Clinical Ethics
Contragestive interventions are not abortifacient
This paper attends to a claim that is commonly made in the pro-life literature: that certain secondary mechanisms of action that some forms of contraception may have are abortifacient. Examination of the matter suggests that the relevant mechanism of action—termed contragestion—differs from contraception. However, it is also distinct from what is entailed by an abortion (the termination of a pregnancy). It is therefore inaccurate to label contragestive mechanisms of action abortifacient. Having sketched this view—a …