Politics: Where we struggle to kneel in the muck.

[Not Me]

Originally posted by andViolins
I may be wrong here, but I thought that the pill is, in essence, an abortion -- the fertilized egg does not implant on the wall of the uterus because the hormones from the pill make the woman's body react as if it is already pregnant.

aV

The combination pill (estrogen and progesterone) suppresses ovulation, so there is no fertilization. The mini-pill (progesterone only) may suppress ovulation, too, but it is less consistent. The mini-pill also works to thicken the cervical mucous which prevents the sperm from traveling through the fallopian tubes. So both of those forms of birth control prevent fertilization.

The morning after pills (which are just the combination pills taken in higher doses) cause a surge in estrogen followed by an abrupt withdrawal, which leads to sloughing of the endometrium. So the morning after pills prevent implantation because there is nothing for a fertilized egg to implant itself in.