When does life start?

[ALLFORHIM]

My daughter just learned about the morning after pill today in health class.

She is convinced that it does not create an abortion.

Does anyone have links somewhere that goes into medical detail what the morning after pill does.

Thanks

 

[RichT]

She is wrong, have her read the definition from Wikipedia. The second sentence is pretty clear.

Mifepristone is a synthetic steroid compound used as a pharmaceutical. It is used as an abortifacient in the first two months of pregnancy, and in smaller doses as an emergency contraceptive. It can also be used as a treatment for obstetric bleeding. During early trials, it was known as RU-486, its designation at the Roussel Uclaf company, which designed the drug. The drug was initially made available in France, and other countries then followed—often amid controversy. In France and countries other than the United States it is marketed and distributed by Exelgyn Laboratories under the tradename Mifegyne. In the United States it is sold by Danco Laboratories under the tradename Mifeprex. (The drug is still commonly referred to as “RU-486”.)

Here is the link in case she needs to see it for herself.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mifepristone

 

[teachccd]

At the moment of conception which can take place moments after intercourse. We have so much to learn…

 

[1ke]

RichT–

The morning after pill and RU-480/Mifipristone are **NOT **the same thing.

The MAP is a high concentration of regular birth control pills. It is designed to prevent ovulation if a woman hasn’t yet ovulated and prevent implantation if she has (this is the abortifacient effect of the MAP).

RU-486 is a combination of drugs designed to cause an already implanted fetus to expel. This is called a medical abortion.

They are NOT the same drug.

 

[1ke]

My daughter just learned about the morning after pill today in health class.

So, I hope you will monitor her class from here on out and exempt her from sexual topics.

She is convinced that it does not create an abortion.

So, first, does she acknowledge that when sperm meets egg, a new life begins and God endows that life with a soul? That’s step one.

Step two is to explain that the MAP has two effects: stop ovulation if it hasn’t occurred, stop implantation if it has or does occur. The second mechanism is the one that is abortifacient.

Of course the larger issue is why your daughter would believe contraception was moral at all, ever.

Does anyone have links somewhere that goes into medical detail what the morning after pill does.

Here are some resources:
all.org/article.php?id=10130

omsoul.com/catalog/index.php?target=products&product_id=329

However, the best place to get the info is from the “Plan B” website itself. In the Physician’s Prescribing Info it states this, note where it says it can prevent implantation:

*CLINICAL PHARMACOLOGY
Emergency contraceptives are not effective if the woman is already pregnant. Plan B® **is believed to act **as an emergency contraceptive **principally by *preventing ovulation or fertilization(by altering tubal transport of sperm and/or ova). In addition, it may inhibit implantation (by altering the endometrium).

go2planb.com/PDF/PlanBPI.pdf

 

[jmcrae]

My daughter just learned about the morning after pill today in health class.

She is convinced that it does not create an abortion.

Does anyone have links somewhere that goes into medical detail what the morning after pill does.

Thanks

The instructions on the package probably explain its medical effects.

There is a back issue of LIFE magazine that explains where babies come from. Between those two things, your daughter should be able to come to recognize that what the morning after pill does (and what most chemical forms of birth control do) is kill an already-created human being, before she has the chance to implant herself in the womb and establish a connection with her mother.

 

[RichT]

RichT–

The morning after pill and RU-480/Mifipristone are **NOT **the same thing.

The MAP is a high concentration of regular birth control pills. It is designed to prevent ovulation if a woman hasn’t yet ovulated and prevent implantation if she has (this is the abortifacient effect of the MAP).

RU-486 is a combination of drugs designed to cause an already implanted fetus to expel. This is called a medical abortion.

They are NOT the same drug.

My Bad!!! Well, thanks to your clarification we can still show it is an abortifacient. Thanks for the explanation.

 

[Verisimilitude]

In an academic sense this question always makes me laugh with no offense ment to the OP. Life begins long before sperm meets egg since both qualify as being alive in their own right. A new human life begins at conception, but can anybody dispute the headlines if a single microbe was found on Mars: “LIFE found on Mars!” Even if fossil firms were found on Mars I think the headline would read the same. It only goes to show how society has cheapened human life here on Earth.

 

[Janet_S]

My daughter just learned about the morning after pill today in health class.

She is convinced that it does not create an abortion.

Does anyone have links somewhere that goes into medical detail what the morning after pill does.

Thanks

I’m a pharmacist

There are some articles on this site:

Pharmacists for life:
pfli.org/main.php?pfli=kemikalkill

If you’re talking about Plan B, it’s not much different from progestin-only contraceptives (like Depo-Provera, Norplant, Micronor). The main difference is the progestin dose which is much higher in Plan B.

Some oral contraceptives (OC’s) contain only a progestin. Most OC’s, though, are combined: they contain both a synthetic estrogen and a synthetic progestin. The primary effect of the estrogen in the combined OC is to prevent ovulation while the primary effects of the progestin are to alter the cervical mucus (preventing the sperm from reaching the egg) and to alter/thin the endometrial lining of the uterus (preventing fertilized eggs from implantating in the uterus.)

