Catholic World News News Feature

US Government Approves "Emergency" Doses For Morning-After Pill February 25, 1997

WASHINGTON, DC (CWN) - The Food and Drug Administration on Tuesday approved high doses of birth control pills as an abortifacient, which the proponents call "emergency contraception."

So-called "morning-after" pills, normal contraceptive pills taken in high dosages, are taken by women soon after having uncontracepted sex in an attempt to prevent the newly conceived fetus from normal attachment to the uterine wall. If the unborn child has already implanted in the uterus, the pills should have no effect. Although such pills have been available in Europe for years, US manufacturers have been reluctant to introduce them here for fear of lawsuits.

The Food and Drug Administration, acting on the request of pro-abortion groups, independently investigated the pill -- and has now published what it has determined are the proper "morning-after" doses for six brands now on the market. "The best-kept contraceptive secret is no longer a secret," said FDA Commissioner David Kessler. "Women should have the information that this regimen is available. That's what we care about."

The FDA said that to work, two to four birth control pills are taken anytime up to 72 hours after sex -- not just the "morning after" -- and then the same dose is taken again exactly 12 hours later. The regimen is effective at causing the unborn child to spontaneously abort 75 percent of the time, the FDA said. If doctors and women adopt it, emergency contraception could end up to 2.3 million pregnancies every year, 1 million of which now end in abortion, the agency said. The number of children already killed by unintentional dosages of contraceptives is unknown.