How Anti-Lifers Bend or Break the Law...And Get Away With It

by Magaly Llaguno

Thanks be to God and to the pro-life movement, assisted by Vida Humana Internacional’s educational efforts, the Culture of Death promoters have not been able to advance their plans to legalize abortion in the Hispanic countries, where, for the most part, it is illegal.

The anti-life movement, however, is carrying out a clever plan to get general acceptance for early abortion, and thus eventually obtain its legalization. This plan includes the promotion of chemical abortion in the first stages of pregnancy, using so-called “emergency contraception” (EC).

Birth-control promoters have been able to make the massive use of contraceptives very common, even in Hispanic countries consisting of Catholic populations. Many of these drugs and devices—such as the Pill, Norplant, Depo Provera and the IUD (intrauterine device)—are abortifacient, at least part of the time. Hispanic governments’ acceptance of these so-called “contraceptives,” has opened the door to the shameless practice of chemical abortion by EC.

Family Health International (FHI), an anti-life organization that is very active in Latin America, states in its magazine Network: “The most widely used emergency contraceptives are regimens of birth control pills, which use the same hormonal ingredients found in regular oral contraceptives but in higher doses. The intrauterine device can also be used for emergency contraception, as well as other products.…” l  It also states that women who want EC can use the oral contraceptives they already have on hand.2

Those who advocate EC admit that “emergency contraceptive pills...may interfere with implantation of the fertilized egg in the uterus.”3 Abortion is illegal in most of the Hispanic countries where EC is being promoted; thus, to bend or break the law with impunity, its promoters claim that pregnancy does not begin until the fertilized ovum implants in the uterus, leading to the claim that the use of EC does not constitute an abortion.4 However, when the fertilized ovum or newly conceived human being cannot implant in his or her mother’s uterus, it dies. This is nothing short of abortion.

Because it is known that no abortifacient succeeds 100 percent of the time in killing the new human life, EC promoters will eventually openly demand the legalization of surgical abortion in every country. For now, the anti-life movement’s main objective appears to be worldwide use of emergency contraception. International Planned Parenthood Federation (IPPF), the World Health Organization, Population Council, Pathfinder International, Family Health International and other anti-life organizations have joined together to promote early abortion around the world through EC.5   The EC Consortium, of which the above-mentioned organizations are members, was able to establish in Mexico a telephone “hotline” in 1999 to promote EC.6 This “service” receives “approximately 10,000 calls per month” and “is part of a larger initiative that includes a website” about EC, which is also distributed in “other ways.”7

The following are additional strategies being used to promote EC around the world:

--“Removing the prescription requirement and allowing women to purchase pills directly.…”8
u“Providing emergency contraception pills directly through pharmacists.” 9

--Providing EC “through schools and other places where youth congregate rather than only through a physician or clinic.…”10

--Advocating that “Emergency contraceptive pills—and the knowledge about their use—should be accessible to adolescents in school-based clinics, pharmacies, convenience stores or other environments where youth are comfortable seeking health care services and products.”11

--Creation of bilingual websites that offer information on EC. 12
United States bishops are concerned about the promotion of EC and have issued a statement asking the American Association of Obstetricians & Gynecologists to tell the truth: that EC is an abortifacient because it prevents the implantation of a fertilized ovum; that is, a newly conceived human being.13  Oddly enough, Margaret Sanger, founder of International Planned Parenthood Federation—the main EC promoter—would have agreed with the bishops. She affirmed that when the sperm fertilizes the ovum and development begins, any attempt to destroy it or keep it from growing constitutes abortion.14

Young people seem to be the main target of EC promoters. Sandra Garcia, a regional program associate with the Population Council in Mexico, which collaborates with a local NGO (non-governmental organization) called “Fronteras Unidas Pro Salud,” stated:  “Many workers are young, and youth may be more likely than older people to have spontaneous, unprotected sex.”15

Emergency contraception will most certainly reach an even greater number of young people through hedonistic sex “education” programs being implemented throughout the world, including the Hispanic countries. This so-called education is immoral; it promotes promiscuity and is the perfect vehicle for reaching the young and getting them to “depend” on harmful drugs and devices, all in the name of falsely termed “safe sex.” This “dependence” will, of course, translate into many more dollars for its promoters.

To protect our children—including those who are yet to be born—as well as youth around the world, we must first pray for guidance and then go to work. Other suggestions are as follows:

--Inform as many people as possible about the EC anti-life plan, especially parents and public officials. VHI offers a wealth of information regarding EC on its Spanish website, www.vidahumana.org.

--File lawsuits in countries where abortion is illegal in order to prove that the use of abortifacients should also be illegal.

--Encourage parents to be informed regarding what their children are taught in school and to unite in opposition of sex education courses and defend their parental rights. The responsibility for educating children about sexuality should be the duty and the privilege of the parents. Parents should be informed that contraception and abortion promoters are trying to “liberate” their children from their influence.

--Contact doctors, pharmacists and other health personnel about the EC anti-life plot and ask them to join together in issuing scientific statements concerning the beginning of human life and the abortifacient effect of emergency contraception. Also try to get “conscience clauses” approved.

--Promote laws requiring that literature on contraceptive and abortifacient drugs/devices contain easily understood language explaining how the drugs work and the health risks.

--Actively promote natural family planning and encourage government funding of such efforts.

Parents—especially those in Latin America—beware: Your children are in danger.

Magaly Llaguno is the Executive Director of VHI.

(November 2001 HLI Reports).