Typically there are two views on birth control and they are tied into the view of when human life begins:
With the first view you have the common modern scientific belief that human life starts when the embryo attaches to the uterus wall. This is why almost all methods of birth control are not considered to be an abortifacient by scientists and doctors.
With the second view you have the religious belief that human life starts at fertilization. This means that anything stopping an embryo (fertilized egg) from attaching to the uterus wall is an abortifacient. Under this definition, at least half of all birth control methods could be considered to cause abortions.
Interestingly, actual scientific research always supports the view of human life starting at fertilization. The reason being is that it's a known fact that when the sperm and egg "combine" a totally new life form (with a new genetic code independent of the parents) is formed. All this new life needs is nourishment to grow into a fully functioning human. So whether unintentional or not, science does support the more traditional religious view of when life starts.
For many this knowledge will turn them away from birth control. They view any thing that causes abortions to be murder and will therefore not participate in it. What they fail to realize is that there's more to pregnancy than just the above.
Did you know 10 to 20 percent of all reported pregnancies end in miscarriages? (Medically referred to as spontaneous abortions.) The number rises for unreported pregnancies (women who did not realize they were pregnant), reaching any where from 40 to 50 percent. That means, conservatively speaking, 1 in 4 pregnancies end prematurely.
Why is that? A lot of spontaneous abortions happen for unknown reasons. However, the more commonly known causes are a chromosomal abnormalities (not all sperm and eggs are "healthy" enough to form a viable pregnancy), family genetics, maternal health (or lack there of) and lifestyle factors of women (from anything to drinking alcohol to caffeinated beverages). And lastly age, the older you are significantly increases the chances of spontaneous abortions.
In essence, a fertilized egg does not automatically equal a viable pregnancy. This is a very important point and must not be trivialized or rationalize away. The belief that birth control causes abortion is based on the assumption that most fertilized eggs will lead to a viable pregnancy if left on their own. When birth control interferes with this natural process it therefore kills the unborn. But as shown above, this is not the case. There is literally a 50/50 chance of viability. All embryos do not equal a living breathing baby nine months later.
Next you have to ask what does birth control actually do and why. There seems to be quite a lot of confusion surrounding this issue so lets go over the basics:
Oral birth control works three ways. First, it normally prevents ovulation from occurring so that the egg is never near enough to the uterus to risk fertilization. Second, thickened mucus in the uterus and the fallopian tubes traps the sperm and the occasional ovulated egg so they can't meet. Third, the same chemical that thickens the mucus also thins the walls of the uterus, making it harder for a embryo to attach to the walls to get nourishment.
The non-hormonal IUD's (Paragard) copper causes the uterus to make a spermicide-like fluid . This same fluid is considered to have an ovicidal affect. Ovulation continues as normal. A rare secondary affect of the IUD is irritating the uterus walls so that it makes it hard for an embryo to attach to it.
You will note that in both types of birth control that an egg can be fertilized and the resulting embryo can still attach to the uterus and go full term. I know of one lady who had only one "shriveled" ovary and was taking a hormonal birth control shot and still managed to get pregnant. So just because it makes it harder for an embryo to attach does not mean it makes it impossible.
Thus the million dollar moral question: Does birth control cause more, less, or the same amount of spontaneous abortions as women on no form of birth control at all?
It's important to keep in mind that most forms of birth control studies have not specifically done any tests to answer this question. With the notable exception of Paragard. So some of what I'm about to say is my best guess based on what information we currently have.
In the case of Paragard, the studies show that women using the IUD significantly reduce the amount of spontaneous abortions compared to their birth control-free counter parts. It's something along the lines of women using Paragard have a 1% chance or less of having spontaneous abortions (compare that number to women who aren't on any type of birth control at all). And of those abortions it's unknown how many were actually the result of the Paragard IUD itself or something unrelated (like drinking too much caffeine).
Oral birth control (OBC) is a different matter, but there is enough information out there to make an educated guess. Women on OBC ovulate between 2%-10% of the time (usually from missing or taking their OBC late) or they don't ovulate at all. Then on top of that, even should they ovulate, the thickened mucus traps the sperm and signficantly slows the egg down so they never meet. Which ought to logically lead to the conclusion that people who use OBC as directed will have fewer spontaneous abortions than those not using any birth control at all.
The only OBC I am unsure of is the mini-pill (progestin only) which works primarily by thickening the mucus, thining the uterus walls, and occasionally stopping ovulation. (Women who stop ovulating on the mini-pill generally stop having periods all together. So if you're still having your periods on the mini-pill you're likely still ovulating.*) With this pill, the chances for spontaneous abortions is much higher due to the risk of ovulating. Whether it causes the same amount, less, or more of abortions I don't know. (I leave that up to you to decide.)
So it is fair to say that most forms of birth control prevent spontaneous abortions, not cause them. And of those instances where spontaneous abortions occur, there is no way to know if it's actually the birth control causing it or the female body being disagreeable.
If a person is going to say that birth control is wrong because of the possibility of causing an abortion, then they must also admit that doing anything at all that causes a possible abortion is wrong too. So don't drink alcohol, or have too much caffeine, definitely don't smoke, and--oh yeah--don't have sex. Sex is the ultimate root to all types of abortions--intentional or accidental--because the only way for an abortion to happen is if the sperm and egg meet.
Now if this is not assurance enough, I give you two suggestions. 1) Women, keep track of your ovulation cycle. You can further reduce the risk of unintended abortions by refraining from sexual intercourse during the times you are most likely to be ovulating. 2) In conjunction with the previous suggestion (or if that's just too much work), you can also use a second barrier method on top of whatever birth control you use now while you are ovulating (or all the time). With this combination, you can have lots of intercourse and feel rest assured that only an act of God will get you fertilized.
I did a lot of research and soul searching when writing this post. I could not link to any Christian articles regarding birth control due to their tendency to ignore, trivialize, or misunderstand the data available to them. Most of the sites I found the above information from were secular sites, and many of them referenced actual scientific studies for their information. I also went to a lot of trouble to learn the terms used in these articles so that I knew what they were talking about (aka would not get hoodwinked by a seemingly innocent sounding word) and could adequately explain what I read to you.
I hope you found this an interesting and, hopefully, an educational read. I tried to make this a "no spin zone" and to come at the subject with an honest and open mind.
Whether you still think birth control is wrong or not, I hope you can at least admit that women taking birth control are less likely to have any type of abortion/miscarriages at all than their non-birth control taking counter parts. This ought to be encouraging to you, whatever you think of birth control, as it means less babies are dying no matter which way you look at it.
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*Note: When using OBC that has estrogen and progestin, you may experience "false periods". These are not related to ovulation. Rather they are the result of uterus shedding some of it's wall lining. "False periods" are typically much lighter than regular periods because there is less for the uterus to "dump".
1 comment:
So, bottom line, you're saying that certain birth control reduces the number of spontaneous abortions even more than no birth control at all. Seems reasonable to me, especially 1% or less.
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