Conservative views on abortion

Right for a Reason

Amy Jo Clark and Miriam Weaver are the authors of Right for a Reason: Life Liberty and a Crapload of Common Sense.

We are pro-life, but we know that science, the law and reason mean we need to support contraception

Remember back in the Clinton years when the goal was to make abortions “safe, legal, and rare”? Over time, pro-choice progressives have shifted the messaging to make abortions as easy, accessible, and convenient as possible. As pro-life conservatives, we want to see as few abortions as possible. We understand and even accept that it’s legal for women to have abortions, but conservatives are right to insist that women be fully educated on what the procedure actually is before they have it. It’s right to believe that legislation requiring a woman to have an ultrasound before aborting her baby is appropriate. It’s right to require women to go through at least minimal counseling about alternatives to abortion before they go through with it. Abortions shouldn’t be easy and convenient. But if our ultimate goal is to drastically reduce the number of abortions that occur every single year, we must exercise some flexibility in our tolerance of contraception (and even emergency contraception). That’s why we support the use of birth control pills and even Plan B.

If you’re a conservative and you’re about to call us RINOs and just dismiss us because we’re not pro-life enough now, just hear us out…. Contraception has become a tricky topic for pro-life folks. Birth control pills, which have been widely used by thousands of women in the United States for decades, are now the subject of hot debate in many religious circles. And when emergency contraception like Plan B is thrown into the conversation, the debate gets even hotter.

Our research into contraception taught us three critical pieces of information: First, only about forty percent of fertilized eggs ever implant into the uterus naturally. Second, in the medical and legal communities, a pregnancy does not begin until a fertilized egg implants into the uterus. Finally, birth control pills (and Plan B) have the primary function of stopping an egg from being released by the ovaries and a secondary function of preventing fertilization of a released egg. The most recent research and studies indicate that neither birth control pills nor Plan B prevent the implantation of a fertilized egg into the uterine wall. And even if they did, they would not be considered abortifacients, because abortifacients, by definition, terminate pregnancies (which, again, do not begin until a fertilized egg implants). Contraception prevents pregnancies. This distinction is important.