The Fungibility Factor: Funding emergency contraception is funding potential abortion

Live Action’s latest video reveals how taxpayer dollars are funding Planned Parenthood, the largest abortion corporation in the nation. The video explains the concept of fungibility, showing how funding sent to Planned Parenthood frees up its other dollars — which can then be used to perform abortions:

Taxpayer Funding of Abortion at Planned Parenthood

Part One of the Fungibility Factor series, detailed how funding funneled to Planned Parenthood through the federal family planning program, Title X, funds abortion facilities and their staff. Part Two will demonstrate how some contraception offered under Title X is abortifacient, and can therefore, in some instances, cause abortions — which means that abortion is being funded in this way as well.

Planed Parenthood — Deceptive Details

While claiming that tax dollars don’t pay for abortions, Planned Parenthood fails to point out that in reality, there are circumstances in which tax dollars technically do pay for abortions. Federal Title X dollars are sent to the states, and 17 states allow for some level of abortion funding. The federal dollars free up more state money for abortion. In addition, some Planned Parenthood abortionists have been quoted as saying they believe that every abortion sought by a woman is “medically necessary,” thereby qualifying for taxpayer funding under Title X. (Yes, really.)

A Conversation with a Former Abortionist: Is abortion ever medically necessary?

Title X and Medicaid Funding for Emergency Contraception

Since Title X funds emergency contraception, the federal and state governments are using tax dollars to fund drugs that have the potential to cause abortions. In addition, according to the Office of Population Research & Association of Reproductive Health Professionals in a few states, “Medicaid covers over-the-counter purchases of emergency contraception.” According to the Kaiser Family Foundation, the Affordable Care Act also covers emergency contraception at taxpayer expense.

According to a chart published online, a variety of emergency contraceptives — including the Morning After Pill and Ella — have been approved by the FDA and are therefore funded under Title X.

Is Emergency Contraception Abortifacient?

While the American College of Obstetrics and Gynecology (ACOG) argues that emergency contraception is not abortifacient, labels from the contraception’s own manufacturers show otherwise (as discussed below). In some cases, emergency contraception can act to prevent the implantation of a newly-fertilized human being into the uterine wall. Since life scientifically begins at fertilization, intentionally ending the life of a new, unique individual after fertilization has occurred is an abortion, and any type of birth control that has the potential to end the life of a new human being can be considered an abortifacient.

Despite claims by Planned Parenthood and friends, science has long maintained that life begins at fertilization, when the sperm and the egg meet and a unique set of DNA comes into being.

Even Planned Parenthood’s founder, Margaret Sanger, admitted in her book, “Family Limitation,” that “[a]ny attempt to interfere with the development of the fertilized ovum is called an abortion.”

The FDA label for the emergency contraception Ella clearly shows that it can prevent the implantation of an already-conceived human life. The 2015 label states, “It is possible that ella may also work by preventing attachment (implantation) to the uterus.”

According to the drug’s website, Ella is the “only emergency contraceptive approved for use up to five days after unprotected sex or birth control failure.” At this point, fertilization has often already occurred. Despite the admissions on the manufacturer’s website and the scientific facts on FDA label, elsewhere, Ellas’ manufacturer assures users that the pill does not cause abortion:

How can Ella’s manufacturer claim this? The answer may lie in the way “pregnancy” and “conception” are defined — most notably by the American Congress of Obstetricians and Gynecologists. As Live Action News’ Calvin Freiburger explains:

In 1965, the heavily-politicized American College [sic] of Obstetricians and Gynecologists redefined “conception,” the start of pregnancy, from the beginning of the child’s existence at fertilization to the point when the embryo is implanted—and they did so not based on science, but at the urging of Planned Parenthood “experts” who knew the change would make birth control more culturally palatable.

Planned Parenthood’s website agrees with the fact that Ella works days after fertilization, sanitizing its terms in a video which claims “accidents happen.” The video adds that since it can take “several days for pregnancy to happen after sex,” emergency contraception is a “safe way to prevent pregnancy up to five days after unprotected sex.”

In other words, several days after fertilization — when that has occurred — Ella can prevent the child from implanting. This causes the death of a developing human being, hence, Ella can cause an abortion.

Labeling and manufacturer website information for Plan B (the Morning After Pill) is similar:

Plan B has the potential to prevent implantation of the new human life, according to the drug’s website.

The FDA’s website acknowledges what can happen if the Morning After Pill is taken after fertilization has occurred:

Plan B works like other birth control pills to prevent pregnancy. Plan B acts primarily by stopping the release of an egg from the ovary (ovulation). It may prevent the union of sperm and egg (fertilization). If fertilization does occur, Plan B may prevent a fertilized egg from attaching to the womb (implantation). If a fertilized egg is implanted prior to taking Plan B, Plan B will not work.

Women are Given Misinformation About Emergency Contraception

It’s already been established that Planned Parenthood is not interested in giving women the scientific facts about life in the womb or the facts about abortion procedures or what might constitute an abortion.

But even the United States Department of Health and Human Services, which has recently been turned over to pro-life Secretary Tom Price, has perpetuated this deception for years, even directing readers where they can purchase the abortifacient drugs. An HHS pamphlet calls emergency contraception “birth control” and makes no mention of its potential abortifacient effects, even claiming, “Emergency contraceptive pills prevent pregnancy and are different from medications which cause abortions.”

While this is true — the abortion pill regimen is not the same as emergency contraception, and the effects of the abortion pill may even be reversed — Ella and Plan B (the Morning After Pill) can prevent implantation and stop a new human being from growing and developing, as explained above. Yet, for years, HHS has not made this information easily accessible to women.

For clarification, Live Action News is not claiming that emergency contraception functions as an abortifacient every time. But the point is that in some instances — admitted by the manufacturers themselves — these drugs have the capability.

It is impossible to know how many of these potential abortions are funded by taxpayers. In 2015 alone, Planned Parenthood distributed 767,830 emergency contraception kits to its clients.

It’s time to end taxpayer-funded abortion once and for all.