Combined OC’s are about 95% effective in preventing ovulation. Progestin-only OC’s are less effective at preventing ovulation; thus their primary effect is preventing the sperm from reaching the egg and preventing the fertilized egg from implanting in the uterus.

The above information you can get from any drug company that produces and sells oral contraceptives. They all say the same thing: OC’s have 3 ways of working: 1) preventing ovulation, 2) preventing sperm from reaching the egg, and 3) preventing a fertilized egg from implanting in the uterus.

Since life begins at conception (an objective fact, not a religious belief), it’s the 3rd mechanism of action that is most objectionable from a moral standpoint. How often these early abortions occur, it’s hard to tell because it would be nearly impossible to design a study to determine this. However, we do know that oral contraceptives alter/thin the endometrial lining of the uterus, and we also know from independent studies, that women with altered/thinned endometrial linings have a difficult time maintaining pregnancies.

Now, to get back to Plan B, it contains the drug levonorgestrel–a synthetic progestin frequently found in progestin-only OC’s and combined OC’s (Alesse, Nordette, Levlen, e. g.) When levonorgestrel is in OC’s, it is at a dose of 0.1 or 0.15 mg; but in Plan B it is at a much higher dose of 0.75mg per tablet. The woman takes two pills: one within 72 hours of unprotected intercourse and one 12 hours later.

The product information for Plan B says this:

Emergency contraceptives are not effective if the woman is already pregnant. Plan B is believed to act as an emergency contraceptive principally by preventing ovulation or fertilization (by altering tubal transport of sperm and/or ova). In addition, it may inhibit implantation (by altering the endometrium). It is not effective once the process of implantation has begun.

Plan B is a potential abortifacient since one of its mechanisms of actions is to prevent a fertilized egg from implanting in the uterus.

 

[Dwyer]

My daughter just learned about the morning after pill today in health class

This is how the public schools of America poison the minds of your children (well, I hope it was a public school). I attended and graduated from public school in the United States, too.

It’s . . . outrageous!!

I’ve noticed that this topic of “Health” classes has appeared several time recently in the last few weeks at this forum.

I strongly suggest that you (and everyone else) order a copy of Catholic Answer’s Jason Evert’s booklet called Pure Love

It’s only $2.95 (not sure if there is a small shipping fee also) versus probably the $10,000 a year your school spends on each pupil

I have read it; it is an excellent Catholic and true explanation of human love and the relations between men and women

I strongly recommend every Catholic own a copy of it for their family:

catholic.com/chastity/pure_love.asp

Also, go through the Pure Love Club section of the main Catholic Answers homepage and sit down with you daughter and try and undo some of the brainwashing she has received from our Ministry of Culture:

pureloveclub.com/

 

[Rand_Al_Thor]

The reason that the morning after pill makers say that it does not cause an abortion or that it does not work if the woman is already pregnant is because about 10 years ago or so the American gynecologists redefined when pregnancy begins. They now say that implantation, not conception, is the start of pregnancy. So if the egg is already implanted, Plan B will not work. However, we know that no matter what a bunch of pro-abortion people say, pregnancy and human life begin at conception, so Plan B can indeed cause abortions.

In Christ,
Rand

 

[ALLFORHIM]

Thank you all so very much.

Before this class started I gave her the choice of being taken out or telling me everything that she is taught. Well, so far she is telling me everything and her teacher has MANY opinions that she loves spewing to a bunch of freshman

I have already complained twice to the Vice Principle and he has talked with her. So, I suppose I will be helping next years class.

The interesting part about this is my daughter is totally against abortion. So, Im thinking she has a skewed version of when life starts. When I asked her why she thought this pill was OK–she said she figured you had 3 days. I guess she thinks life begins 3 days after conception:shrug:

Well I told her otherwise but like a typical teen doesnt want to hear it. So I spoke with the youth pastor and told him he needed to bring this topic up in youth group. If she doesnt want to listen to me then she’s going to hear from the minister

Thanks again for all the info.

 

[holdencaulfield]

Well the Catholic Church and all Christians have always taught that life starts at the moment of conception, so thus you would have to say that yes life does start at the moment of conception, to say otherwise would be heresy. Here is a link about the morning after pill:

Morning After Pill

This should help, but regardless this is a form of contraception and thus a sin.

 

[Janet_S]

Well the Catholic Church and all Christians have always taught that life starts at the moment of conception, so thus you would have to say that yes life does start at the moment of conception, to say otherwise would be heresy. Here is a link about the morning after pill:

Morning After Pill

This should help, but regardless this is a form of contraception and thus a sin.

I agree with you that life begins at conception, but this isn’t just a belief of Christians–it’s an objective fact. The study of science has confirmed this. When an egg is fertilized, it is at that time when it becomes a human being with a full set of 46 chromosomes–the unique DNA profile that will stay with him or her for the rest of life. That’s how we all started.

