Letter: A different take on birth control

Friday, Feb. 3, 2006 | 8:10 a.m.

However, I was disturbed to read that Katschke, a Mormon, claims that it is his religion that determines his beliefs about emergency contraception. The Mormon church has no such policy. While the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints does disagree with abortion, its policy regarding contraception has always been that deciding whether and how to use contraceptives is an individual decision to be made prayerfully.

Emergency contraceptive pills, which contain the same hormones found in regular birth control pills, taken up to 120 hours after sex to reduce the risk of pregnancy, are contraception, not abortion.

Some people argue that they can act as abortifacients because they may prevent the implantation of a fertilized egg. in fact, regular birth control pills work the same way. And even if they do work in this way, that doesn't mean they cause an abortion.

Medical science defines pregnancy (but not life) as beginning with implantation, not fertilization. No Mormon who knows his or her religion (and I am one) would claim that the church objects to taking birth control pills. So why does Katschke claim that his religion objects to emergency contraceptive pills? it may be his own personal moral position, but it is not the Mormon church's position.

Lisa Wynn, Princeton, N.J. Editor's note: The writer is an anthropologist in the Office of Population Research at Princeton University.