O.o

Of COURSE not!!

I don't see how in the world it could... Paraguard, aka the copper coil IUD, prevents fertilization, so conception cannot take place, so no mini-human is ever created, and so no min-human is ever killed.

Paraguard does not stop conception it stops the egg for implanting itself on the uterine wall. Mirena stops conception and implantation.

no way! its birth control?

Paraguard does stop fertilization by making the uterus hostile to sperm.

Aside from this, most people consider "life" to start at implantation, not fertilization. "Conception" is another word for implantation from what I have learned. So yes, paraguard DOES stop conception. If I made the mistake with words I apologize.

So, do you consider life to begin at fertilization in the fallopian tube, or at implantation aka conception?

* If I have conception confused, someone else aside from marytartor correct me. Conception is either the same thing as implantation, or it is the same thing as fertilization.

Conception is the same thing as fertilisation and that is why I refuse to use hormonal or IUD contraception - because I believe life starts at conception and not at implantation.

For me, such contraception is a kind of early abortion but I understand why most people would not consider it so.

Thank you.

At least you are consistent in your belief. I can respect you for that. You actually believe life starts at fertilization and thus refuse to use birth control methods that may prevent implantation. Cheers

I happen to agree that, IMO, life begins at fertilization, NOT implantation. It is already "alive" by the time it gets to the uterus. To me, saying life doesn't begin until implantation is like a vegetarian saying it is okay to eat fish. My response is:

"Guhhhh-whaaaaaaa?"
O.o

Personally no, I believe pregnancy starts at implantation not fertilization but I respect the fact that people who are pro-life would be uncomfortable with a method of birth control that prevents implantation as opposed to fertilization.

I agree that life begins at fertilization but I don't believe that I have aborted more than once, despite having had an IUS

Good point Moo. "Pregnancy" begins at implantation. You can't *technically* abort before pregnancy now can you? Personally, it's all coming down to semantics at this point.

I *think* most people agree that the fertilized egg is truly alive, but that actual pregnancy doesn't start until implantation. Still, since the fertilized egg is alive, it can be of course killed. Anything that prevents implantation will do this.

I do not consider that an abortion since abortions can't happen until pregnancy begins, but something still dies. I suppose that's the bottom line.

But isn't the main function of the paraguard IUS to prevent fertilization (conception) in the first place? I thought it killed sperm.

No, the paraguard IUD only prevents implantation. The mirena IUD works just like the pill (because it's hormonal), and protects sperm from entering the uterus, implanting, and ovulation. But the paraguard allows sperm to enter the uterus, can allow ovulation, but prevents implantation. Therefore, a fertilized egg may be prevented from becoming a pregnancy.

Some people would say that it is abortion. Personally, I don't think so. Many pregnancies end at the point of implantation before a woman even knows she's pregnant. This is really common, and you can't really say that all of these women are having abortions/miscarriages or that all of the babies are really dying. It's just another step that has to be completed before a pregnancy can begin. And it's not always successful.

Of course, it's up to you. It all comes down to where you decide 'life' begins, and if you're comfortable with it.

Here is some IUD/IUS information. Looks like IUDs are the non-hormonal ones, and IUSs are the hormonal ones.

http://www.endotext.org/female/female8/ch0 1s08.html


"Both medicated and nonmedicated intrauterine devices (IUDs) have multiple mechanisms of action that provide for contraceptive protection. Both medicated and nonmedicated IUDs can alter the uterine lining so that it becomes unfavorable for implantation. Release of copper ions also alters fluid in the uterine cavity in a manner that impairs the viability of sperm, thereby inhibiting fertilization. This mechanism may be responsible for the high efficacy of copper IUDs as emergency contraception.

IUDs can also alter both sperm motility and integrity. Medicated, or hormonal IUDs, can interfere with sperm motility by thickening cervical mucus. Sperm head-tail disruption has been reported in the presence of a copper IUD. IUDs, whether hormonal or non-hormonal, do not provide protection against sexually transmitted diseases. However, it is important to recognize that IUDs do not cause PID, and that the historical associations that both physicians and the lay public maintain between IUDs and PID/tubal infertility are false."

I don't think any IUD counts as an abortion (nor do I think Plan B counts as abortion), but for some who believe that life starts at fertilization I can understand how they would prefer to use a different method of birth control. That's a personal choice though.

What gets me is that pharmacists can refuse to dispense Plan B to a customer for personal reasons (i.e. if they believe plan b counts as abortion and disagree with its use). You better believe I would make a big scene if I needed plan b and a pharmacist refused to dispense it!!!!

Hormonal contraception (ie: the pill, the ring, the patch, the mirena iud) does prevent fertilization. It stops a woman from ovulating, so how could fertilization occur if there is no egg? It also stops sperm from entering the uterus. Sperm and egg never get a chance to meet, there is no fertilization.

But yes, the paraguard (non-hormonal) is different.

OKAY, here is the DEAL!

BOTH IUD'S do not prevent ovulation, you do still ovulate.

COPPER is a potent spermicide, it makes their heads explode. The copper IONS inside of the uterus kill sperm. With this being being said, it also *can* prevent implantation.

I become pregnant on an IUD, and later had an abortion. Obviously it does not 'abort' all pregnancies, otherwise I would not have had a problem.

The MIRENA IUD thins the uterine lining and increases cervical mucousa. Thick cervical mucousa prevents sperm from being able to move upward through the cervix! NO sperm in uterus, no pregnancy...

The Mirena IUD only prevents ovulation in about 45% of women using it.

The Mirena IUD *can* also prevent implantation.

IUD'S MAIN action is always supposed to be either KILLING sperm, or ensuring that sperm cannot even reach the uterus in the first place.

OBVIOUSLY I have had an abortion, so I have no problem with abortion in general.

I personally do not care that IUD's *can* prevent implantation, for me that is even BETTER! At least you have a super effective bc method.

Even though I did become pregnant on an IUD, I still love them, and used them for a few years after that pregnancy.

They can refuse to dispense birth control too, however they recently decided (by law) that although you can refuse, you have to simply find someone else to give it to them without making a scene. The idea is you are not supposed to degrade the girl for using b/c.

But until they decided that, I was ready to picket the pharmacies nearby.....

That's not true because preventing ovulation is only one of the ways hormonal contraception work, they also prevent implantation should ovulation and fertilisation occur.

For example, I was prescribed the mini-pill and I know for a fact I ovulated while on it, regularly every month, because I am very in tune with my body and can feel it. (I basically become a randy dog ) It was only when I researched it that I realised it prevented implantation and so I stopped taking it.

Now I personally don't want to take anything that would intentionally stop my baby from growing if one of my eggs should become fertilised. These are my personal beliefs and I certainly don't consider other users of such contraception to be 'bad' by doing so. I would certainly rather people took precautions to prevent implantation than aborted a more developed baby. Either way a human life dies, or potentially dies in the case of hormonal contraception, but just because that bothers me doesn't mean I expect everyone to follow suit.

I do my utmost to avoid killing insects, even scary wasps, but I understand that not everyone will share my view on the significance of the life of an insect

You're right.

Yeah, it just depends on when you consider a fertilized egg to be a human life. I don't consider it to be a human life at the point of implantation, so I don't have a problem with it. But you're right that it is a tricky thing.

But you have to realize that many pregnancies end at this point, without any birth control at all, and the woman never notices. Would you consider this a miscarriage?

Yes


Hello by the way! Welcome to the madhouse!

you are wrong with this one Georgia, do some research and you will find that copper IUD's prevent fertlization with the reasons that Eiri already stated above.