:
https://www.hli.org/resources/abortifacients/
https://www.hli.org/resources/negative-effects-of-the-pill/
https://www.hli.org/resources/abortifacient-brief-depo-provera/
If you have any particular questions, please contact us through the contact page on our website.
Keep up the good work! As a cradle Catholic, reading Pope Paul VI’s writings were right on target. The Catholic Church is always put down on this and many other issues on marriage, etc. We now know the Church had it right all the time.
Thanks for your input, Virginia.
I might have missed it but I can’t see any explanation of what in the pill causes the uterine lining to thin. Is it the estrogen and/or progestin or something else?
Estrogen is required for the lining of the uterus to thicken, and so monthly periods will shed that lining. Without estrogen, there is no ovulation. After ovulation, the body produces progesterone, which stabilizes the uterine lining. But in the pill, one is taking both at the same time. So in theory one should not ovulate, nor does the uterine wall thicken, it actually can thin. This is part of the complex nature of how female hormones work.
Thanks for the helpful clarification. Does that mean that ovulation and the endometrium work on the same system? If the pill failed to stop ovulation then would it also fail to stop the lining developing?
Thanks again for the helpful article and responses.
Thanks Shane. You need to look at product inserts we believe, to ascertain this. If you have a product in mind and want to see that stipulated, we have thousands of inserts stored on file. However, the main issue isn’t the endometrium, it’s the abortifacient aspect which causes the fertilized embryo to fail to implant. And every birth control drug does this. See also answer below.
Dear Shane, the endometrium lining is there regardless. Normally it sheds once a month in fertile women, to prepare an environment for the fertilized embryo to attach. If you do not ovulate, the endometrium is still there. Even those on the birth control pill still often are shedding and building a new endometrium monthly.
A point of correction if I read Biology 101 correctly: A fertilized ovum (egg) is called a zygote. When it divides, it becomes an embryo. From that point, it becomes a fetus (an unborn baby). Finally, the baby becomes a born infant. We must respect all human life from the womb to the tomb and in all ages, stages and conditions. We must also remember that all of us were once zygotes, embryos and fetuses. If we fail to respect human life and give all innocent babies an opportunity to be born and to grow, we will destroy respect for human life in general. Remember: Babies first — you next! And that is happening now with the push for physician-assisted suicide laws and euthanasia as well as the increased violence in our society. Contraception began the plunge into a “Culture of Death,” which we are experiencing now in the U.S.A. and around the world. Yes, indeed, contraception and abortion were the beginning of this slippery slope of destruction which has not been beneficial to any of us and promises to bring more negative consequences to us as individuals and as a nation. A low or zero population rate will be the destruction of our country. It’s time to repent of our sins, confess and pray for God’s forgiveness, purification and His healing graces of revival and for a new appreciation and openness to the blessings of new life. Let us all begin to have a deeper respect for all human life! Our nation will become a better one if we do so. Please God, help us all to follow Your will and not our own wills! Amen???
Loretta, It is important to note science recognizes a human life begins at conception, that is, at the moment when sperm fertilizes egg.
I wish you would quit referring to it as “a fertilized egg” its NOT! its an embryo
Previous to implantation, it is a fertilized egg-NOT an embryo. Even without birth control, fertilized eggs fail to implant into women’s uterine lining all the time. Are those women having abortions? Those women were never pregnant, period. Please stop making things up.
Women who miscarry are not having abortions. But if one takes a contraceptive which stops the fertilized ovum from implanting in the uterine wall then yes, this is a pregnancy terminated, i.e. an early abortion. Some are unaware of this.
How can a birth control pill that prevents pregnancy cause an abortion? Abortions end pregnancies. Birth control pills prevent pregnancies. Ergo, birth control *can’t* cause an abortion. It’s impossible.
Thanks for asking Jason. This is a common misconception. First, all contraceptives have known failure rates. Second, if you read the inserts provided by the pharmaceutical companies, in cases where these are used, it is possible for an ovum to be fertilized and create an embryo – i.e. a human person – which the contraceptive then blocks from implanting in the uterus at this early stage of conception. This is what makes the contraceptives potentially abortifacient. Hope that helps.
If I am a month delayed om my period and use pills will this cause miscarriage?
Is Norinyl 1/50 an abortafacient?
According to our Director of Research, all contraception pills contain the abortifacient potential. This occurs because if you see from the article, even if the egg is fertilized, that is a human being, the drug will prevent implantation of the fertilized egg in the uterine wall. And we are all human from the moment of conception, implanted or not!
Dear HLI Staff,
How do we understand God’s meaning when a child is born without a skull? Is it God’s will for that child to be born, only to suffer and die for thirty minutes to an hour as it slowly suffocates to death in a pool of its own mucus and blood?
Please help!! I need to know why God would do this… my faith is in Him always and forever, but watching my baby die like that has been very hard.
~B. Smith
The answer is a mystery of faith, we do not know why a baby may be born with a fetal abnormality, any more than we understand why other ills happen. Yet it is a struggle. Why does a mom of young children die of cancer before her children? Or why is a child killed in an auto accident? A parent says losing a child is the most painful thing imaginable, but know that before the Fall it was never God’s plan for these things to happen. While we do not know the details of your case, but palliative care should be administered to make the child as comfortable as possible. A priest should be there with you, and you should rock and hold your child as he or she passes from this earth. To abort a child with a fetal abnormality is so much worse, only the pain and dismemberment is “unseen.” Given the nature of the disability, your child may well have been in shock, was very ill, etc. and may well have felt little to nothing. We would suggest you also speak to a good priest or a counselor; as this can be helpful in working through the grieving process. We are terribly sorry for your loss and offer you our prayers. Hold tight to God; He will give you peace.
I am so sorry that these people want you to believe that god wanted you to watch your baby suffer horribly and die that way. I hope that your heart finds healing.
For now, offence will come, but woe to those by who the offence comes selah shema #silentabortion #wevebeenLIEDto