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The Brazilian city of Recife is to distribute morning-after pills to women during carnival after public prosecutors on Tuesday rejected a Catholic Church lawsuit claiming the initiative promoted sex and provided "abortions." "The pill has no abortive effect, as the archdiocese claims, and its distribution is in no way an incentive to have sex," the prosecutor who made the decision, Ivana Botelho, told AFP. On top of its legal defeat, the church has come under fire from the Brazilian government for attempting to sway public health policy. "The (Recife) mayor's office is right and the church is wrong, again," Health...

Madison, WI, Jan 25, 2008 / 04:23 am (CNA).- The Wisconsin State Assembly has passed legislation mandating that all Wisconsin hospitals, including religiously-affiliated hospitals, must inform any self-described victim of sexual assault of “emergency contraception” and must provide it upon her request.Emergency contraception, as defined by the bill, includes both the morning-after pill and the intrauterine device (IUD).  The morning-after pill can alter the lining of the uterus so that a newly conceived embryo cannot implant in the womb, leading to its death.  The IUD always blocks implantation, also causing the death of any newly conceived human being.“It is a...

Schoolgirls can get morning after pill wit.hout uttering a word by flashing 'modesty' cardSchoolgirls can now get the morning after pill by handing a request form to a pharmacy to avoid embarrassing conversations. In a pilot scheme being trialled in pharmacies in Weymouth, Dorset, girls under 18 can get the pill simply by filling in a small card, without speaking to staff or answering any awkward questions. It means teenagers don't have to undergo the "daunting prospect" of walking into a busy chemists and explain in front of strangers they have had unprotected sex. The request cards have been printed...

VATICAN CITY, Oct 30 (Reuters) - Politicians and pharmacists in Italy responded angrily on Tuesday to an appeal by Pope Benedict for pharmacists to refuse to dispense drugs such as the "morning after pill" if they object on moral grounds. The Pope told an international conference on Monday that pharmacists should be guaranteed the right to conscientious objection in cases where medicines they distribute can block pregnancy, provoke abortion or assist euthanasia. Health Minister Livia Turco said that while the Pope had the right to urge young people to be sexually responsible, he could not tell professionals such as pharmacists...

Barr began distributing the over-the-counter version of the morning-after pill last November, and all national pharmacy chains now stock it. Barr projects that sales of Plan B will total about $80 million for 2007, almost double the total for 2006 and up eightfold from 2004, when Barr acquired the product as a prescription-only drug. In the year since it was approved for over-the-counter sales, the morning-after pill has become a huge commercial success for its manufacturer, but its popularity and solid safety record haven't deterred critics from seeking to overturn the milestone ruling. The pill, marketed by Barr Pharmaceuticals Inc....

Washington, DC (LifeNews.com) -- Abortion advocates haven't given up their quest to remove the age restrictions the Food and Drug Administration placed on the morning after pill. Because the maker of the Plan B drug couldn't prove the pill is safe for teenagers, the FDA ruled that no one over the age of 18 can get it without a prescription. The Center for Reproductive Rights, a New York-based pro-abortion law firm, filed a lawsuit against the FDA last October in an attempt to force the agency to extend the sales to younger teenagers. CRR, representing several pro-abortion women, filed a...

THE morning-after pill is being given to Suffolk schoolgirls - with pupils as young as 13 able to access the emergency contraception without the knowledge of their parents. In the 11 months between April last year and February this year, 68 morning-after pills were handed out to girls in the county's schools. The news emerged amid national concerns that thousands of girls - some as young as 11 - could be given the emergency contraception at school without parental knowledge. But last night Suffolk Primary Care Trust stressed health professionals in the county were sticking to national Government guidelines. These...

Thousands of girls as young as 11 can obtain the morning after pill at school without telling their parents, it was disclosed last night. Sexual health clinics are being set up in secondary schools in England as part of a Government drive to cut teenage pregnancy. Figures show that in some areas, up to half of schools now offer children a range of services, including free condoms, pregnancy kits and emergency contraception. One school has admitted handing out 345 morning after pills in the past four years. In a new development, further education colleges have been issued with guidance recommending...

