Is it all about babies?

Many pro-life websites are full of propaganda about how the pill and the IUD are abortifacients and that the Emergency Contraception pill is a form of early abortion similar to the actual abortion pill, RU486. The pro-life gospel goes something like this: "The pill/IUD alters the lining of the uterus and the six-day-old child cannot implant on the uterine lining and is sloughed off." Or, "Pills and IUDs kill people".

A group of eight cells held together by the egg membrane is now a child!

Pro-life organisations oppose not only abortion and contraception but sex education and even condoms for disease prevention. And it doesn't end here, the recently introduced Human Papiloma Virus vaccine is also under fire. As far as we know, the HPV vaccine does not have any abortive or contraceptive properties and it can help prevent cervical cancer, so why oppose it? If pro-lifers insist that women be told that having an abortion can lead to a great risk of developing breast cancer, why oppose a vaccine that prevents cervical cancer?

The plight of women in the Philippines, Nicaragua and El Salvador, illustrates what can happen when the Catholic Church-pro-life lobby dictates public health policy.