Customer Reviews

Does the Birth Control Pill Cause Abortions?

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I must admit that I read this book with vested interests. My wife and I had been using the pill for a while so that I could finish graduate school before we had children (I am getting a Master's in theology as a Southern Baptist preacher). However, the strong empirical and logical arguments from this book changed my mind concerning the effects of all BCPs (birth control pills). I promise you that if you read this book and evaluate the research and examine the cogency of Alcorn's arguments with an objective mindset, you will be convinced of the abortifacent effects of BCPs. As a Christian and strong pro-life advocate, I cannot ignore the valid research which strongly suggests that BCPs are not only contraceptive in nature, but also abortifacent. I encourage to read this book very carefully.

Having read this book by Randy Alcorn (whom I actually find to be a great person and a writer) and I must say I find most of the conclusions it has drawn false. I will say that Mr. Alcorn does make an honest attempt at researching a subject that there is very little evidence on. Yet the data he cites is either antiquated or unexplained. The research is sketchy and I find that many of the numbers are drawn up by doctors that do not agree with the pill in the first place.

I will say that it is a start in the right direction for investigating what it is that is causing the pills effectiveness. I found a few errors in the research though:

1)Breakthrough ovulation rates are not researched adequately. The most accurate figure (2%) comes from 1984. The samplings appear to be rather small in some studies, making it statistically unreliable. Also, the distinction between faithful pill takers (take the pill everyday on time) and lazy pill takers is never studied. It has been hypothesized that breakthrough ovulation is most likely to occur in inconsistent pill takers. We are never shown the different breakthrough ovulation rates for consistent and inconsistent pill takers, this makes "breakthrough ovulation" hard to believe for true pill takers.

2) The secondary effect of the birth control pill is to make cervical mucus inhospitable. Yet Alcorn's book never fully investigates how effective of a contraceptive the COC (combined-oral-contraceptive) pill is in this respect. He cites a study done on rabbits (which is hardly reliable). More should be done to find out how inhospitable cervical mucus on the pill actually is to sperm. And the distinction should be made once again between consistent users and inconsistent users.

3) Alcorn jumps to conclusions using theoretical data drawn up from Doctors who are opposed to the pill to begin with. At least Alcorn realizes that these figures are not reliable and just drawn up. He also says that the pill can cause chromosomal abnormalities years after it has been taken. I have a hard time believing that the pill can sometime alter your eggs chromosomes and make you more likely to have a down syndrome child (or a child with any chromosomal abnormality). This is not logical.

4) I don't think it has been researched enough to really make a conclusion one way or the other regarding the pill. I believe that COC DOES suppress ovulation if taken consistently. I speak from personal experience. A woman can usually spot signs of ovulation and I used the pill consistently for 3 years. I never had any signs of ovulation, but since I took the pill every day at the same time I suppressed ovulation because of it. After I got off the pill I started tracking my cycle and I noted the signs that I was ovulating. I never experienced any of these symptoms while taking the pill so I know that with me it suppressed ovulation.

I think breakthrough ovulation is probably something you would see more often in an inconsistent pill taker. If a pill taker is inconsistent then there is a more significant possibility that the pill acts as an abortifacient. However you'd be hard pressed to find a consistent pill taker that breakthrough ovulates on a regular basis. I think more research should be done on this, it needs to.

Randy Alcorn spells out exactly how the pill works with this booklet. He explains not just "his opinion," but research, including what the manufacturers of the pill themselves will tell you about the pill if you ask the right questions.

I found out this information probably a year or two before I ever read this pamphlet. In that time, I shared it with others, either on or contemplating the use of the pill. The reactions I got to it were often negative. Arguments and justifications for the use of the pill were offered to me, but none really held up.

That's where the value of this pamphlet comes in. Alcorn has heard those justifications, too. He brings them up himself and refutes them. But his style is not an in your face, confrontational approach. Rather, he uses gentle persuasion on a very sensitive subject, coming across not as a judge (he reveals that the pill was once his uninformed method of choice), but as another person who understands the desire for birth control, and the responsibility to go about it correctly.

This is a great booklet to use, both for those unsure of what they think of the pill, and even to persuade someone who is pretty sure it is okay. He doesn't call the birth control user a heartless murderer. He gently persuades them that sometimes the results of hormonal birth control are something other than the user intended.

I highly recommend this booklet to anyone willing to consider the possibilities about birth control, and to anyone considering the use of hormones to avoid pregnancy. If you are going to make that choice, be sure it is an informed one. This is a great way of getting that information.

Another good book by Alcorn as well, with similar methods of persuasion, is Pro-Life Answers to Pro-Choice Arguments. Both are well worth reading. In fact, it was while researching that book that Alcorn opened the pandora's box of hormonal birth control.

