ALBANY, N.Y., October 1, 2003 (LifeSiteNews.com) – New York State is going ahead with plans to force Catholic hospitals to provide the abortifacient “morning after pill” (MAP) to rape victims. Destiny Lopez, who lobbied on behalf of the National Abortion and Reproductive Rights Action League, said in a news release that her opponents had framed the debate as an abortion issue, “but it’s not, it’s a crime victims’ issue,’ leaving pro-lifers wondering why NARAL is so interested if that is the case.
The Catholic hospitals of New York may be forced to administer the drugs to women if a bill is signed in the next few days. Planned Parenthood, NARAL and other abortion promoters have been pushing to have MAP more widely accepted for years. If the bill is signed in New York, the state would follow the lead of California, Washington and New Mexico where the abortifacient drug is automatically offered in hospital emergency rooms to rape victims.
Rev. Michael Place, president of the Catholic Health Association, said that the advocacy groups pushing for mandatory emergency-contraception access were trying to force Catholic medical personnel to compromise their beliefs on abortion. “They’re using a legitimate objective to pursue another agenda—to change the definition of when life begins,” Place said. The Catholic bishops of New York had opposed the bill until wording was inserted to allow Catholic medical staff to refuse to administer the drug if it was determined that the woman was already pregnant. Medical experts have confirmed that there is no way to determine with certainty the action of the morning after pill; if ovulation will be stopped or if a new life will be terminated. The pill must be administered within 72 hours of intercourse in order to work; there is no reliable test to determine pregnancy at that early stage. Moreover, the fact that the morning after pill is dangerous to women seems not even to enter the argument. See previous LifeSite articles on the Morning after Pill Leading Int’l Pharmacy Journal Confirms Morning After Pill Is Abortifacient https://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2002/jan/02012902.html Uk Study Finds Sex Ed And Morning After Pills Encourage Promiscuity https://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2002/mar/02031803.html Ugandan Bishops Slam Introduction Of Abortifacient Morning After Pill https://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2001/apr/01040404.html Vatican Repeatedly Denounces Morning After Pill As Abortive https://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2001/may/01051502.html