Birth control is the mother of promiscuity and abortion. It is the gilded fruit of the sexual revolution and has contributed to the decay of American culture. In hindsight, it’s worth stating that birth control is the Frankenstein of sexual-reproductive technology, and pro-life advocates have yet to take a major stand against this monster.
One of the biggest misconceptions about fostering a culture of life is believing that it can simultaneously exist side-by-side with a degenerate culture where birth control is ubiquitous, and a hookup culture is normal.
A society that embraces birth control is always a society that embraces pre-marital-casual sex; and a society that embraces casual sex is always a society that elevates abortion to the untouchable secular sacrament of modern living.
Mifepristone and Misoprostol
How did we get to this point? An overlooked and often-hidden fact about the most popular forms of birth control is that they sometimes act as abortifacients.
An abortifacient is any substance or device that intentionally causes an abortion. Some abortifacients are well known to the public, such as mifepristone and misoprostol (also known as RU-486).
Mifepristone and misoprostol both make up the two-pill regimen of the chemical abortion pill process. These two pills are exclusively intended to cause mothers to have an abortion, often in the privacy of their own homes. The process takes days and is deadly for the baby and potentially for the mother as well. In fact, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA)’s label for these pills states that one in 25 women will visit the emergency room after ingesting the first pill, mifepristone.
Mifepristone blocks the progesterone hormone necessary for the survival of the baby, thus killing the child. The second pill, which is taken approximately one to two days later, is misoprostol. Misoprostol is what causes the woman to go into labor, thus expelling the dead body of her baby. Since the FDA approved these pills in 2000, there have been 32 confirmed maternal deaths, and those only count the ones reported back to the FDA.
Contraception: Stopping Fertilization or Ending Life?
In addition to these obvious offenders, there are other popular contraceptives — such as hormonal birth control, morning after pills, and intrauterine devices (IUDs) — which can also cause abortions, though many in the public are not aware. It is critical to understand how these three types of contraceptives can intentionally cause abortion.
These reproductive technologies are created using a series of three induced biological hurdles to either prevent fertilization or cause an abortion. Since life begins at fertilization, a true contraception would stop conception before sperm and egg meet to create a new life. Any activity that harms an already-fertilized egg (human person) would not be contraceptive in nature, but abortifacient.
With those definitions in mind, let’s examine these three processes which are put into action when a woman is on abortifacient birth control (hormonal birth control, morning after pills, or IUDs).
The first process is the thickening of cervical mucus to prevent sperm from entering the uterus and fertilizing an egg. This fits the true definition of contraception as it prevents fertilization. The second process prevents eggs from being released from the ovaries, thus also truly preventing fertilization.
The third process is where these substances and devices become abortifacient. As a last resort, the abortifacients thin out the lining of the uterus to create an inhospitable environment for a fertilized egg (human person) to attach or grow, thus causing an abortion.
Remember, implantation occurs after a unique person has already been created at the moment of fertilization. In combination, these three processes act as hurdle mechanisms with the last process causing an abortion if the first two fail. Not all women who use abortifacient birth control will have unknown abortions, but a guaranteed percentage of those women will have them.
Easy Access to Abortifacient Birth Control
Abortifacient birth control is extremely widespread amongst American women, with access becoming easier by the year. The morning after pill, colloquially referred to as “Plan B,” is also well known to the younger generations and is sold over the counter at nearly every grocery store and pharmacy across the nation. Worse, it is easily accessible on online sites such as Amazon, no questions asked.
Though many pro-lifers already understand that “Plan B” can cause an abortion, it is important to remember that any other over-the-counter birth controls are also abortifacient in nature and thus should not have such easy access.
Pandora’s Box
In 2024, a landmark decision was made by the FDA to approve the over-the-counter sale of progestin, sold under the brand name, Opill, which is an abortifacient hormonal birth control pill. Prior to this decision, all hormonal birth control required a doctor’s prescription, albeit many doctors freely prescribed birth control to minors and adults already. This recent FDA decision has further opened the Pandora’s Box, unleashing the new trend of over-the-counter and online birth control access.
Pro-personhood Means Being Consistent
The pro-life movement must apply a consistent life ethic and abolish all abortifacients to include hormonal birth control, morning after pills, and IUDs. The prescription, manufacturing, dispensing, and sale of these abortifacients needs to be completely banned. We must never cave to the pharmaceutical industry and secular society’s approval of abortifacient birth control.
The god of the sexual revolution in America has led to the creation of and regular use of sexual-reproductive technologies that artificially hack our own biology to induce abortions. We do all of this in the name of preserving the secular sacrament of sexual freedom.
Yet truly, this “freedom” is evil. Scripture tells us to “Live as free people, but do not use your freedom as a cover-up for evil” (1 Peter 2:16a). In the final article of the “Think about Such Things” series, coming out in June 2025, we will explore a Christian alternative to this false view of freedom.
Sources:
Birth Control Pill: Types, Side Effects & Effectiveness
Intrauterine Device (IUD): Birth Control, Use & Side Effects
Contraception – Students for Life of America
Mechanism of action of levonorgestrel emergency contraception – PMC
New Studies Show All Emergency Contraceptives Can Cause Early Abortion – Lozier Institute
Javid Ona
Georgia Right to Life
Education Coordinator
This article is Part 2 of the three-part Think about Such Things Spring Series. Make sure you are subscribed to GRTL’s newsletter by June 2nd to receive Part 3 straight to your inbox.
Read Think about Such Things Part 1 here: