Pro-Choice Leaders Tell the Future that Emergency Contraception is Birth Control and NOT Abortion

I am always surprised at how the moral and religious sway of our country seems to gain traction over scientific fact. It is well established in medical literature that a fertilized egg must implant in the uterus prior to developing into a viable fetus. So why the debate about emergency contraception?

Emergency contraceptive pills work exactly the same way as other birth control pills, and they do not interfere with or harm an existing pregnancy. Emergency contraception is simply a higher dose of daily birth control pills; it is not RU-486, the “abortion pill.” Indeed, emergency contraception has been used as a method to prevent unintended pregnancies for decades by women who had physicians advise them on how many pills in their regular pill pack to take.

Since 49% of pregnancies are unintended each year, the availability of emergency birth control, or emergency contraception, is a significant benefit to women. And whether we admit it or not, date rape, and sexual violence against women occur daily; women must have emergency contraception available after these most horrendous of acts.

Let’s applaud those women choosing emergency birth control when they know they can’t handle motherhood. And let’s stop the moral lecturing of UCF women and their uteruses.

Humans are sexual beings, and will, as humans—and as sexual beings—make mistakes. Condoms do break.

There are over 30,000 unwanted kids in Florida foster care. How about the Students for Life adopting a child already born? That would seem like the Godly thing to do.

Sue Idtensohn, President and CEO of Planned Parenthood of Greater Orlando

When I read the recent article Emergency contraceptive available at UCF for $24 I was completely shocked at the utter bias of the piece. Aside from the fact that the pro-life side was obviously given priority on this topic, the facts of the matter were totally skewed. Within the first moments of reading the article a pro-lifer is quoted as saying that emergency contraception is the same thing as abortion. I have a very big problem with this statement. Emergency contraception CANNOT end a pregnancy.

According to the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), “Emergency contraceptive pills are not effective if the woman is pregnant …” (FDA, 1997). A recent study found that most often, ECPs reduce the risk of pregnancy by inhibiting ovulation (Marions, et al., 2002). More recent studies demonstrate that progestin-only ECPs only work by preventing ovulation or fertilization, and have no effect on implantation (Croxatto, et al, 2003; Ortiz, et al., 2004). Scientific authorities agree that emergency contraception reduces the risk of pregnancy and helps prevent the need for abortion; it itself is not a form of abortion (Grimes, 1997; Guillebaud, 1998; Hughes, 1972; Stewart, et al., 2004).

I hope with all my heart that no one read this article that needed emergency contraception and did not seek it out because of what one religious group and one bad journalist had to say.

Sarah Miller, Vice President for Action at NOW UCF

Journalistc integrity is one of presenting the facts in an unbiased manner regarding the issues reported on and the subsequent validity of said issues to the demographic onto which a publication is made available. It is my belief that the article written by reporter Kitty Johnson regarding the availability of emergency contraception pills on the UCF campus containing the subtitle, “decision to sell pill prompts students to consider its morality,” contained incorrect information from a source stated as fact and not the opinion it clearly was.

Johnson reported Beth Burwell who is President of the Students for Life Club at UCF, a religious based and backed student organization, stating that emergency contraception is abortion. This is wholly untrue, and an opinion bereft in faith-based bias. Simply stated: her opinion was reported as fact and an irresponsible representation of the emergency contraception available on campus.

Burwell stated, “Although ECP is designed to prevent fertilization, it has a second effect of preventing the newly conceived child from implanting in the womb, thus causing a miscarriage for the tiny growing baby.”

The word ‘baby’ is defined by the Merriam-Webster dictionary as: noun

Inflected Form(s): plural babies;Etymology: Middle English, from babe 1 a (1) : an extremely young child; especially : infant (2) : an extremely young animal b : the youngest of a group 2 a : one that is like a baby (as in behavior) b : something that is one’s special responsibility, achievement, or interest.

It is my understanding that by preventing the fertilizing of egg by sperm, conception of a zygote, and therefore potential pregnancy (I state ‘potential,’ as all fertilized eggs do not implant,) one is not forcing iscarriage for the “tiny growing baby,” but simply not allowing the potential for gestation to come to fruition.

I have a question to pose for Kristin Harnish who is quoted as saying, “I think it [emergency contraception] promotes promiscuity, and presents an easy way out for students who might have made a better choice…Life begins at conception. Emergency contraception allows a student to choose to get rid of the baby, without facing the moral dilemma.” Ms. Harnish, do you think the victims of date-rape, an issue prevalent in our community as can be seen in the statistics collected by Victim Services at UCF, are simply looking for ‘an easy way out’ of a situation too-horrible for most women and men to contemplate? Do you think the victim in that situation does not have as much of a right to attempt to heal and prevent the possibility of a horrifically realized pregnancy versus the ‘right’ of unfertilized cells? I ask you that question in hoping people will realize the basis of some arguments against emergency contraception are not merely the ‘moral dilemma’ of students who engage in ‘promiscuity,’ or perhaps may have ‘made a better choice’ in deciding who to accompany to the movies on a Friday night and not knowing what may lay ahead.

The ‘morality of contraception’ aside, which seems to have no basis in an article with a title seemingly aimed at educating the UCF community that emergency contraception is available, I find the immorality based in the misuse of opinion quotes presented as uneducated fact. Please remember that bias in journalism does no credit to the profession, and an educated audience is one that can be inspired by truthful and balanced reporting.

Liza Wolf, NOW UCF Vice President for Communications

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