crisis pregnancy centers

Know the Difference

Some so-called "Emergency Contraception" pills can instead be a form of medical abortion and thus no contraception at all. Certain drugs like "The Morning After Pill (MAP)," "EC," "ECP," and "Plan B" can actually cause an early abortion, terminating the existence of a conceived human life. While using such pills within 72 hours after unprotected sex can prevent conception, it may also prevent the implantation into the uterus of an already fertilized egg. Scientifically speaking, this is a type of abortion.

Side Effects

The possible side effects to the "morning after pill" include:

• Nausea and vomiting
• Irregular and unpredictable menstrual periods
• Ectopic (tubal) pregnancies, which can be life-threatening
• Tenderness in breasts
• Infertility

Other long-term effects of this drug are not yet fully known.

No Protection

It is further misleading to refer to these pills as contraceptive options, because they do not provide any real protection against AIDS or other sexually transmitted infections (STIs/STDs). (For more about STIs and STDs, click here.)

The surest way of avoiding pregnancy or any sexually transmitted infection is to practice sexual abstinence (abstain from sexual contact) while single. (For more information about safe sex, click here.)

The Abortion Pills

Similarly, the abortion pills (also known as RU-486, Mifeprex, mifepristone, and medical abortion) always terminate a pregnancy, causing the death of an unborn baby up to 7 weeks old (see human development facts below). This abortion method requires three visits to a clinic. After taking two different medications, the dead baby will be expelled from your body at the clinic, or at your home, school, or work during the following days or possibly weeks.

For caring and confidential pregnancy help, please contact your local CPC.

The question of when human life begins is not a philosophic one but is rather a simple matter of biology. Scientifically, the beginning of new human life is at conception (or when the male sperm successfully fertilizes the female egg following sexual intercourse).¹ At this point a separate living being is created within the woman, an embryo representing a new life with all 46 human chromosomes along with all of the directions (DNA) it needs for the rest of its life. At conception, the sex of the baby, the color of hair and the eyes, and everything else is already fixed. The only additional things required before a person dies of old age are shelter, nutrition, and love.

Most women, however, do not even discover that they are pregnant until their baby is 7-9 weeks old, like the unborn fetus pictured above.

Early Human Development

• 18 days (after conception): baby's heart beats.
• 30 days: baby has grown 10,000 times its original size. Baby has a separate blood system.
• 43 days: brain waves can be recorded.
• 45 days: spontaneous movements occur.
• 7 weeks: lips are sensitive to touch. Baby is size of quarter with all body parts present.
• 8 weeks: ears and nose almost fully formed.
• 9 weeks: baby can suck thumb and is the size of a pinky finger.

¹ For several scientifically credible texts stating this case, see R. O'Rahilly and F. Muller, Human Embryology and Teratology (New York: Wiley-Liss, 1994); William J. Larsen, Human Embryology (New York: Churchill Livingstone, 1997); and B. Carlson, Human Embryology and Developmental Biology (St. Louis, MO: Mosby, 1994).