In Case You Didn't Know....

"I will praise thee; for I am fearfully and wonderfully made: marvellous are thy works;..." Psalms 139:14

Recently, I posted a little science lesson refresher about what happens during the first couple of weeks of pregnancy.

If you'll remember, there is ovulation in which an egg is released from one of the ovaries into the fallopian tubes. If sperm penetrates the egg then fertilization, or conception, occurs. These cells begin rapidly dividing, becoming a hollow ball of cells. The ball of cells attaches, or implants, to the lining of the uterus. The inner cells develop into the baby and the outer cells develop into the placenta. From there, the baby grows and develops until the blessed day of his/her arrival.

Take a look at the following statement:

Preventing a fertilized egg from implanting in the endometrium (uterine lining)

Now the obvious question would be "What would prevent a fertilized egg (baby) from implantation?" The answer: Birth Control Pills. What happens to a fertilized egg (baby) if it doesn't implant? Simple. It dies.

"But I thought birth control pills just caused me to not ovulate?" Yeah, that's what I thought. Turns out I was wrong. They do more than that. They cause changes in the cervical mucus, making it difficult for sperm to pass through. This change affects the endometrium lining, which makes it hard for a fertilized egg to implant, should "breakthrough ovulation" and conception occur.

I never could figure out why some Christians said birth control pills caused abortions. I just thought they were misinformed. Turns out, I was the one without all the facts.

Below are actual statements from the prescribing information for different types of BCP's. There are also other statements from other sources as to how the pill keeps a woman from getting pregnant. Let's take a look:

Although the primary mechanism of this action is inhibition of ovulation, other alterations include changes in the cervical mucus (which increase the difficulty of sperm entry into the uterus) and the endometrium (which reduce the likelihood of implantation).
www.thepill.com

Making it harder for sperm to reach the uterus and harder for a fertilized egg to attach to the uterus.
http://www.drugs.com/changes.html

Ovulation normally occurs when a spike in estrogen levels signals the ovaries to release an egg. Combination pills prevent ovulation by adjusting hormone levels to prevent this spike. They also thicken cervical mucus to prevent sperm from reaching the egg. In addition, they change the lining of the uterus to make it more difficult for a fertilized egg to implant. http://women.webmd.com/features/comparing-birth-control-pill-types-combination-minipills-more

Used in combination or alone, these hormones prevent pregnancy by:
~Preventing ovulation
~Keeping the mucus in the cervix thick so sperm cannot penetrate it
~Preventing a fertilized egg from implanting in the endometrium (uterine lining)
http://yourtotalhealth.ivillage.com/birth-control-pills.html

Combination oral contraceptives act by suppression of gonadotropins. Although the primary mechanism of this action is inhibition of ovulation, other alterations include changes in the cervical mucus (which increase the difficulty of sperm entry into the uterus) and the endometrium (which reduce the likelihood of implantation).
www.loestrin24.com
www.yaz-us.com
www.seasonique.com

The hormones in the Pill can also sometimes affect the lining of the uterus, making it difficult for an egg to attach to the wall of the uterus.
http://kidshealth.org/teen/sexual_health/contraception/contraception_birth.html

The lining of the uterus becomes thinner, making it more difficult for a fertilized egg to attach to the uterus should ovulation occur and fertilization take place.
http://www.americanpregnancy.org/preventingpregnancy/birthcontrolpills.html

According to this statistic, about 5 out of 100 couples will get pregnant in a year while using the pill. Now stay with me here. I'm just logically thinking. It takes a couple of weeks after conception for a pregnancy test to show up positive. The implantation is completed by day 9 or 10, before a test would show up positive.

So if 5 out of 100 women have "accidental" babies, how many of the remaining 95 had unknown "accidental" pregnancies that resulted in the baby dying due to the effects of the pill?

Maybe you already knew this. I didn't. And I just about fell off the couch when I found out.
Thankfully, I have only taken birth control pills for a short time, several years ago. I tried a few and they didn't agree with my emotional state of mind at all. If I were taking them, this information would be enough to make me stop.

Most of the women I know (of child-bearing age) use birth control pills. I'm not looking to start an argument or to seem "holier than thou." Please don't feel like you have to defend or explain your choices to me. I wrote this out of love and concern. Love-because babies are God's gift, only He can give, no matter if we "planned" them or not. Concern-because the devil is a liar and the father of it.

I didn't write this post to tell you what to do with your birth control practices. That is between you, your spouse, and God. I wrote this because I feel it is important that you know because, for some of you, it may influence or change your form of birth control.

**You can download a free copy of Randy Alcorn's book Does the Birth Control Pill Cause Abortions? here.
Prolife.com has great article on BCP's here.