Opinion
Separate Religion and Health Care
By Jeri McGiverin, Public Relations Director, Mainstream Loudoun
[Jan. 20, 2005] Just imagine for a moment that it became illegal to use birth control in the state of Virginia.
This might sound crazy, but if some of Virginia's self-proclaimed "pro-life" state legislators have their way, there will be no need to use your imagination.
Over the last few years, thanks in great part to Delegates Bob Marshall (Prince William County) and Dick Black (Loudoun County), legislation has been introduced at the Virginia General Assembly that would restrict women's access to birth control. Marshall and Black often refer to religious convictions as their motivation for such attempts. Aside from the obvious intrusion into women's health-care decisions and the imposition of personal religious beliefs on people of all faiths, limiting women's access to birth control risks more unwanted pregnancies and, consequently, more abortions.
According to the Alan Guttmacher Institute, www.agi-usa.org, approximately 48 percent of all pregnancies in the U.S. are unintended and 47 percent of all unintended pregnancies end in abortion. Why would "pro-life" members of the Virginia General Assembly promote legislation that would ultimately cause more abortions?
Let's review the facts: contraceptive pills, including emergency contraception, work by inhibiting ovulation and/or fertilization and, less often, by preventing implantation of a fertilized egg in the uterus. The National Institutes of Health (NIH), the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG), and the 10,000 women physicians of the American Medical Women's Association (AMWA) define pregnancy as occurring when a fertilized egg implants in the uterine lining. Therefore, the argument used by legislators like Black and Marshall that contraceptive pills, including emergency contraception, constitute abortion is patently false.
Emergency contraception - higher dose birth control pills - is very effective at preventing unwanted pregnancy if taken within 72 hours of unprotected intercourse. In fact, emergency contraception has proven so safe and effective that ACOG is urging the FDA to listen to its own expert panel and make it available over the counter. Furthermore, a recent University of California study confirmed that easy access to emergency contraception did not lead women, ages 15-24, to engage in riskier behavior.
Other Virginia legislators are working to foster a better understanding of the basic facts of birth control for the women and families of our state. Sen. Mary Margaret Whipple (Fairfax) introduced a bill called the Birth Control Protection Act (SB456) during the 2004 session, which simply states that contraception does not constitute abortion. The measure, re-introduced this year, is intended to prevent abortion restrictions in the Code of Virginia from being applied to methods of contraception. For more information on SB456, go to the Virginia State Web site http://legis.state.va.us/.
We respect the right of individuals to make personal health decisions based on their religious beliefs. But Virginia's legislators represent all citizens, and so their laws - which affect people of all faiths and of no faith - must be based on established scientific facts and accepted medical definitions.
- extreme. ineffective. dick black.