Contraception (Birth Control) and Family Planning PubHealthInfo

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PubHealth.info® (a subsidiary of PakMed) presents scientific information mainly based on abstracts of articles published on a variety of public health issues/topics, particularly encompassing population planning, disease prevention, maternal and child health, and communicable and non-communicable diseases (like HIV AIDS, malaria, etc) that are affecting a significant portion of population in developing and developed countries. Here you can find abstracts of articles published on a variety of public health topics under category "Contraception (Birth Control) and Family Planning". Contraception (birth control) is a regimen of one or more actions, devices, or medications followed in order to deliberately prevent or reduce the likelihood of a woman becoming pregnant or giving birth. Therefore contraception is the utilization of various and sundry surgical procedures, devices, practices, agents, or drugs with the intention of preventing conception or impregnation (pregnancy). Methods and intentions typically termed birth control may be considered a pivotal ingredient to family planning. Birth control is a controversial political and ethical issue in many cultures and religions, and although it is generally less controversial than abortion specifically.

YEAR: 1983

CATEGORY: Contraception (Birth Control) and Family Planning

TITLE

Postcoital contraception or abortion? [letter]

AUTHORS

Potts M

SOURCE

Lancet. 1983 Jul 23;2(8343):223.

ABSTRACT

Dr. McGuinness (May 14, p. 1107) suggests that, "with fertilization a new human life begins, which is distinct from the

life of its progenitors", and argues, therefore, that postcoital contraception must be classified as abortion. However,

not every fertilized ovum develops into "a new human life". All molar pregnancies (which may contain no evidence of

an embryo) are the result of fertilization and are genetically unique, as are many choriocarcinomas. Conversely,

some teratomas have several of the characteristics of a new individual but are not the result of a union of sperm and

egg. McGuinness also maintains that "the differences between a fertilized ovum and an implanted fertilized ovum is

merely 1 of time, development, and location". However, this emphasis overlooks a theologically significant fact.

Termination of an ectopic pregnancy has been held to be licit by all Christian denominations since the turn of the

century even though, in exceptional cases, such pregnancies can go to term and produce a viable infant. If we are to

look for ethical absolutes, and not just at the arithmetic of convenience, then the location as well as the

development of an embryo becomes ethically significant. Consensus on these issues seems unlikely, but we

should recognize the sincerity of alternative interpretations. Daniel Callahan, the Catholic ethicist, set out this

problem clearly when he wrote: "To say, for instance, that God forbids the taking of 'innocent' life while conceding--as

I think we must--that it is left up to man to define what an 'innocent' life is, is to fail to see that the only possible

meaning this rule could have is the meaning human beings choose to give it." Life is a continuum which semantics,

ethics, and the law force us to divide at arbitrary points. To pursue a less emotive parallel from postnatal life we

would not in a democracy give the vote to a child of 6 months or withhold it until an individual is 60, but whether the

franchise is given at 18, 20, or 30 is an arbitrary decision. The ethical and legal categories into which we must

divide prenatal life are also necessarily artificial. Fortunately, it is quite easy to exclude the extremes--on the 1 hand,

giving every fertilized egg the rights of the newborn child, and, on the other, advocating infanticide. We are less likely

to make mistakes when we understand the nature of the decisions we must make, rather than accepting seductively

simple divisions which easily crumble when analyzed in detail. There is nothing to stop those with differing

interpretations of the biology and ethics of early development from finding ways of uniting with respect for life later in

pregnancy, or fighting side by side for the rights of children and adults in all corners of the globe. (PubHealth.info

Document ID: CONT5T 2089-06)

PubHealth.info NOTE: The author(s) of this article titled, "Postcoital contraception or abortion? [letter]", is(are)

Potts M. The source of this article is "Lancet. 1983 Jul 23;2(8343):223.". This article was published in 1983 in

English language(s). (PubHealth.info® Document ID: CONT5T 2089-06. All rights reserved with PubHealth.info) PIN:

22089

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