Medicine and Health Sciences Commons^™

Decreasing Unintentional Pregnancies For Tennesseans, Paula M. Todd

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

In 2018, 49% of all pregnancies in the United States were unintended, with women with a lower- income status being five times more likely to experience an unplanned pregnancy. Tennessee has a high rate of unintended pregnancies, particularly among the uninsured, low-income, and rural teen populations; some 22% of these unintended pregnancies end in abortion. Oral or transdermal contraceptives that are affordable and accessible for women of childbearing age can reduce unintentional pregnancies. The addressed gap in clinical practice was that contraceptives are not currently available over the counter in Tennessee pharmacies without a prescription, which necessitates a costly medical …

The Logic Of Birth Control: A Look At The Numbers, Lydia Wong

CedarEthics: A Journal of Critical Thinking in Bioethics

If personhood begins at the moment of conception, the failure of an embryo to implant results in the death of a person. Therefore, many in the pro-life community worry about the ethics of using oral contraceptives, if such hormonal birth control actually interferes with implantation (a so-called “abortifacient” effect). Obviously killing is wrong, and death should be avoided. However, even if contraceptives occasionally prevent implantation, a very good case can still be made in favor of their use. This paper seeks to show how contraceptives, even if they cause implantation failure, can be used with a clear conscience.

Life is …

Pope Paul Vi And The Pill, Sara White

CedarEthics Online

No abstract provided.

The Oral Contraceptive As Abortifacient: An Analysis Of The Evidence, Dennis M. Sullivan

Science and Mathematics Faculty Publications

Pro-life Christian ethicists and medical practitioners have been united in their opposition to abortion, but have sometimes been divided in their ethical approach to hormonal contraception. Even though many Christians believe that birth control may be a moral option, some claim that the “Pill” acts, at least some of the time, as an abortifacient. If true, Christians who hold that human personhood begins at conception would be morally opposed to the use of combined oral contraceptives.

This article examines the scientific evidence for an abortifacient effect of such contraceptive agents, and concludes that such an effect is yet unproven. Some …