{"id":389,"date":"2014-07-07T11:11:00","date_gmt":"2014-07-07T17:11:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/admin.patheos.com\/blogs\/janetheactuary\/2014\/07\/abortifacient-drugs-and-the-unintended-consequences-of-orwellian-language.html"},"modified":"2016-01-22T08:12:56","modified_gmt":"2016-01-22T14:12:56","slug":"abortifacient-drugs-and-the-unintended-consequences-of-orwellian-language","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/janetheactuary\/2014\/07\/abortifacient-drugs-and-the-unintended-consequences-of-orwellian-language.html","title":{"rendered":"“abortifacient” drugs and the unintended consequences of Orwellian language"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

Do Plan B, Ella, and IUDs cause abortions at least part of the time? <\/p>\n

For years, the answer, according to the \u201cexperts,\u201d was \u201cno\u201d based on their re-definition that a pregnancy is established at the time of successful implantation, and that any drug or device which prevents conception or implantation is defined as contraception. \u00a0Their repeated response to those who believed that it\u2019s wrong to deliberately prevent the implantation process because the fertilized egg\/embryo is already a human life? \u00a0\u201cYou fool, we have defined away this issue. \u00a0Go away.\u201d<\/p>\n

We still see this, over and over again, in the reaction to the Hobby Lobby case. \u00a0I\u2019m not now going to link, but it\u2019s all over the place: \u00a0\u201cHobby Lobby is stupid to think that these are abortion drugs because they don\u2019t affect established pregnancies.\u201d<\/p>\n

Now, if you look a little closer, scientists are actually changing their story, and saying that Plan B, Ella, and IUDs (as well as garden-variety contraceptive pills, which had long been a concern for this reason as well for some pro-life groups) do not interfere with implantation at all.<\/p>\n

Here\u2019s one example, from the New York Times, \u201cReligious Groups Equate Some Contraceptives With Abortion<\/a>\u201d \u2014 this is an older article from a google search but here\u2019s the key quote:<\/p>\n

Several scientists and doctors said in interviews that this view [that these contraceptives prevent implantation] did not reflect the way the birth control methods actually work. \u201cThere\u2019s so much evidence for how these things work prior to fertilization,\u201d said Diana L. Blithe, director of contraceptive development for the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development. \u201cAnd there\u2019s no evidence that they work beyond fertilization.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Do you buy this? \u00a0Or, when Blithe says, \u201cthere\u2019s no evidence,\u201d is there a certain degree of \u201cwe\u2019re not trying very hard to find any evidence anyway, because we don\u2019t care\u201d?<\/p>\n

