Press Memo: Vermont Right to Life Committee
May 25, 2005
The following is the official statement of the Vermont Right to Life Committee on the Morning After Pill or so-called Emergency Contraception:
The Vermont Right to Life Committee (VRLC) is opposed to abortion, infanticide, euthanasia, and assisted suicide. VRLC takes no position on the prevention of the uniting of sperm and egg. Once fertilization, i.e., the uniting of sperm and egg, has occurred, a new life has begun and VRLC is opposed to the destruction of that new human life. VRLC is also opposed to the destruction of a human life created through cloning, i.e., somatic cell nuclear transfer.
A Rutland Herald reporter stated in an article today (May 25, 2005) entitled, Lawmakers get behind Plan B pill, “that Plan B not only suppresses ovulation, but can block an egg from being fertilized. If an egg has already been fertilized, the drug can also prevent it from implanting into the uterus, which is widely viewed as the point of conception.” The article then goes on to state that the Vermont Right to Life Committee does not oppose the Bill.
“If the science proves that Plan B or the morning after pill will prevent a developing human from implanting into the uterus Vermont Right to Life will strongly oppose the use of the drug,” stated Mary Hahn Beerworth, lobbyist for VRLC. “Furthermore, VRLC refutes any attempt to redefine conception as implantation and also refutes the notion that implantation is widely accepted as the beginning of a human life,” Beerworth continued. “The debate is raging in Congress about the use of human embryos for destructive research and those human embryos are not implanted.”
VRLC Office practice: If a call comes in from a pro-life woman with concerns about use of the morning-after-pill, staff would direct her to speak with a pro-life physician.
The following article summarized the existing published medical literature on emergency contraception and found: “These data neither prove nor exclude the possibility that endometrial alterations observed would be sufficient to prevent implantation.” The article is entitled: Mechanisms of action of hormonal preparation used for emergency contraception: a review of literature. (Contraception 2001; 63: 111-121)
The Vermont Right to Life Committee is the largest pro-life, non-profit, organization in Vermont with nearly 5,000 contributing member households and chapter affiliates in 9 counties.
Mary Hahn
Beerworth
Executive Director
Vermont Right to Life
PO Box 1079
Montpelier, VT 05601
(802)229-4885