Note: Think that anti-choice politicians and activists aren’t trying to outlaw contraception?  Think again.  Follow along in an ongoing series that proves beyond a doubt that they really are coming for your birth control.

Abort! Abort! Abort… taking your pill, that is.

According to Evelyn Montreuil, former nurse and founder of a Right to Life chapter in Idaho, birth control pills allow for “breakthrough ovulation” that will create fertilized eggs that don’t implant in the uterus, causing an “abortion.” Her source for this fact? No, not her medical training. A book written by an Irish pharmacist who hasn’t worked in the industry since 1993, and available only through Human Life International, which argues that “marriage is happier and holier when couples give up contraception of all kinds and put Christ at the centre of their marriage.“

So what is Montreuil’s solution for avoiding those alleged abortions caused by hormonal contraceptives? Natural family planning, of course. Via the CDA Press:

The spacing of children does not require contraception. The woman’s egg lives only 24 hours. the man’s sperm up to 5 days. Thus they can conceive about 1 week out of the monthly cycle. By abstaining from sex during the fertile time pregnancy is avoided. And believe it or not Abstinence makes the heart grow fonder. The woman knows her man loves her when he abstains.

The “breakthrough ovulation” rates touted by anti-choice activists and physicians often refer to outdated studies, older versions of the medication, as well as their own personal bias. Even some “pro-life” physicians agree that the hormonal-contraception-as-abortifacient argument is less than scientifically sound. A discussion of why the “birth control is an abortion” meme is not completely sound can be found on the Association of Pro-life Physicians website, but this simple summary from their director wraps up the real position perfectly:

Personally, I think it is possible that hormonal contraceptives cause abortions by preventing implantion of an embryo into the uterus, but unlikely. They probably do not. I think the “hostile endometrium theory” greatly underestimates the effect of the corpeus luteum to overcome the endometrium-thinning effect of the exogenous hormone.

However, there are other reasons that one can be against hormonal contraception. I believe that it conflicts with the testimony of God’s Word that children are desirable and “a blessing” from God (Psalm 127). Thus, I personally do not prescribe hormonal contraceptives, but neither do I condemn those who do.

In other words, we just want to control your sexual relations to fit in with our worldview.

So you had better get ready for your week (or more) of celibacy. After all, they are coming for your birth control.