When discussing life issues like contraception and abortion, truth is very important. Friday's (12 Nov) Times carried a full-page article discussing so-called "emergency contraception" pills. Readers were told that these pills can be used "to prevent an unwanted pregnancy".
We must note first that human life begins at fertilization (also called conception), which is the moment when the sperm and the egg join. The Letters page of the Times lacks the space to contain all the quotes from medical experts testifying to this fact, so one example will have to do. Dr. Alfred M. Bongioanni from the University of Pennsylvania (USA) told the US Congress in 1981: "I have learned from my earliest medical education that human life begins at the time of conception...I submit that human life is present throughout this entire sequence from conception to adulthood and that any interruption at any point throughout this time constitutes a termination of human life". Medical research and understanding has grown exponentially since that time, and all the gathered information confirms that human life begins when the egg and the sperm join. After conception (which usually takes place in the tubes leading from a woman's ovaries to her uterus), the new person travels to the uterus and attaches to the wall of her mother's womb. Nine months later, if all goes well, the baby is born.
I visited a prominent chemist in Mbabane on Saturday, and they graciously gave me an information page which comes in the box with the morning after pills. The information page says that the active ingredient (Levonorgestrel) in this pill (Norlevo) "acts as a contraceptive by inhibiting ovulation and preventing the nidation of a fertilized ovum in the uterine mucosa".
The information sheet is half right. "Inhibiting ovulation" means to stop an egg from leaving a woman's ovary. This is a contraceptive action, because if no egg is present then the sperm has nothing to join with, and conception is impossible. "Preventing the nidation of a fertilized ovum", however, is not a contraceptive action; it is an act of abortion. A "fertilized ovum" is nothing less than a new human being, as Dr. Bongioanni explained above. "Preventing nidation" means to make it impossible for the newly-conceived human person from securing herself to the wall of the uterus. In this way, the morning-after pill causes abortion. Senior Nursing Officer Gibson Sibanda was quoted in the Times as saying "After 72 hours conception may have taken place, and once fertilization takes place the ECP (morning after pill) is useless". The paper that comes with the pills indicates that the pill can still have an effect after fertilization--at that time it may prevent implantation. Sexually active women should have accurate information as to what effect this pill might have on a child she may conceive. The Times, FLAS, and the pharmaceutical companies would do well to provide accurate information in a form that does not require a university biology degree to understand.
Rudy Poglitsh
rpoglitsh@live.com
more letters at http://letterstotheTOS.blogspot.com