I’m just pointing this out because the basis of our argument against the morning-after-pill does not have to be religious–it is grounded in objective reality. If you are arguing this point with someone who doesn’t accept Christianity or the idea of God, appeals to religion will be useless. But if someone already holds to the position that killing is wrong–which most people do–then it’s logical to see how snuffing out a human being even at the point of conception is wrong. An unborn child can’t be a human when we want it to be and not be a human when we don’t want it to be. It either is human or it is not human. Be confident that the pro-life position is the more logical one.

And on a historical note, it has not always been believed by Christians that life begins at conception, though the Church has always considered abortion intrinsically evil. Medieval biologists hypothesized that life began when the soul was infused into the body–at quickening. The times at which this happened were different depending on whether the child was male or female, but it was about 1 month after conception. You can read about this if you study the writings of St Thomas Aquinas and his discourses on the immaculate conception of Mary.

There may have been confusion in the past, but there’s no doubt now from a scientific standpoint about when life begins or when a human becomes human. It’s at conception. Pro-lifers have science on our side, so we shouldn’t be afraid to use it to our advantage.

 

[MaryBruno]

This might be part of the teaching that is confusing your daughter

How Does Emergency Contraception Work?
Emergency contraception is made of the same hormones found in birth control pills. Hormones are chemicals made in our bodies. They control how different parts of the body work.

The hormones in the morning after pill work by keeping a woman’s ovaries from releasing eggs — ovulation. Pregnancy cannot happen if there is no egg to join with sperm. The hormones in the morning after pill also prevent pregnancy by thickening a woman’s cervical mucus. The mucus blocks sperm and keeps it from joining with an egg.

Some people say that the morning after pill works by keeping a fertilized egg from attaching to the lining of the uterus. But there is no proof that this actually happens.
You might have also heard that the morning after pill causes an abortion. But that’s not true. The morning after pill is not the abortion pill. Emergency contraception is birth control, not abortion.

I highlighted the areas that are of concern.

This information is teaching that there is no abortion happening, no proof of it.

This information is from

plannedparenthood.org/health-topics/emergency-contraception-morning-after-pill-4363.htm#why

I would like to say I find this information deceiving and do not agree with it, but it is on a website that helps women/girls decide what “choice” to make if they have an unplanned pregnancy. It is very misleading and if a child learns this type of info in school it could really lead them down the wrong road.

 

[buffalo]

Life begins when a unique individual starts to live. That is when their DNA is different form any other human being. Pretty amazing when you think about it.

The only difference after that is where the baby lives - in the womb or outside.

 

[brycelaliberte]

Also, importantly, there is the argument from mathematics, or the 0 to 1 idea.

You have a sperm, and you have an egg. Alone, each will continue only being just a sperm and just an egg.

Together, they form one cell, the zygote. Where there was no human cell, there is now 1.

The difference between 0 and 1 is infinite, as an infinite amount of zeros (sperm by themselves, or eggs by themselves) only make zero, but together, they have added 1.

Now that there is 1, life has begun. There is no other reasonable time for life to start, for there is no greater growth of human cells. Though that 1 will eventually become billions, this is still a finite growth, while the 1 is infinitely more than 0.

Therefore, life begins at the first cell that will become human, neither before or after. Otherwise, life never begins or always was. (But we know that to not be true.)

Just an idea I used with my very utilitarian friend. He is now pro-life because of that single idea. (He’s also not so utilitarian anymore)

 

[holdencaulfield]

…

 

[Janet_S]

This might be part of the teaching that is confusing your daughter

I highlighted the areas that are of concern.

This information is teaching that there is no abortion happening, no proof of it.

This information is from

plannedparenthood.org/health-topics/emergency-contraception-morning-after-pill-4363.htm#why

I would like to say I find this information deceiving and do not agree with it, but it is on a website that helps women/girls decide what “choice” to make if they have an unplanned pregnancy. It is very misleading and if a child learns this type of info in school it could really lead them down the wrong road.

Maybe PP should read the drug information on Plan B. The FDA and the drug companies include “preventing implantation” as one its mechanisms.

What kind of proof would be enough for them? How would anyone design a study to prove this, and who would consent to being a subject? The subjects of the study would have to be women who are willing to get pregnant, and then take a pill that would either prevent them from maintaining a pregnancy or cause birth defects to the fetus if the pregnancy continued. Anybody want to sign up? Any doctors out there want to coordinate a study like this? I didn’t think so.

What we do know is this: Plan B (and all hormonal contraceptives) alter the thickness of the endometrial lining. Women with altered endometrial linings usually cannot maintain a pregnancy. Therefore, we can say one of the mechanisms is to prevent implantation by altering the endometrial lining.

If you timed it right, Plan B may prevent ovulation, but there’s no guarantee you didn’t ovulate sometime before you took it. If PP really thinks there is no proof that Plan B prevents implantation, why don’t they post something like this:

**Warning: if you’ve already ovulated, this medication won’t work. Please make sure you have not ovulated before taking this medication. **

I agree with you. PP’s information is deceiving.

 

[Janet_S]

catholicnewsagency.com/new.php?n=10813

“Pope Benedict challenges pharmacists to refuse to dispense abortion pill”