I have no fear of controversy.
I found out some amazing things I didn’t know about birth control several months ago. Rich and I were trying to decide what kind to use so I investigated. I didn’t want anything that is categorized as an abortifacient. An abortifacient is a drug or device used to cause abortion (source Dictionary.com Unabridged). To my surprise many, many methods of birth control act as abortifacients. Many, many, many. I was so convicted that we decided NOT to use any birth control other than condoms and fertility awareness. The other option we will use after we have another baby is sterilization (I’ll get a tubal ligation).
Here is the rundown of a few methods and the truth about them. Prepare to be convicted if you are a Christian (or if you are opposed to abortion) and you currently use any of these methods. We were for sure. I even called a Christian friend of mine for advice on birth control use (before my research). He had no idea that these methods of birth control worked as they do, I’m sure, or he wouldn’t have said that birth control use is “ok”.
Barrier Methods (these are not abortifacients):
Condoms, Diaphragm, Cervical Caps, Spermicides, Sponge
Chemical Methods (these ARE abortifacients - in other words, if you get pregnant these chemicals/devices may cause your baby to die in one way or another):
The Pill, the Mini-Pill, IUD, IUS, Depo-Provera, the Patch (Ortho Evra), the Ring (NuvaRing), Emergency Contraception (frequently called “the morning after pill”)
Permanent Methods (not abortifacients):
Tubal ligation, Vasectomy, Hysterectomy
Other Methods (not abortifacients):
Complete abstinence, Fertility awareness, Periodic abstinence
Dig deeper. Make your decisions based on the truth, not on what your doctor tells you. I asked my doctor about these devices telling him I don’t want anything that acts as an abortifacient. He was honest with me and confirmed that the facts I found during my research are indeed facts. These are things the birth control companies don’t want you to know. Ortho Tricyclen advertises how great their pill is because it prevents things like cervical cancer, PID, and so on. But what it doesn’t tell you is that if your egg does get fertilized the pill causes your uterine lining to be a hostile environment causing your fertilized egg (aka: your baby) to become unable to implant therefore you will have a miscarriage (and you won’t even know it). How many of us will meet children we didn’t even know we had when we die? The thought makes me shudder.
And now you know.
very informa.tabulous! (see I make up words, too)
no really.
since I’m of the hippie breed, i’m into natural forms of birth control… but those forms seemed easier before 2 kids b/c we knew we wanted at least 2 kids.
now that those 2 are born… i’m like “now what.” don’t want to do anything permanent !!!
but until I read your blog today,
I never thought of oral b.c. as a abortifacient, and
besides, I just don’t like putting chemicals in my body.
just tonight, I started thinking about calling my insurance in the morning to find out how much an IUD is.
I need to pray about it…
i’ve always given myself this excuse that if God wants us to have a third, I would get pregnant while on b.c.
but your blog through a loop into the reality of that.
maybe I should have paid more attention at that Catholic marriage retreat Fabiano and I graduated from nearly 10 years ago…
Isn’t it crazy thinking of the number of women who use bc that have no clue about the WHY it keeps them from getting pregnant!?!? I used to be on the pill, then the patch- until 1) the hormones made me an emotinal train wreck….and 2) my SIL who is a pharmascist and I were talking about BC, and she enlightened me. Holy Moly, I never even knew what I was taking! I guess I should have researched it a little more before taking- I just assumed all forms of BC kept you from being able to get pregnant.
Lana: Here are some IUD facts…
1) IUD users get more vaginal infections
2) IUD users have more miscarriages (goes up to 30%)
3) IUD users have more ectopic pregnancies (ectopic pregnancy is a pregnancy outside the womb usu in the fallopian tubes which cannot survive so surgery would be performed to remove the baby)
And I found this on http://www.trosch.org/rwd/brthcntl.htm
The IUD
The Intrauterine Device, or IUD is not a contraceptive. That is, it does not prevent fertilization, the joining of an egg and sperm, from occurring (conception). It does nothing to disrupt ovulation, the menstrual cycle, or to thicken the cervical mucous.
The IUD is a device which is inserted into the womb and which creates a hostile environment by irritating and thinning the endometrium, the lining of the uterus. Such a state of irritation leaves the uterine wall unprepared for the process of implantation when a newly conceived baby attempts to cleave to the wall of the uterus.
Though literature on the IUD suggests that perhaps fertilization may be prevented; that perhaps copper in the IUD kills sperm, there is no evidence to support the hypothesis that sperm are killed or that fertilization is prevented at all. In fact, G.D. Searle, one company which produces the IUD, conceded early on that the device does nothing more than prevent the unborn child from attaching to the wall of the uterus:
“The action of the IUDs would seem to be a simple local phenomenon. That these devices prevent nidation [implantation] of an already fertilized ovum has been accepted as the most likely mechanism of action.” 1
So, when the conceived child, driven by nature, seeks out the warmth, nutrition, and comfort of the mother’s womb, the IUD has essentially put out an “Unwelcome” mat.
Understanding that human life begins at conception, this intentional disruption of the uterine environment produces an early abortion. The unborn child, unable to implant, starves for lack of nutrition, dies, and is sloughed off during the next menstrual cycle.
Melanie: I was absolutely stunned. I immediately sent an e-mail out to my sisters and brothers so they would know. The thing is, once you know you have a major decision to make — “do I ignore the facts or do I take the ‘risk’ of getting pregnant more times than I planned?”, “What would God want me to do?” Well, I know God would NOT want us to abort our children. So, that’s the final answer in my opinion.
I also used the pill and the patch — for years. I pray that I didn’t get pregnant during that time. It breaks my heart to think of it.
thanks for posting this. precisely the reason we use natural family planning.
My wife was surprised when I presented these very findings to her last year after she considered going on the pill to regulate. When she went to the doctor and told him that she didn’t want to take a medicine that could abort a fertilized egg (a child) he told her that she was a walking cancer stick.
She came home very upset from that appointment and started looking for other doctors. You are right in that most people are not aware of these facts because they are not readily made public… they don’t want us to know because it might hurt the bottom line
Since you are reconsidering abortifacients in light of your Christian faith…. Well, this might be a decent time to consider spending >40 minutes reading Pope Paul VI’s landmark encyclical Humanæ Vitæ.
It is a quick read, and worth taking the time to understand what it has to say.