Review Finds Plan B Has ‘Significant Potential’ of Causing an Abortion

A major scientific review by Christopher Kahlenborn, MD, et al, published this week in the Linacre Quarterly, found that levonorgestrel emergency contraception, also known as Plan B, has “significant potential of working via abortion.” The review also revealed that arguments claiming Plan B is not an abortifacient are not scientifically defensible.

The review states:

Physicians who dispense LNG-EC [Plan B] to rape victims in the preovulatory period . . . are giving LNG-EC at a time in a woman’s menstrual cycle when it has significant potential to work via the death of the embryo. Physicians who dispense LNG-EC in the postovulatory period may be increasing a woman’s risk of becoming clinically pregnant.

“Catholic bishops have been assured, by Plan B proponents, that the drug does not cause an abortion,” stated Judie Brown, president of American Life League. “We now know this is not true. There is a grave risk that preborn human lives are being killed by Plan B, and Catholic hospitals need to immediately halt dispensing these drugs and review their policies.”

The authors of the review concluded that “Catholic hospitals that allow the dispensing of LNG-EC [Plan B] prior to ovulation—especially when given within 48 hours of ovulation—are permitting the use of a drug which has a significant potential of working via abortion. . . . If given prior to ovulation, LNG-EC should be labeled as emergency abortion/contraception.”

Media inquiries, please contact Rob Gasper at 540.659.4171 or rgasper@all.org. For medical details of the study, please contact Dr. Chris Kahlenborn at drchrisk@polycarp.org.