I am NOT trying to step on toes here, but I want women to be informed of a few things. I have been researching birth control for some time now (since Gabriel was born 4 years ago). Well, I have found out some facts that I think people should be aware of, because most health care professionals won’t tell you. It is so common in society today to take the birth control pill, that we do not question how it works! Well, I think the facts may startle you, as they did me, a little bit. First, a little lesson on fertility/pregnancy during the first 2 weeks:
http://www.babycenter.com/2_inside-pregnancy-weeks-1-to-9_10302602.bc (you can watch a cool little video inside pregnancy!)
Then, a picture demonstration of when the egg is actually fertilized in the Fallopian Tubes (Page 01):
http://www.thepill.com/thepill/assets/How_the_Pill_Works.pdf (ovulation 101)
So, we have the basics down. The egg is released, travels down the Fallopian Tubes, can be met with the sperm and fertilized or not, and travels to the Uterus. If an egg is fertilized the egg will stay here and the baby will grow. If the egg is not fertilized the uterine lining will shed and a period will begin. How then does birth control work?
The most popular explanation, by birth control companies, is the prevention of fertilization. The LESS popular explanation is the thinning of the Uterine wall. This prevents implantation of the egg (Fertilized or not. Refer back to ovulation 101 above). So, if you are a Christian -like myself- you must ask yourself when does life begin? Does it begin when the sperm fertilizes the egg? Does it begin when it implants into the Uterine Wall? When? For me the answer is easy, life begins at conception. Period. This means at the fertilization point!
The natural process of your body is to release progesterone and estrogen to THICKEN the uterine wall FOR pregnancy. So the pill counteracts this, but in doing so can also be causing abortion (by thinning the lining so much that the fertilized egg can not attach). Want proof? Straight off the Ortho Tri Cyclen Lo web site:
http://www.thepill.com/thepill/assets/How_the_Pill_Works.pdf (Same PDF as above. Page 3 under secondary methods)
Under secondary methods you will find the following statement:
• Taking the Pill causes the lining of the uterus to change, which makes it hard for an egg to
be implanted.
• It also thickens mucus around the cervix—making it difficult for sperm to reach the egg.
I have no issue with the methods that block the sperm from getting to the egg (no fertilization=not pregnant), but the other method is what bothers me. “Makes it hard for an egg to be implanted.” In other words, makes it incredibly hard for the baby to survive. Don’t hate me for this, but I’m going to take it to the extreme and say it would be like living in a desert with just a TINY bit of water. You MAY survive or you MAY not. If someone put you there they could potentially say it wasn’t their fault if you died, because you did have water. Just, perhaps, not enough. But whose fault is that?!
Another birth control web site I found was for the IUD Merina:
http://labeling.bayerhealthcare.com/html/products/pi/Mirena_PI.pdf
(On page 22-23 you will find the same thing about the Uterine lining thinning). This web site actually says this is the most likely way of preventing pregnancy all though the primary way is “unknown.”
Anyway, I am not “casting stones” at anybody. I was on the birth control pill for years, but decided to look into it more after Gabriel was born. I don’t want to be responsible for inadvertently causing an abortion. SO, I wanted to share the knowledge I found.
I am not saying there aren’t other ways for birth control, or that I think it is wrong to use contraceptives (maybe next blog will be on if it is “Godly” to prevent pregnancy). Again, I am simply stating that you should be aware of how things work. How does the birth control pill you take every day work? How does the IUD that you have implanted into your body work? Etc.. Ask questions for yourself because often times medical professionals don’t take religious outlooks into account. They look at the medical use/advantage and that is it. Most don’t even consider life beginning at conception (although I don’t know how they would disprove this either).
To clarify a statement I made previously, “so when does life begin?” The question is if pregnancy begins at conception OR once implanted into the Uterine Wall. I have given this a lot of thought and I came up with an easy way to explain.
Let’s simplify pregnancy into 3 simple steps:
1. Egg is Fertilized in Fallopian Tubes
2. Egg travels to Uterus
3. Embryo grows into a fetus and in 38-40 weeks baby is born
All three steps are necessary for the birth of a baby/pregnancy are they not? You can’t just skip to step two and still get step three. If you skip to step two, and you don’t get three, then instead you get a period in about 2.5 weeks. Right? So, how can you discount step one and say that it isn’t pregnancy at that point?
Abortion is the termination of pregnancy. You can’t skip step one and be pregnant, so therefor you are pregnant at step ONE. This means if you stop pregnancy at step one you have technically ended pregnancy which = abortion.
As far as comments may go, I do not mind debate but I will not accept any rude comments. Debate, however, is perfectly fine. If you have a better way to explain, or different thoughts, I would be happy to have them =).
P.s. I promised my barrier method of choice. I 110% recommend Trojan Naturalamb condoms. They are cheapest on Amazon.com. They are the best, end of story!
girloutofthebox 