is it really birth control?

i like for a woman to be able to make a choice, i think birth control and abortion should be legal, its basically the same thing. the doctors that gave us mirena told half truths, they gave us a birth control because we had no live births, they used a play on words in the beginning to call iuds birth control. the only birth controls are condoms, sterilizations, essure, and vasectomy aka fixthedix.


http://www.tucsoncitizen.com/ss/nationworld/91560.php


In its final months, the Bush administration is wrapping up a parting gift for the religious right: an official definition of abortion so sweeping it would include the use of birth control pills and other forms of hormonal contraceptives, as well as intrauterine devices.
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services quietly drafted a rule that would put into federal code this radical definition of abortion.
"The basis is ideology," said Rachel Chánes, the Tucson-based vice president of community services for Planned Parenthood Arizona. "We think this is coming from the Bush-appointed ideologues that are in there who are not apologetic about (the department's) stance on being anti-woman, anti-birth control and anti-abortion."
The proposal came to light because somebody leaked it to the public. It expands upon federal law that prohibits entities that receive federal dollars from discriminating against health care providers - institutions and individuals - who refuse to perform, pay for or make referrals for abortions based on moral objections.
The problem is the rule allows the individual or the institution to decide when a pregnancy begins and what constitutes an abortion, rather than relying on the widely accepted scientific definitions of both.
The American Medical Association, the British Medical Association and the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists agree that a pregnancy is established only after a fertilized egg is implanted in the uterine lining. Up to one-half of fertilized eggs never implant.
The draft rule defines abortion as any procedure or drug that results in the termination of a fertilized egg, even prior to implantation.
Hormonal forms of birth control, including the pill, the patch, the ring and shots, work primarily by preventing ovulation and fertilization. But some people believe hormonal contraceptives also work to a lesser degree - though this hasn't been scientifically demonstrated - by preventing a fertilized egg from implanting in the womb.
The IUD had a reputation for preventing pregnancy by preventing implantation, but recent evidence on IUDs suggests it works primarily by preventing fertilization.
Scientific evidence be damned in Bush World. If this rule was put into place, it would conflate contraception with abortion.
Once officially in the federal code, the new definition of contraception as abortion inevitably would be used in ways that would limit the access of women to nearly every form of birth control, save for condoms, diaphragms, spermicides cold showers and chastity belts.
The rule would take precedence over state laws around the country, including in Arizona, that require hospitals to provide emergency contraceptives to rape victims. It would undermine laws requiring insurers, including those that routinely cover v1agra, to also cover contraceptives.
The U.S. agency isn't talking about the draft rule. But Chánes said the word from Planned Parenthood sources in Washington, D.C., is that the proposal is moving through the system and an official announcement is expected from the Bush administration within the next few weeks.
"It's an impending threat but it hasn't been realized yet," she said.
Chánes said there are rumors that the Bush administration also is considering a rule against providing abortion counseling, a gag rule, for any health care provider that receives federal family planning funding. That would include Planned Parenthood.
The agency's rules aren't subject to a vote by Congress, but concerned citizens should contact their senators and representatives immediately to put pressure on the administration.
Of course, this slick attempt to create new abortion policy by bypassing Congress, the people and the courts underscores the importance of the upcoming presidential election to the preservation of women's reproductive rights.
If Barack Obama is elected, the extremist definition of abortion probably would be overturned.
If anti-abortion stalwart John McCain is elected, all I can say, ladies, is keep your legs crossed and locked at the knees because the assault on women's reproductive rights will be relentless for the next four years.