Plan B: Just Another Abortion Pill

By: Shane

With the possibility of the FDA approving the "morning after pill," or "Plan B" for over the counter sale, I find it important to point out that there is a debate to be made here. Liberals would have the American people think that Plan B is simply a contraceptive, meant to prevent conception, and that conservatives are just being moral bigots who want to force their religious beliefs on poor women in rural areas.

However, Plan B is not just a contraceptive, Plan B has every possibility of causing an abortion, and is therefore an abortion pill.

Liberals go on and on about how conservatives want to take away a woman's right to choose. However, in the Plan B debate, they say that conservatives are just being silly. Plan B isn't even an abortion pill! They say. One user on the liberal blog "The Daily Kos" elegantly stated, "...this fundamentalist bulls--t over Plan B ( which does not even cause an abortion) is of no surprise to me." Another said, "It needs to be screamed to the heavens that Plan B is not the abortion pill. It kills nothing. It harms nothing. No life is lost. It stops abortions. " (emphasis added).

This seems to be the predominant line of thinking among most liberals, that Plan B is not and abortion pill. Unfortunately, this is not the case. The FDA, in describing how Plan B works, noted that, "Plan B acts primarily by stopping the release of an egg from the ovary (ovulation). It may prevent the union of sperm and egg (fertilization). If fertilization does occur, Plan B may prevent a fertilized egg from attaching to the womb (implantation). If a fertilized egg is implanted prior to taking Plan B, Plan B will not work." (again, emphasis added).

It makes all the difference here that Plan B can prevent implantation of a fertilized egg. Abortion opponents believe that life begins at conception (when the sperm fertilizes the egg) not implantation. Therefore, stating that a fertilized egg is safe once it has implanted is pointless. What matters is the safety of that newly formed life, formed at fertilization, a life that can be ended by Plan B through the prevention of implantation.

Liberals have tried to separate the Plan B debate from the abortion debate by claiming that Plan B does not cause abortions. Unfortunately, this is not true. Many liberals may believe it is true - it has been restated so many times that it has become "conventional wisdom" - others may just be lying, knowing that the knowledge that Plan B can cause the death of an unborn child would greatly lower its chances of approval for over the counter sales.

It is important that the fact that Plan B is an abortion pill be part of the debate. As a conservative, I would argue against Plan B regardless with the standard "promotes promiscuity" debate. However, with the knowledge that Plan B is an abortion pill, the debate shifts from bettering American society, to saving lives. It also makes the issue one that much more of the public cares about. You won't find many people who want to talk about contraception, but abortion is an issue in which few people consider themselves "neutral."

Once the "conventional wisdom" that Plan B is not an abortion pill is done away with, liberals will have to revert from cheap shots about conservatives' "moral bigotry" to the hard task of defending abortion. Liberals have had too easy of a job in claiming that the "religious right" has been doing everything it can to prevent the FDA from allowing Plan B over the counter because they are prudes who don't want people having sex. The fact is that conservatives don't like unborn, helpless children being murdered, and defiantly don't want an easy, over the counter "solution" to pregnancy.

Many pharmacists are starting to come out and say that they would not be willing to hand out Plan B for "moral reasons". One liberal equated this with a vegan grocery store clerk being unwilling to sell meat. While this is a ridiculous argument, it does say something about the left's respect for human life. No doctor can be forced to perform an abortion, and no pharmacist should be forced to hand out a drug that could do the same. These pharmacists aren't making political statements about their beliefs on contraception, they're saying that they will take no part in the killing of an unborn infant. The knowledge that Plan B is an abortion pill clarifies this, and makes it harder for liberals to argue for laws saying that pharmacists and pharmacies should be forced to provide Plan B.

The facts show that Plan B is an abortion pill. It can, and sometimes does, prevent the implantation of a fertilized egg. This is a fact that has been lost from the debate, perhaps intentionally. Conservatives can not let this happen. It must be known and debated that Plan B is an abortion pill because the lives of millions of unborn children are on the line. If liberals want to debate abortion, that is fine. Lying about the facts, however, is not.

Shane is a writer for the conservative news blog UnrestInTheForest.BlogSpot.com. His other articles can be found here.