I had 3 siblings, but they all died as zygotes...

Lisa has a recent post (scroll down) discussing the inappropriateness of the term “Emergency Contraceptive” for anti-implantation pharmaceuticals. Since Krupa has been bemoaning the lack of controversial posting, I’ve decided to take the bait:

A. Conception, as a properly used term of art means implantation. That is, the board certifying society for Ob-Gyn, ACOG, defines conception as the moment that a blastocyst implants in the uterine wall. It is true that ACOG revised their definition some 30 years ago on the topic, however, historically, the term contraceptive has been applied to many early term abortificants. (Queen Ann’s lace, and mercury preparations in the civil war era).

B. As a practical matter, defining conception as taking place at implantation helps to deal with the unstable nature of the zygote. That is, zygotes may split into twins, or several (I think only 2) zygotes can combine into a single embryo. Not to mention the relatively low, probably best case, 50%, chance a zygote has at a successful pregnancy. Most people I know, no matter what their views on abortion, do not discuss zygote death in the same terms as embryo death. That is, very few people with say, 3 children, ever think about the 2-6 children that died as zygotes. Of course, depending on ones theological positions, there are all sorts of interesting questions about the ensoulment, salvation-status, etc of the 2-6 dead zygotes.

C. The commonly available emergency contraceptives work primarilly by preventing ovulation and fertilization, and in my oppinion definitely deserve to be called contraceptives. For example, “Plan B” works primarily by preventing post-coital ovulation in the time period where motile sperm are still present, and also helps produce a thickened cervical mucas to prevent fertilization. The FDA won't even let the manufacturers of Plan B claim that it prevents implantation, they have to add the "may" disclaimer to their product literature.