When is human life, "life"? That is the first major question to this debate. Does human life begin when a sperm meets a egg to fertilize it? Does it begin when the fertilized egg implants into the uterus? When the baby's heart starts beating? When the mom can feel the baby move?
One of the biggest parts of the birth control debate stems from how a person answers this question. Birth control sometimes stops a fertilized developing embryo from implanting into a mother's uterine wall. Most people assume or are taught that birth control simply prevents an egg from being fertilized in the first place. That is not the case. And is especially not the case with many of the forms of birth control on the market today.*
I've done a lot of research about the science and facts about how birth control works. On multiple occasions I've taken my questions to practicing obstetricians and been told I'm not correct only to have further research show that the doctor didn't know their facts. On one occasion, my doctor actually came back into my patient room after printing off and reading the "small print fact sheet" to the birth control we were discussing and conceded that I was correct in my explanation to her about the mechanisms of birth control.
I've also spent a lot of time thinking and praying about when I am "convicted" that life begins and at which stage I am responsible for protecting that life. I put convicted in quotations because I know that this is a gray area when it comes to right versus wrong. I would argue out loud all day long against abortion and do whatever I could to convince another person not to have one. But, I understand there is a complexity to the ethics of this less obvious definition of life involving birth control. I just wish for everyone to have to accurate facts about how it works so that they can efficiently evaluate for themselves what they feel is right. Secondly, it is an everyday life impacting kind of decision, not some hypothetical debate. Choosing not to use "traditional" birth control leaves you with less common options, but they take a lot more work, planning, and foresight to effectively pursue than taking a pill or having a patch on your arm. Plus, I'm only even considering the birth control options for a married, committed couple who are able to support a child. I have no idea what the best answer is for sexually active partners who aren't in a family situation. Like I said, this is more about what I feel "convicted" is my personal responsibility in light of my views about sex and the life it creates and not a political or cultural suggestion.
*Ok, want a fact check?
First, lets review the story of conception:
A woman's egg is released from her ovary and sperm swim all the way up her fallopian tube where they fertilize the egg.-This is Day One of Conception- Chromosomes from the mother and father combine this day to form one unique, new life. The zygote or single-cell embryo completes the first cell division approximately 24 to 30 hours after fertilization. http://www.ehd.org/dev_article_unit1.php As early as 24 to 48 hours after fertilization begins, pregnancy can be confirmed by detecting a hormone called “early pregnancy factor” or EPF in the mother’s blood. http://www.ehd.org/dev_article_unit1.php
From there, the egg floats slowly down the fallopian tube where it implants around 5 days later. (between days 6-9). It should be noted that some pregnancies at the stage of implantation do not thrive due to genetic abnormalities. However, this natural occurrence is not the same as failure to implant because of chemical changes in the mothers uterine lining brought on by artificial contraception.
In the middle of week 3, only 18 days after fertilization, (11 days after implantation) the embryo’s heart appears. A mere 14 days later after implantation, the formed heart begins to beat. This is day 21. A woman has most likely only just realized that her period is late, and yet deep in her protected womb a tiny heart is already beating strongly.
Mechanisms for Various Forms of Birth Control
Nuvaring, The Pill, and the Patch
These forms of birth control work by slowly releasing hormones into a woman's body resulting in three main effects. Mechanism One is to prevent ovulation from occurring. Mechanism Two is to change the cervial mucus so that sperm have less success making their way towards the egg. At times, these mechanisms fail and "breakthrough ovulation" occurs. Mechanism three is a thinned uterine lining. On average, a fertilized egg needs the mother's uterine lining to be between 5-13mm thick. However, a woman taking birth control pills or on nuvaring usually has a uterine lining of 1.1mm.
