More On Human Conception And Plan B

In my last post I shared research about Americans of all ages having premarital sex. This brought up the question of Plan B one-step contraception, a pill opposed by many in the Christian community. The controversy stems from the long-held debate about when human life begins.

The pill works by elevating a female hormone called levenorgestrel. The hormone causes extra mucous to be released along the uterine wall, which prevents ovulation and fertilization if taken within 72 hours of unprotected intercourse. Discovery Health explains how Plan B works. They also tell us that . . .

"scientists aren't completely sure how it works, they believe that levonorgestrel prevents pregnancy either by stopping the ovulation process or by disrupting the ability of sperm and egg to meet in the fallopian tubes. Some speculate that the drug may prevent the fertilized egg from implanting as well, perhaps by making the uterine lining less receptive to the egg."

There is also a levonorgestrel intrauterine system, a plastic device that can be placed in the uterus where it slowly releases the hormone to prevent pregnancy for up to 5 years. This progestin hormone does not contain estrogen.

There are numerous possible side effects to the use of levonorgestrel. The medication should not be used if a woman has abnormal vaginal bleeding, pelvic infections and a variety of other situations. The intrauterine system can cause cramps, pelvic pain, heavy bleeding, fever, chills, etc. All these are matters that must be discussed with medically trained personnel.

By the way, Plan B is not the same as RU-486 or mifepristone, a completely different drug that performs a chemical abortion in women who are up to 8 weeks pregnant.

The central moral issue in this discussion is whether the Plan B process prevents sperm from fertilizing eggs, or whether the process takes a life. If indeed human life begins with conception, the union of sperm and egg, then the Plan B pill is potentially killing innocent human lives. It is a form of abortion. Dr. David Menton, in Answers in Genesis asks, Plan B—Over-The-Counter Abortion? He answers with a detailed outline of birth control pills and the process from fertilization to implantation. He says that some medical dictionaries have changed the definition of conception.

Medical embryology textbooks have long equated fertilization with conception and thus the beginning of a new human life. Essentially all dictionaries of the English language have defined “conception” as “the fertilization of an egg by a sperm.” But some within the scientific community are now changing the definition by shifting the moment of conception (and thus pregnancy) from fertilization to implantation. Stedman’s Medical Dictionary, for example, now defines conception as “the implantation of the blastocyte in the endometrium” (27th Edition, Lippincott Williams & Wilkins). By this new definition, a drug or procedure that prevents implantation of the embryo would simply prevent conception and pregnancy, and thus it would not be considered an abortion. 

Dr. Gene Rudd, an obstetrician and associate director of the Christian Medical Association, has pointed out that the packaging information for Plan B violates the vital medical principle of informed consent because it “falsely assures women that they are not taking the life of a human being when they take the pill.” Dr. Rudd said that “while some within the scientific community have obfuscated for political reasons the terms associated with early human development, a significant percentage of women still consider pregnancy to begin with fertilization.”

Dr. Menton concludes that children are God's precious gift and quotes some Bible verses, but it seems to me that he still does not adequately answer the question of when human life begins from a biblical viewpoint. I'll go into more detail in my next post.