HHS Should NOT Approve Abortion-Inducing Pills for Minors OTC
Pro-abortion health and women’s advocacy groups are pressuring the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) to remove the current age-restrictions on non-prescription access to the controversial “emergency contraceptive” drug, Plan B, which is also known as the Morning-after Abortion Pill (MAP). Two letters were sent to HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius asking the agency to extend over-the-counter access to Plan B to minors under age 17.
The American College of Pediatricians opposes the plan saying, “Rather than facilitating adolescent sexual activity, health professionals need to encourage good adolescent-parental communication, teach adolescent patients the benefits of delaying sexual activity until marriage, and teach them how to avoid premature/promiscuous consensual sex and situations resulting in coerced sex.”
Family Policy Network (FPN) opposes use of the MAP in ANY circumstance because it causes some abortions by design. The drug contains a high dosage of hormones ordinarily found in physician-prescribed birth control pills, which primarily works to prevent ovulation. However, the potion also prevents implantation of fertilized eggs when taken AFTER conception, thereby causing some chemical abortions. According to documentation from manufacturers of the MAP, the drug must be taken within 72 hours after sexual intercourse to be effective.
Human life begins at conception, which is the moment a sperm and egg unite to form an embryo. Since life begins at conception, it is wrong to purposefully prevent the continued existence of a baby at any stage of development. By design, the MAP often executes a chemically-induced abortion by preventing embryos from implanting in the mother’s uterine wall. Therefore, FPN opposes any expansion of access to the MAP. In fact, ANY use of the MAP must be opposed as a matter of personal, corporate and public policy.
Beyond its abortifactient nature, there are health implications for women who take the MAP which alone merit opposing its use: the increased potential for the transmission of STD’s, the obvious consequences of such an intense and immediate hormone treatment, and the lack of controlled studies regarding the safety of the MAP’s long term use.
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Psalm 139:13-14
“For You formed my inward parts; You covered me in my mother’s womb. I will praise You, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made; Marvelous are Your works, And that my soul knows very well.”
Reasons to Oppose Use of the Morning-after Abortion Pill