CNA: Plan B decision treats pregnancy as disease, U.S. bishops' official says
Read the full story here.“Levonorgestrel is a powerful drug, taken in two doses over a 12-hour period. It is 40 times more potent than comparable progestin-only birth control pills (Ovrette) for which a prescription is required.
“Wider access to Plan B could endanger the lives of newly-conceived children, and will put minors at risk for unnecessary side effects, undermine parental rights, and contribute to higher STD rates,” warned McQuade.
“Pregnancy is not a disease and fertility is not a pathological condition, so Plan B has no authentic therapeutic purpose, and can actually cause harm to women and their newly-conceived children,” she said.
McQuade commented that though the FDA describes “Plan B” as a contraceptive drug, the manufacturer admits that it may also prevent an embryo from implanting in the womb.
“Since it takes several days for the growing embryo to reach the uterine lining and implant in the mother’s womb, the child in his or her second week of life could die as a direct result of Plan B. This is properly understood as an early abortion.”
Without a doctor’s supervision, she said, many teens will be unaware of this possible abortifacient action and the other risks posed by the drug, especially when it is used repeatedly.
“Much to the surprise of the morning-after pill’s early advocates, five years of research in Europe and the U.S. shows that increased access to emergency contraception has failed to reduce rates of unintended pregnancy and abortion,” McQuade noted.
She said the drug’s distribution has led to “greater sexual risk-taking” among adolescents, which leads to a higher rate of sexually-transmitted disease.
“In the unlikely event a teenager will bother to read the Plan B package insert all the way to the end, she will find sound advice: ‘Of course, not having sex is the most effective way to prevent pregnancy and stay free of STDs,’” McQuade said.
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