Blade,
I am a physician
So? I've been involved quite heavily with the Pro-Life movement for the last 5 years, and I've read quite a bit of literature on the subject of the Pill, the Mini-Pill, Depro Provera, and Norplant.
The birth control pill comes in many forms, from the progestin-only pill to combinations of progestin and estrogen.
Progestins and the estrogen in the pill are artificial hormones designed to help a woman's body believe that it is pregnant month after month. All the vital organs in her body are affected by the constant use of this pill. It contains powerful steroids that constantly remain present in her body. The pill's artificial hormones suppress the woman's production of normal progesterone and estrogen.
This constant presence of powerful steroids is not healthy, and there are side effects when using the pill as I listed above in my previous post.
The birth control pill can work in one of three ways:
1. It can prevent ovulation (releasing an egg from the ovary)
2. It can cause the mucus in the cervix to change so that if sperm reach the cervix, they are not allowed to enter, and
3. It can irritate the lining of the uterus so that if the first two actions fail, and the woman does become pregnant, the tiny baby boy or will die before he or she can actually attach to the lining of the uterus.
In other words, if the third action occurs, the woman's body rejects the tiny baby and he or she will die. This is called a chemical abortion.
Abortion is an act of direct killing that takes the life of a tiny human being-a life that begins at fertilization.
"The second major effect is on the endometrium. The progestin acts as an antiestrogen causing alteration in endometrial glands and as a progestin, causing pseudodecidual reactions. Both of these alter the ability of the endometrium to participate in the process of implantation" (Advisory Committee on Obstetrics and Gynecology, Food and Drug Administration, 1969, Second Report on the Oral Contraceptives, app. 4, Report of the Task Force on Biologic Effects, Philip Corfman, Chairman).
Also Cf. A Consumer's Guide to the Pill and Other Drugs by pharmacist/researcher John Wilks and Infant Homicides Through Contraceptives by pharmacist Bogomir Kuhar; 2nd edition, 1995.