A women choosing to use these forms of birth control has altered her body in a way that makes it extremely difficult for a fertilized embryo to implant and continue to grow. The difficulty in this scenario is the lack of research and absolute data showing how often "breakthrough ovulation" occurs in women using these forms of birth control as well as the frequency with which these post-fertilized eggs are lost due to the changes in the women's lining. It is plausible that a women taking these forms of birth control may never have break through ovulation, but it is also plausible that she may have fertilized eggs lost multiple times over the course of using birth control such as the Pill and Nuvaring.
http://www.spfiles.com/pinuvaring.pdf
This is the small print for NuvaRing. Look at the paragraph titled "Clinical Pharmacology" for the statement about the mechanisms such as changes to the uterine lining.
http://www.thepill.com/sites/default/files/pdf/Tri-Cyclen_Lo_PI.pdf#zoom=100
Same thing on this information for Ortho Tri-Cyclen
http://orthoevra.com/sites/default/files/assets/OrthoEvraPI_0.pdf
Same thing, see Clinical Pharmacology paragraph for statement about the changes to the uterine lining.
IUDs (Inter Uterine Devices) such as Mirena
This form of birth control works mostly by thinning the lining of the uterus and changing the cervical mucus to prevent sperm from reaching the egg. That means that in most cases women will release eggs as usual, and fertilized eggs will not implant due to the thinned uterine lining. IUD's main mechanism is to prevent implantation via a thinned uterine lining. It is much more likely that a women using these forms of birth control will loose multiple fertilized eggs due to the changes in her uterine lining.
http://berlex.bayerhealthcare.com/html/products/pi/Mirena_PI.pdf
You will need to scroll to page 10 to review the mechanisms of action paragraph. You should also read the next paragraph "pharmacodynamics" that states after 1 year on the Mirena IUD 45% of cycles are ovulatory and 75% after 4 years. That means at least half the time, an egg is released by the women using this form of birth control. The primary mechanism for IUDs is not preventing ovulation, but preventing implantation of fertilized eggs.
Copper IUDs such as Paragard
Similar looking to the mechanisms of the above mentioned methods of birth control. However, these IUDs do not ever interfere with ovulation. Every cycle a woman can expect to release a egg. Again, the primary mechanism for IUDs is not preventing ovulation, but preventing implantation of fertilized eggs.
http://www.paragard.com/images/ParaGard_info.pdf#page=4
The Morning After Pill, Emergency Contraception, Plan B One Step,
This form of birth control contains a high dose of progestin, one of the same hormones used in regular birth control pills. The higher dose of the hormone is meant to work using the same three mechanisms. (preventing ovulation, thickening mucus to make it difficult for sperm to get to the egg, and thinning the lining of the uterus to prevent a fertilized embryo from implanting). Ironically many people who are opposed to the morning after pill do not realize that it contains the same chemicals as the birth control they are already taking. In fact, the planned parenthood website even posts a chart illustrating how you can take extra amounts of routine birth control to mimic the effect of the morning after pill.
http://ec.princeton.edu/questions/dose.html#dose
http://www.morningafterpill.org/how-does-it-work.html
The Abortion Pill, RU-486
This is not considered at all to be labeled as "birth control", but is instead a form of chemical abortion available for use up to 9 weeks of pregnancy. Basically, the pill blocks a pregnant mother's body from making progesterone which cuts the baby off from receiving what it needs to live. The growing baby will eventually die and more drugs are given to the mother causing the uterus to contract and deliver the body of the baby.
http://earlyoptionpill.com/section/what_is_mifeprex/
So after all of that if you find yourself convicted about the way that chemical birth controls work, you may feel discouraged about your options besides having a family of 12. I remember being in that place. However, I believe there are successful methods of family planning that do not involve chemical birth control. I'd love to share what I've learned about that, but this post is way too long...I promise to write about that soon.
If you'd like to do more research on the facts about birth control, I recommend starting here:
http://www.epm.org/resources/2010/Feb/17/short-condensation-does-birth-control-pill-cause-a/
There is a lot of information out there regarding the question of uterine lining and post fertilization implantation, but its really hard to find a bottom line. I find myself rethinking and sorting through my thoughts on this difficult issue every time I look at the facts. The bottom line for me was that there is way too much ambiguity and lack of definitive research by the drug companies for me to feel comfortable taking birth control. If they can't rule out with more certainty the possibility that I will alter my body in a way to prevent fertilized eggs from continuing to develop and grow, then its not an option for me.