After reading this book, I could not see any woman with biblical morals wanting to continue or consider taking the pill. Randy Alcorn has definately invested much time and research into this book. After doing much research my self, I found the drug companies themselves do not refute the fact that the pill and other homonal birth control methods (shot, patch, etc.) alters the lining of the uterus so much so that implantation is impossible in most cases. I do not beleive Mr. Alcorn had any agenda planned. He himself states in the book that his original intention in writting this book was to prove that the pill does not cause abortions, but all the information he ran across proved to show that it does in fact cause abortions. I believe Mr. Alcorn spoke very acuratley about the "morning after pill" which many consider to be an early abortion (due to it's main action to prevent implantation of a newly created human) is nothing more than an extra strong dose of birth control pills. If you don't believe Mr. Alcorn, just look at the drug companies websites (which he encourages readers to do in his book), they state clearly the effect they have on the edometrial lining of the uterus. The lining of the uterus has EVERYTHING to do with wether or not a fertilized egg attaches. Research shows that the minimal endometrial thickness required to maintain a pregnancy ranges from 5-13mm while the average woman taking the pill has an average thickness of 1.1mm. This book is a must read for those who profess to be prolife and are using the pill, or other homonal contraceptions.

Well thought-out, well-researched.

Before my husband and I married, I looked for the answer to this question, and got a nice pat on the hand and, "Go ahead, sweetie; it's okay," from Focus on the Family. With such heavyweights giving us the counsel that there was probably nothing to worry about, we went on the pill without any concern. So, for a year and a half, my husband and I used the pill, and we will regret it for eternity.

How many of our own children did we unintentionally abort? We pray that it was none, but we have absolutely no way of knowing for sure. That is STAGGERING.

I encourage every pro-life person to read this book, so that you can make an INFORMED decision for yourself. You can decide how to interpret the evidence, but if you never receive the evidence, you cannot possibly weight it wisely - therefore, you cannot possibly make a good decision! When we stand before the LORD in eternity, "I didn't want to read the book, so I didn't know," is not going to cut it. It's a short book, a quick read, and no pro-lifer should have anything to do with the pill without having first received this information.

This is phenomenal! I am a nurse and in all my pharmaceutical classes-- I never learned any of this.
Randy Alcorn does a very very thorough job with his research, there is no room for doubt after I read this book.
The birth control pills clearly have the potential to cause abortions, unknowingly.
Am I willing to sacrifice the life of my child by taking hormonal pills (or injections, or IUDs)?
I appreciate that he states at the end of his book that he wishes his findings weren't true. The truth is very grim- we have unknowingly been taking pills that have potentially snuffed the life out of our unborn child. I appreciate his honesty in this, and yet he could say that there was no way to avoid the truth.
Please read this with an open heart.
I also recommend "Family UnPlanning" by Craig Houghton as well as "Be Fruitful and Multiply".

In this book Randy Alcorn is honestly looking for answers with an open mind. Counseling newly married couples in the past and suggesting that they use birth control pills for the first few years of marriage; he was searching for the truth, not wanting to lead anyone astray.

AND he did find the truth.

A must read for any woman!!

Read with an open mind and you will be surprised at what Mr. Alcorn found.

Should you not get this book, for any reason, let me explain to you very simple from what this book is saying about birth control pills. The birth control pill has three ways of preventing a pregnancy. The third, being the final stage, is in fact a self-induced abortion.

He does have documented statistics and facts. Even people who have worked for these pharmaceutical companies that produce birth control pills are coming out and telling the truth for the public is much unaware of this truth. Or perhaps, they just dont want to see it.

It is very scientifically written, so if medically written books tune you out, then you probably wont like it. If you are a nerd, like myself, then you will find much good out of it. Hey, it is only three dollars. It is worth it.

I found it very interesting in this book, that places like Planned Parenthood, and abortion clinics, and feminist leaders already know that BCP's cause abortions. It dosen't bother them, because in their eyes it is only about 1-2weeks old when it is aborted. It dosen't even have a heartbeat, yet, so it really dosen't matter.

Yet, this theory; proved to be fact, is very unaccepted by the Christian community. The ones who should be against abortion the most. How sad! Unfortunately, most self-proclaimed Christians take birth control.

It is true that we all have a choice. We live in America and are free to make our own decisions. We can choose to kill our babies via pill, or thru an abortion. But God help you in the day of judgement should you choose this! Hey, I am not judging you, but God will!

Very eye-opening book. It is worth it. You will be glad to be informed of the truth. Hope this will help at least one person.

Well written, tons of documentation, and makes the point clearly without feeling like they are pointing a finger of condemnation. The most important book a woman of child-bearing age can read!

I read Randy Alcorn's book 'Does the Pill Cause Abortions?' From front to back in one evening. I think it is a much-needed resource and Randy has saved me the trouble of writing the book myself. Last year before marrying I researched the pill and found that it has a possibility of preventing implantation of tiny embryos. The mini-pill only suppresses ovulation 50% of the time and there was no available information stating how often the combined oral contraceptive does this.

I believe more peer-reviewed journal articles on this topic are urgently needed, and hope the book provokes this.

Also I hope future editions of this book will address a wider audience, not just Christians.