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Many in the medical community erroneously argue that pregnancy begins when a fertilized ovum (embryo) implants in the lining of a woman’s uterus. This is the bad fruit of a verbal engineering movement that dates to the late 1950s, one which deliberately tried to dehumanize embryonic persons and, at least on the legal level, has been widely successful in the United States and in other countries around the world.
However, abortion is the killing of an unborn human person. And a human person’s life begins when a woman’s egg is fertilized, irrespective of whether it subsequently implants in the wall of their mother’s uterus. Plan B is an abortifacient because it can prevent the implantation of a human embryo in their woman’s womb. So it not only works as a contraceptive, it can also work as an abortifacient.
A hormonal intrauterine device (IUD) works in three ways: 1) Prevents ovulation. 2) Inhibits sperm mobility through the cervix, in case ovulation occurs. 3) Interferes with implantation, in case fertilization occurs.
For more on this issue, see Tracy Trasancos’ article, “Can Contraception Cause Abortions?”