Can birth control pills kill unborn babies?

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.)].

Although implantation prevention is apparently not the mechanism of action for the vast majority of women, especially for those who take the pill as prescribed, women who take birth control pills do risk the chance of aborting (killing) their unborn child.

Sources for detailed information

• Published statement by pro-life physicians: A Declaration of Life / By pharmacists: A Pill You May Not Want to Swallow
• On-line booklet: Does Birth Control Cause Abortions?
• A Dialogue about Birth Control by Randy Alcorn
• Randy Alcorn's Response to a statement issued on birth control pills by pro-life Ob/Gyns
• Birth Control Pill: Abortifacient and Contraceptive by William F. Colliton, Jr., M.D., FACOG, Clinical Professor of Obstetrics and Gynecology at George Washington University Medical Center
• The Growing Debate About the Abortifacient Effect of the Birth Control Pill and the Principle of the Double Effect by Walter L. Larimore, M.D.
• Pharmacists for Life International, see especially Conscience Clause FAQs, Newsletters
• Pharmacists for Life International, Canada
• Concerned Pharmacists for Conscience
• Canadian Physicians for Life
• American Life League

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