Why Is Ovulation Never Mentioned in Plan B Discussions?

When you hear that Plan B prevents pregnancy, ask yourself, "What do they mean by pregnancy?" What Plan B prevents is a recognizable pregnancy, the sort of pregnancy that we can detect with common instruments like pregnancy tests. To the average person, "preventing pregnancy" sounds like preventing conception, but the makers of Plan B are clear that this is not what they mean. They readily admit the possibility that anti-implantation effects are partly responsible for the effectiveness rating of Plan B.

What's troubling is that the marketing and discussion of Plan B rarely includes the factor that most impacts that effectiveness rating: when the woman ovulates. If a woman ovulates before or at the time of sexual intercourse, there's no way taking Plan B after intercourse will prevent a child from coming into being. The process that will produce a child has already been completed or is irrevocably in motion. So at least in these cases, Plan B gets its effectiveness rating from anti-implantation effects.

What if the woman is due to ovulate some time after sexual intercourse? Could taking Plan B well before ovulation actually prevent it from occuring? Perhaps. But even then, it's difficult for researchers to rule out anti-implantation effects.

While talk of second chances and things not going as planned is vague and inviting, perhaps there's a more accurate marketing slogan for the now-over-the-counter drug:

Got a headache? Get an aspirin.
Got a baby? Get Plan B.

When we make this hormone with its complex effects available over the counter, that's really what we're telling women. "Even if you've created a human being through your sexual behavior, you can still get rid of her before anyone can tell the difference." Who do we think we're fooling?

Comments

[Peter Dayton MD]

"when the woman ovulates. If a woman ovulates before or at the time of sexual intercourse, there's no way taking Plan B after intercourse will prevent a child from coming into being. " Untrue ! Progestogens inhibit tubal pick up of the ovum, ovum transport down the tube to the site of fertilization within the tube , interferes with ovulation's normal process, all are Estrogen dependent events. I agree part of the mechanism is unfavorable implantation but not much, as implantation is progestin dependent event. The endometrium changes from proliferation or growth phase to a secretory phase as a result of Progesterone secretion from the ovary's corpus luteum, which is a post ovulatory event. Giving progestins messes up the balance so the system shutts down along multiple pathways. You simplify a very complex miraculous event. Troubling yes, abortion I doubt. Remember love the sinner and hate the sin!

[Rebecca]

"I agree part of the mechanism is unfavorable implantation but not much".
How much a part of the mechanism does it have to be before it's wrong?

"Troubling yes, abortion I doubt."
If you doubt its abortion then what's troubling about it?

By the way, what does "love the sinner hate the sin!" have to do with this discussion?

[alan aronson]

I've read that about 50% of all fertilized eggs never make it to implantation. Is it not then as natural for a fertilized egg not to be implanted as to be implanted?

BTW, if that statistic is true and fertilized eggs are human beings, then (given miscarriages) well over 50% of all humans who have ever lived have never drawn a breath. I think there are some interesting questions here.

[Cliff Mather]

"I've read that about 50% of all fertilized eggs never make it to implantation. Is it not then as natural for a fertilized egg not to be implanted as to be implanted?"

Is infanticide any more acceptable in countries that have high infant mortality rates?

[Peter Dayton M.D.]

The issue of abortion is really about fornication. Not politically correct to discuss it in those terms but from my perspective as a gynecologist it is about sexual activity and unwanted consequences of sex acts. Very few patients come into my office discovering their pregnancy who have true contraceptive failure. 95% of unwanted pregnancy is in my experience from people who just did not bother to use contraception. I ask two questions. " Are you trying to get pregnant? No, Are you using any contraceptive? No. We are not using birth control but we don't want to get pregnant." This is not an educational issue either. It is an issue of responsibility and consequences. The liberal pro abortion lobby plants isolated cases of rare contraceptive failure and extreme medical circumstances as political tools to foster their position. In reality most abortions are in people who just did not bother to try to prevent it and in their moral system they seek personal freedom over moral obligation. It is not politically correct to tell patients they should stop having sex with multiple partners or without contraception in the present political climate. The consequences of that moral relativism are billions of dollars spent needlessly ( Like HPV Vaccine) and millions of innocent children destroyed so as to not inconvenience the parents. I hate the sin of fornication but God calls us to love and serve the sinners. Hate the sin but love the sinner .

[Kristen TAMU]

um... sorry for not being able to cite my work, but everyone is aware that plan B is literally THE PILL right? The birth control pill! only, its given in 2 doses at 75mg each. Plan B doesn't do its job any differently than the pill. It keeps the egg from implanting itself. So if you think that plan B is ******, you might as well be against the pill as well, which millions of women take everyday. Think before you start talking about things you don't know about. its science and its factual. nobody is forcing you to take anything so maybe your opinions should be kept quiet.

"um... sorry for not being able to cite my work, but everyone is aware that plan B is literally THE PILL right? The birth control pill! only, its given in 2 doses at 75mg each. Plan B doesn't do its job any differently than the pill. It keeps the egg from implanting itself. So if you think that plan B is ******, you might as well be against the pill as well, which millions of women take everyday. Think before you start talking about things you don't know about. its science and its factual. nobody is forcing you to take anything so maybe your opinions should be kept quiet."

While I understand what you're saying and it needs to be said, it doesn't need to be said in that way.

I am actually torn between both arguments. I am not religous, but I do know abortion is wrong, just becuase it invoulves killing a living thing. But I can't find any information that proves it actually does ANYTHING close to abortion. In fact in studies done on rats (again the hurting living creatures) they found that Plan B doesn't affect the egg after ovulation.