Brett Kavanaugh Was Right to Call Contraception an ‘Abortion-Inducing Drug’

Mercy–YES! False Mercy–NO!
September 11, 2018
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By Janet Morana, The Washington Examiner, September 10, 2018

Abortion enthusiasts are in a huff because Supreme Court nominee Judge Brett Kavanaugh referred to contraception as “abortion-inducing drugs” when asked about his dissent in Priests for Life’s case against the Health and Human Services mandate.

In a statement from the nation’s largest abortion provider, Planned Parenthood’s Dawn Laguens said: “Kavanaugh referred to birth control ― something more than 95 percent of women use in their lifetime ― as an ‘abortion-inducing drug,’ which is not just flat-out wrong, but is anti-woman, anti-science propaganda.” Her quote was carried herehere and who knows where else.

Let’s talk a little about the science of contraception. As I have written before, prior to 1965, pregnancy was legally recognized to begin at fertilization. But that year— five years after the birth control pill was approved for use in the United States— the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists decided to change the definition. From then on, they alone decided, a woman was not pregnant until after the fertilized egg had implanted in her uterus. This became the new policy of the U.S.

Why did they make that change? Because one of the ways the birth control pill works is by causing a very early abortion, and they didn’t want people to realize that.

Birth control prevents life in three ways: First, the hormones in the pill can stop ovulation. If that doesn’t work, the pill also causes cervical mucus to thicken, making it more difficult for the sperm to fertilize the egg. If both of those methods have failed and fertilization has occurred, the pill ensures that the lining of the uterus becomes inhospitable for the fertilized egg, and implantation is prevented. That makes the pill an abortion-inducing drug, unless someone has decided that pregnancy begins later, at implantation. When Kavanaugh referred to the pill’s abortifacient nature, he was speaking of the science of contraception, not the politics.

Along with Father Frank Pavone, National Director of Priests for Life, and Alveda King, director of Civil Rights for the Unborn, I was a named plaintiff in the lawsuit mentioned during Kavanaugh’s confirmation hearing, Priests for Life vs. HHS. Ours was one of the earliest challenges to the Obamacare mandate that attempted to force all employers to provide contraception and abortifacient drugs and devices to employees, without even a co-pay. This mandate was a clear violation of the Religious Freedom Restoration Act, and we ultimately prevailed.

But my objection to birth control goes beyond merely opposing injustice. I oppose it because it’s bad for women. The Pill is classified as a carcinogen by the World Health Organization and is well-known to increase the risk of breast cancer, stroke, blood clots and other life-threatening ailments.

The pharmaceutical giant Bayer has paid out more than $2 billion to settle thousands of lawsuits from women harmed by a contraceptive pill called Yaz that is still on the market. But it’s not just the Pill that’s bad for women’s health. NuvaRingMirenaDepo-Provera and the Ortho-Evra Patch have caused serious complications, including death. After maiming thousands of women, Essure, a diabolical product meant to leave women permanently unable to conceive, has been taken off the market.

I’m always amazed that women who work out, eat organic food or adopt a vegan lifestyle can then turn around and poison their bodies with these deadly contraceptives. Women who bring home any one of these drugs or devices should at the very least make sure they read the informational pamphlet that comes with their prescription and then decide if they really want to risk their health that way.

Janet Morana (@JanetMorana) is the executive director of Priests for Lif