In the last column we wrote on the Catholic Church's teaching on contraception and so today we would like to focus a bit on the most popular form of contraception and so afford the reader a true appreciation of the Church's stance against the use of artificial contraception.

There are many devices and methods of contraception on the market today; to name a few, pills, patches, injections and condoms, the most popular being the Pill. Therefore we would focus today on the way the pill works and how it acts as an abortifacient (an abortion agent).

Most of us assume that the contraceptive pill works by preventing conception but it does not . T oday's Pill relies on what is called the "triple threat."

1. It attempts to inhibit ovulation, but with reduced estrogen levels, it doesn't do that nearly as effectively as it used to.
2. It thickens the cervical mucus, in order to make the trip to the egg in the fallopian tubes a little tougher for the sperm. Apparently this second threat isn't too threatening to the very determined little swimmers, and in itself doesn't do much to prevent fertilisation.
3. Changes the lining of the uterus, making it inhospitable to a developing embryo (baby).

The third "threat" is the problem. When the woman does indeed ovulate and the egg is fertilised, the new little life travels to the lining of the uterus to implant (for food). However, with the Pill-induced changes, implantation cannot take place. Without nutrition, the embryo (baby) dies.

The woman has her regularly scheduled, Pill-induced period, and never knows that anything happened. This is not contraception - the prevention of conception. This is abortion - the death of a new human life.

How often does this breakthrough ovulation happen? The lowest estimates we have seen indicate that a woman on the Pill may ovulate in 12 percent of her cycles. Dr Ronald Chez of the National Institutes of Health has publicly stated that breakthrough ovulation may occur in up to 50 percent of cycles.

Does anyone else see a problem here? Can couples knowingly afford to put themselves in a position of creating and then destroying life - their own offspring - several times every year? We see ample evidence that the Pill causes early, silent abortions in virtually every woman who uses it.

The real travesty is that, for the most part, women don't know this. There is no effort on the part of the Pill's manufacturers to disseminate this type of information.

About 40% of women who take birth-control pills will have side effects of one kind or another during the first three months of use. The vast majority of women have only minor, transient side effects.

Some of these side effects are: light bleeding, skipped periods, nausea, weight change, bloating and increase in vaginal infections. The most serious side effects associated with the birth-control pill is a greater chance of blood clots, stroke and heart attack. There have indeed been recorded deaths due to blood clots.

".. Contraceptives themselves are homicidal drugs and devices. They are more widely lethal than the commonly known surgical forms of killing unborn children.." - Fr John A. Hardon, SJ (Spiritual Director - Study of Abortion Deaths Commission)

An excellent resource book: Infant Homicides Throug h Contraceptives $20.00 is available at Emmanuel Community - 628-1064.

Need more information or have comments? Please feel free to contact us at Emmanuel Community - 628-1064, 628-1586.