JC Watts and Wendy Wright of Concerned Women For America appear confused about Plan B. That doesn't mean ALL RIGHTWINGERS though, Ara. People should be more careful about how they write.
Plan B is a morning-after contraceptive pill. It is not an abortion pill and therefore, I and I am certain a fair amount of "Rightwingers" are just fine with it. Especially those of us that have an idea about how reproduction actually works.
Just in case some of you out there aren't sure, conception doesn't happen immediately after ejaculation. It can take up to 4 days for conception to actually happen. And yes, I mean conception not implantation or anything else. So, taking a morning-after pill is not and I repeat is not the same as an abortion. It is the same as using the pill, a condom or any other method of birth control. Not an abortion.
Hooray, for Plan B!
Update: Plan B info here Please note that contraceptives prevent pregnancy. Prevent is not the same as terminate.
R.I.P. Steven Malcolm Anderson
Minion
of the Week
At what point do you believe that a human life begins? On implant in the uterus?
No, the pill inhibits ovulation. No ovulation, no egg. No egg, no zygote.
At what point do you believe that a human life begins? On implant in the uterus?
Me personally? Conception.
If Plan B prevented the fertilization of an egg by a sperm (also known as conception) I would have no problem with it.
Like the pill, it prevents the egg from fertilization.
(a) It prevents ovulation. This, of course, will not prevent pregnancy if ovulation has already occurred
(b) It thickens cervical mucus, inhibiting sperm mobility.
(c) Prevents a fertilzed zygote from implanting in the uterus by altering the uterine lining.
The standard medical definition of pregnancy is a zygote implanting in the uterus. In this way, it does prevent pregancy, but not in the way you think it does.
From Rosemary's link, which she appears to have not read:
Rose, I'm not suprised at the support of Plan-B...But one would argue it crosses the "anti-choice" line you've laid for yourself.
Stop being a blithering idiot. Or, in the realm of possibilities, try being slightly less blithering.
No. I'm not anti-choice. I'm anti-abortion. I have no probelm with birth control and/or preventing pregnancy. I have a problem with actively terminating an established pregnancy. An established pregnancy is one that is embedded in the uterus. Not one that implants in a tube or one that fails to implant at all.
I think double+ just can't fathom that I'm not an absolutist. I'm not, I'm actually quite reasonable most of the time.
This is why I specifically asked you whether you thought that life began at implantation.
I have no problem with Plan B, or with abortion, for that matter. I was just trying to determine your thought processes on this, as it seems to contadict you previous thoughts on the subject. In this case, taking a pill can prevent a viable zygote from growing into a person, essentially killing it, and I would have thought that people who regard a zygote as human would have a problem with that.
And plenty of "people who regard a zygote as human" do "have a problem with that." But not Rosemary.
Yours,
Wince
Without the implantation there is no cleavage and without that it isn't a human life, it is just a union of two gametes.
For someone who says "Especially those of us that have an idea about how reproduction actually works," that wasn't astute. Cell division happens well before implantation in the uterus, sometimes several days worth.
Never heard of that before. I have heard of embryonic stem cell research and that is different.
em·bry·o (mbr-)
n. pl. em·bry·os
1. An organism in its early stages of development, especially before it has reached a distinctively recognizable form.
2. An organism at any time before full development, birth, or hatching.
3. The fertilized egg of a vertebrate animal following cleavage.
4. In humans, the prefetal product of conception from implantation through the eighth week of development.
For someone who says "Especially those of us that have an idea about how reproduction actually works," that wasn't astute. Cell division happens well before implantation in the uterus, sometimes several days worth.
Again with calling me stupid. It is a life once cleavage happens and that is where I draw my line. If cleavage happens before natural implantation like in a petri dish I'm against using it for experiments. If it happens in the tube because it has implanted there, then it will be resolved naturally.
Look here, my friend. I don't mind debating you but I would that you could refrain from trying to slyly call me an idiot. That kinda kills debate, I know because when I'm tired of talking I'll be calling someone stupid right quick.
Now for someone that feels comfortatble calling me stupid you should damn well get your terms right. Once cleavage occurs a zygote becomes an EMBRYO. So, you can go back and correct all of your non-astute queries at your leisure.
Now. You seem to think that cell division starts in the zygote (which hasn't divided yet) only after being embedded in the uterus.
In fact, the zygote begins dividing before being emdedded in the uterus as it travels down the fallopian tube, often for several days before implanting in the uterus. At this point it's called a blastocyst, a mass of cells.
No, I don't. I may have not expressed myself properly but I wasn't aware I had a biology teacher to impress.
The zygote can split but without implantation it isn't going to go very far. Implantation makes it a pregnancy. Implantation makes conception complete.
My point was to state it simply not sit here and start boring the shit out of everyone here.
I know it kills you that we agree and you can't help but argue with me. Keep it up. I don't mind discussing embryology with you.
You: Me personally? Conception.
You, a bit later: For me, conception is both fertilization AND implantation. Not just fertilization. Without the implantation there is no cleavage...
You, a bit after that: It is a life once cleavage happens and that is where I draw my line.
You, even later: The zygote can split but without implantation it isn't going to go very far.
Hopefully, you can see why I'm having difficulty understanding your position on this.
I know it kills you that we agree and you can't help but argue with me.
I'm not trying to argue, I'm trying to figure out your thinking on this because, to me, it keeps changing. Sorry if it's irritating you.