"Don't Shoot The Messenger"

As many of you may know from my previous posts, I belong to a Southern Baptist Church. The denomination branded on me from the cradle. My mom says I was in the church nursery before my one week birthday. Like many family traditions and beliefs, you often feel obligated to the doctrine that has been in your blood.

I'm not bitter toward my roots as most of the convictions of the denomination I am convinced are true to the teaching of Christ. However, I just love being a little bit of a trouble maker now and then, like telling my mom I'm voting for Hillary Clinton, just to see her cringe and tears well up in her eyes. I'm horrible! I'm not voting for Hillary Clinton, so don't panic members of the bible belt. My approach to voting will take an entirely different post, so we won't go there right now. :)

The reason I ramble on about my roots, is that one thing I despise about conservative Baptists is the way many tout moral discussion on subjects they have not a clue about. About a year and half back, a perfect example of this was printed in the Baptist Messenger (for those of you non-baptists, this is our state denomination newspaper). An editorial ran all but delivering eternal condemnation for considering use of Emergency Contraception (aka Plan B, or the "morning after pill"). Being a public health nurse who issues Emergency Contraception and a Pro Life supporter, reading the article, sent my blood boiling.

You can read the article (and my comments :)) by clicking on the title of my posting today.

A brief lesson on Emergency Contraception(EC): EC may be used within five days of unprotected intercourse. The Plan B product contains progestin, other combinations use primarily estrogen and progestin. The primary action of EC is to prevent ovulation. Most of you know, or I hope you know that for a pregnancy to occur you must have a viable egg fertilized by sperm. After intercourse, sperm can remain active for up to five days. If a woman ovulates any time between intercourse and the five days of sperm viability, she can conceive. The primary mechanism of EC is to prevent the egg from being released until the sperm has time to die. The second mechanism of EC is to thicken cervical mucous to decrease sperm motility ie. keeping the sperm from reaching the egg. As you can see the two primary actions occur before fertilization (meeting of the egg and sperm) can occur. If a pregnancy has already occurred, then the EC will have no effect, that is it will not terminate the pregnancy.

EC should not be confused with RU 486 which does terminate a pregnancy. I do not issue this medication nor do I promote its use!

The question that arises regarding EC is the third mechanism of action. The hormones over time will also thin the lining of the uterus inhibiting implantation of a fertilized egg. There are many debates regarding this issue. There is NO proven research regarding if this occurs or how likely it is to occur. Two tidbits related to this mechanism: one out of four early pregnancies end in spontaneous miscarriage without any outside intervention making it hard to differentiate whether implantation did not occur due to nature or an external factor & this mechanism is present in ALL methods of hormone based contraception.

All this to say EC acts no differently than all other hormone based contraception (traditional Birth Control Pill, Ortho Evra Patch, Mirena IUD, and Depo Provera). So to say that EC or Plan B or the Morning after pill, causes pregnancy termination, one would have to say all birth control does the same. Therefore, the women that Baptist Messenger Editor Ray Sanders points his finger at should be pointed at all women who take birth control. And I bet he does not have the gumption to do such!

Hopefully, this helps you make an INFORMED decision regarding this important issue. And serves as a reminder that we each are responsible for our own convictions and not to solely rely on the ones that lead us.

(sidenote: EC is not intended for routine contraception as it is only 85% effective when taken immediately and decreasing efficacy with the passing days. Plus it is quite pricey compared to other methods ($50 and up for two pills). So you're best bet is to choose another method, most of which are closer to 97-99% effective when used appropriately!)

Questions about any of this, post a comment or message me.