Battleangel

It’s science versus politics once again in the widening fight over the “morning after” pill known as Plan B, with medical researchers this week citing studies showing the drug does not induce abortions, as is commonly thought.

Abortion politics have repeatedly haunted discussions of so-called emergency contraception such as Plan B. It’s often referred to in news stories and by anti-abortion groups as an abortion pill, and pro-life advocates have unleashed a campaign against it in the United States that has reverberated through the ranks of the Federal Drug Administration and more than a dozen state legislatures.

Scientists say the hubbub is hogwash because studies have shown that the progestin hormone in Plan B prevents ovulation but does not affect a fertilized egg, and therefore cannot be considered abortion.

“People mix up emergency contraception with abortion, and it is really inaccurate,” said Regine Sitruk-Ware, executive director of product research and development at The Population Council, a nonprofit that conducts research on reproductive science, including birth control and abortion procedures. “Political opponents of abortion want to prevent access to emergency contraception on the basis that it may prevent implantation, and therefore would be a sort of early abortive. This is not the case.”

Source: Wired