http://wnd.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=45948


Anti-lifers force pro-lifers to address bigger issue

Jill Stanek



Posted: August 24, 2005





The National Right to Life Committee is but one of many pro-life
organizations that distances itself on the topic of contraception.

But the morning-after pill controversy may change that.

Anti-lifers have developed a compelling strategy to force normalization
of MAPs on America. They need income from this lucrative pill to
compensate for lagging abortion sales, a downward trend they expect to
continue.


To that end, they have developed a four-pronged approach. They are
pressuring the Food and Drug Administration to approve over-the-counter
sales of MAPs, pressuring pharmacists to fill MAP prescriptions,
pressuring state governments to pressure pharmacists to fill MAP
prescriptions and, most importantly, have developed a public-relations
campaign to equate MAPs with birth-control pills.

Anti-lifers are ecstatic about their PR campaign. They think it will
not only turn the increasingly responsive American public back away
from us, it will also aggravate the dissension in our ranks on the
topic of contraceptives.

I must say I love the PR campaign, too. Anti-lifers have exposed an
inconsistency in our movement needing correction.

In a failed attempt last week to stop legislators from making permanent
Democrat Gov. Rod Blagojevich's recent "emergency" order forcing
Illinois pharmacies to dispense MAPs, GOP state Sen. David Leitch said,
"There are many [pharmacists] who believe that the morning-after pill
is an act of abortion. That is a right of conscience. To use this
gimmick to characterize morning-after pills as conventional
contraception is simply wrong."

No, it is not wrong. MAPs are just megadoses of the same female
hormones (estrogen and/or progesterone) contained in BCPs. So both work
one of three ways: They may stop ovulation; they may thicken cervical
mucous, making it harder for sperm to enter the uterus; or they may
stop a week-old embryo from implanting in the uterus, i.e., cause an
abortion.

My guess is the bulk of pro-life organizations have steered clear of
the contraceptive issue because it was already cemented in American
culture when legalized abortion came along, so pro-lifers themselves
didn't make the connection, or they determined they could only handle
so much at one time.

Because pro-lifers have been working so hard to stop abortion, they may
not realize the point at which we've arrived.

We are now at a point actually beyond abortion. Anti-lifers are forcing
the contraceptive issue into the public square via the MAP issue,
whether or not we like it, and whether or not we think we are ready for
it.

Every press release they issue about MAPs makes the connection:



MS Magazine news brief, June 1, 2005: "[M]ore and more pharmacists are
refusing to fill contraceptive prescriptions on the basis of moral or
religious objections ... Urge the FDA to immediately approve
over-the-counter status for emergency contraception."

National Organization for Women press release, June 23, 2005: "Reports
of pharmacists refusing to fill legally-prescribed prescriptions for
birth control, including emergency contraceptives, have surfaced in
states across the nation ..."

NARAL action alert, July 26, 2005: "It's official: Americans can no
longer take prescription birth control for granted ... Just last month
Wisconsin passed a bill to block state universities from filling
birth-control prescriptions."

The Wisconsin bill is to block the sale of morning-after pills, and it
has not yet passed, by the way.

Anti-lifers now interchangeably use "prescription contraception,"
"birth-control pills," and "emergency contraceptives."

Anti-lifers have unintentionally raised the bigger issue, which is that
restoring the culture of life involves restoring the culture of sexual
morality. This involves discussing not only that prescription
contraceptives and the IUD likely abort, but further that the
contraceptive mentality, in general, is anti-life and has opened a
Pandora's box of woes on America that stem from the sexual immorality
it attracts.


The concept will be absolutely foreign and even laughable to many
Americans. It is our job to educate them. It is not just abortion that
kills children, exploits women and physically and emotionally damages
women. Contraceptives do, too. In fact, they're the root cause of
abortion, because they establish the mindset of hate rather than love
at the prospect of conceiving children through copulation.

Legally, it was the contraceptive issue that opened the door to lawful
abortions. The Supreme Court in its 1965 Griswold v. Connecticut
decision found for the first time a constitutional right to privacy.
That case was about access to birth control.

Is it possible for America to return to a time of virtuous sexual
behavior? I don't know, but I'd sure like to talk about it. Thanks,
anti-lifers, for bringing up the subject.





--------------------------------------------------------------------------------



Jill Stanek fought to stop "live-birth abortion" after witnessing one
as a registered nurse at Christ Hospital in Oak Lawn, Ill. In 2002,
President Bush asked Jill to attend his signing of the Born Alive
Infants Protection Act. In January 2003, World Magazine named Jill one
of the 30 most prominent pro-life leaders of the past 30 years. To
learn more, visit Jill's blog, Pro-life Pulse.

The National Right to Life Committee is but one of many pro-life
organizations that distances itself on the topic of contraception.

But the morning-after pill controversy may change that.

http://wnd.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=45948


Anti-lifers force pro-lifers to address bigger issue

Jill Stanek



Posted: August 24, 2005





The National Right to Life Committee is but one of many pro-life
organizations that distances itself on the topic of contraception.

But the morning-after pill controversy may change that.

Anti-lifers have developed a compelling strategy to force normalization of
MAPs on America. They need income from this lucrative pill to compensate
for lagging abortion sales, a downward trend they expect to continue.

The National Right to Life Committee is but one of many organizations
obsessed with power and not much else no matter what they claim...

http://wnd.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=45948


Anti-lifers force pro-lifers to address bigger issue

Jill Stanek