There are people for whom it matters a great deal whether these contraceptives have an anti-implantation effect. \u00a0And these people have been ridiculed, so that now, so far as I can tell, when scientists could step in and change the debate, their prior use of Orwellian language has meant that they don\u2019t have credibility with the objects of their ridicule.<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Do Plan B, Ella, and IUDs cause abortions at least part of the time? For years, the answer, according to the \u201cexperts,\u201d was \u201cno\u201d based on their re-definition that a pregnancy is established at the time of successful implantation, and that any drug or device which prevents conception or implantation is defined as contraception. \u00a0Their […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2209,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[198,269],"class_list":["post-389","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-abortion","tag-contraception"],"yoast_head":"\n"abortifacient" drugs and the unintended consequences of Orwellian language<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Do Plan B, Ella, and IUDs cause abortions at least part of the time? For years, the answer, according to the "experts," was "no" based on their\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/janetheactuary\/2014\/07\/abortifacient-drugs-and-the-unintended-consequences-of-orwellian-language.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\""abortifacient" drugs and the unintended consequences of Orwellian language\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Do Plan B, Ella, and IUDs cause abortions at least part of the time? For years, the answer, according to the "experts," was "no" based on their\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/janetheactuary\/2014\/07\/abortifacient-drugs-and-the-unintended-consequences-of-orwellian-language.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Jane the Actuary\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2014-07-07T17:11:00+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2016-01-22T14:12:56+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Jane the Actuary\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Jane the Actuary\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/janetheactuary\/2014\/07\/abortifacient-drugs-and-the-unintended-consequences-of-orwellian-language.html\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/janetheactuary\/2014\/07\/abortifacient-drugs-and-the-unintended-consequences-of-orwellian-language.html\",\"name\":\"\\\"abortifacient\\\" drugs and the unintended consequences of Orwellian language\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/janetheactuary\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2014-07-07T17:11:00+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2016-01-22T14:12:56+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/janetheactuary\/#\/schema\/person\/ed9b99e0bd58c5eeeebae6b82fa5a77a\"},\"description\":\"Do Plan B, Ella, and IUDs cause abortions at least part of the time? For years, the answer, according to the \\\"experts,\\\" was \\\"no\\\" based on their\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/janetheactuary\/2014\/07\/abortifacient-drugs-and-the-unintended-consequences-of-orwellian-language.html#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/janetheactuary\/2014\/07\/abortifacient-drugs-and-the-unintended-consequences-of-orwellian-language.html\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/janetheactuary\/2014\/07\/abortifacient-drugs-and-the-unintended-consequences-of-orwellian-language.html#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/janetheactuary\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"“abortifacient” drugs and the unintended consequences of Orwellian language\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/janetheactuary\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/janetheactuary\/\",\"name\":\"Jane the Actuary\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/janetheactuary\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/janetheactuary\/#\/schema\/person\/ed9b99e0bd58c5eeeebae6b82fa5a77a\",\"name\":\"Jane the Actuary\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/janetheactuary\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/8d6a493d380e87d49599d5487691c9fc?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/8d6a493d380e87d49599d5487691c9fc?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Jane the Actuary\"},\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/janetheactuary\/author\/actuaryjane\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"\"abortifacient\" drugs and the unintended consequences of Orwellian language","description":"Do Plan B, Ella, and IUDs cause abortions at least part of the time? For years, the answer, according to the \"experts,\" was \"no\" based on their","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/janetheactuary\/2014\/07\/abortifacient-drugs-and-the-unintended-consequences-of-orwellian-language.html","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"\"abortifacient\" drugs and the unintended consequences of Orwellian language","og_description":"Do Plan B, Ella, and IUDs cause abortions at least part of the time? For years, the answer, according to the \"experts,\" was \"no\" based on their","og_url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/janetheactuary\/2014\/07\/abortifacient-drugs-and-the-unintended-consequences-of-orwellian-language.html","og_site_name":"Jane the Actuary","article_published_time":"2014-07-07T17:11:00+00:00","article_modified_time":"2016-01-22T14:12:56+00:00","author":"Jane the Actuary","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Jane the Actuary","Est. reading time":"2 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/janetheactuary\/2014\/07\/abortifacient-drugs-and-the-unintended-consequences-of-orwellian-language.html","url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/janetheactuary\/2014\/07\/abortifacient-drugs-and-the-unintended-consequences-of-orwellian-language.html","name":"\"abortifacient\" drugs and the unintended consequences of Orwellian language","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/janetheactuary\/#website"},"datePublished":"2014-07-07T17:11:00+00:00","dateModified":"2016-01-22T14:12:56+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/janetheactuary\/#\/schema\/person\/ed9b99e0bd58c5eeeebae6b82fa5a77a"},"description":"Do Plan B, Ella, and IUDs cause abortions at least part of the time? For years, the answer, according to the \"experts,\" was \"no\" based on their","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/janetheactuary\/2014\/07\/abortifacient-drugs-and-the-unintended-consequences-of-orwellian-language.html#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/janetheactuary\/2014\/07\/abortifacient-drugs-and-the-unintended-consequences-of-orwellian-language.html"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/janetheactuary\/2014\/07\/abortifacient-drugs-and-the-unintended-consequences-of-orwellian-language.html#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/janetheactuary"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"“abortifacient” drugs and the unintended consequences of Orwellian language"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/janetheactuary\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/janetheactuary\/","name":"Jane the Actuary","description":"","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/janetheactuary\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/janetheactuary\/#\/schema\/person\/ed9b99e0bd58c5eeeebae6b82fa5a77a","name":"Jane the Actuary","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/janetheactuary\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/8d6a493d380e87d49599d5487691c9fc?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/8d6a493d380e87d49599d5487691c9fc?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Jane the Actuary"},"url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/janetheactuary\/author\/actuaryjane"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/janetheactuary\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/389","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/janetheactuary\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/janetheactuary\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/janetheactuary\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2209"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/janetheactuary\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=389"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/janetheactuary\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/389\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/janetheactuary\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=389"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/janetheactuary\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=389"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/janetheactuary\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=389"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}