Harrisburg, PA (LifeNews.com) -- Pro-life advocates in Pennsylvania are working to defeat a bill that would require health care facilities to promote the morning after pill to women who are victims of rape. They say the bill also repeals part of a Pennsylvania law that limits abortions and redefines the definition of birth in a way that could undermine pro-life protections. Pro-life groups were successful in getting enough phone calls to the statehouse yesterday so the measure, H.B. 288, was pulled from consideration. However, the bill is back on the docket for today. Peg Luksik, director of Public Affairs for...

Charlotte, NC (LifeNews.com) -- Abortion advocates in North Carolina are upset that a survey they conducted found nearly half of the pharmacies there don't stock the morning after pill. That's after the Food and Drug Administration approved over the counter sales last year. NARAL's North Carolina affiliate conducted the survey, in which it claims 40 percent of all pharmacies in the state don't carry the Plan B drug, which can cause an abortion in some circumstances. The group says the high figure is due to confusion and moral and religious opposition to the drug by pharmacists and pharmacy owners. Melissa...

Washington, DC (LifeNews.com) -- A new study published in the medical journal Fertility and Sterility finds that the Plan B drug, known as the morning after pill, can work to cause an abortion of a human being after her life has started. Abortion advocates have claimed the drug only prevents conception but the study appears to contradict that claim. Dr. Rafael T. Mikolajczyk of the School of Public Health at the University of Bielefeld in Germany and Dr. Joseph B. Stanford, who teaches public health at the University of Utah, are the senior authors of the paper. Combining data from...

TORONTO, May 28, 2007 (LifeSiteNews.com) – In a recent article in Fertility and Sterility R.T. Mikolajczyk and J.B. Stanford proposed a model experiment that estimated the effectiveness of the disruption of ovulation by Levonorgestrel used as an "emergency contraceptive," based on the prevention of fertilization. They also demonstrated what was termed the "effectiveness" of levonorgestrel with or without "mechanisms acting after fertilization." If disruption of ovulation were the only significant mechanism of action of levonorgestrel, its "effectiveness" could not be much more than 50% if given immediately after intercourse. With delays in its administration, it would be substantially less....

CNA STAFF, May 25, 2007 / 11:33 am (CNA).- The most recent scientific study on Levonorgestrel, the essential component of the “morning-after pill” or “emergency contraceptive,” confirms that the drug does indeed have a third effect on users, which consists in preventing the implantation of a fertilized ovum in the womb of the mother. The promoters of the drug in Latin America, where most countries have laws against abortion, have argued that the there is no scientific basis for the “third effect,” and that therefore the drug should be legalized. Dr. Horacio Croxatto, professor at the Chilean Institute of Reproductive...

Spanish Doctors Oppose Over-the Counter Sales of Morning-After Pill Stats show large increase in abortion rate paralleling emergency contraception distribution By Gudrun Schultz BARCELONA, Spain, May 25, 2007 (LifeSiteNews.com) - The College of Physicians of Barcelona is opposing plans to allow the distribution of the abortifacient morning-after pill in pharmacies without a prescription. Saying greater access to the pill will lead to more surgical abortions and more risks for the health of women, the College is opposing an effort by the Catalan Department of Health to make the pill available for over-the-counter sales, according to a report published by Spanish...

In what Bill O’Reilly refers to as the “Culture War” between Conservatives and Liberals, there are those on both sides of the fence that stray so far to the left or the right, they actually help the “enemy”. On the left we have Rosie O’Donnell with her anti-American rants which give Conservatives ammunition to shoot back at all liberals by associating them with Rosie. On the right, we Conservatives have our own villains which supply ammunition to the enemy. They are commonly referred to as the religious right...

 The Connecticut state Senate overwhelmingly approved a bill Wednesday April 25 that would require all hospitals — including the four Catholic facilities — to provide the Plan B emergency contraceptive to rape victims. The abortifacient drug is also known as the morning after pill.“This bill is a violation of the separation of Church and State,” wrote Bishops Henry Mansell of Hartford and William Lori of Bridgeport in a letter to lawmakers on Wednesday. “The Catholic Bishops of Connecticut are responsible for establishing and determining what moral guidelines Catholic institutions should follow; not the Connecticut General Assembly.” “Senate Bill 1343 should...

London, England (LifeNews.com) -- A new study in England find that widespread use of the morning after pill has done nothing to cut either abortion or pregnancy rates there. The research also shows that the use of the Plan B drug also did not lower the rates of sexually transmitted diseases. Conducted by the Cochrane Library Review, the study looked at eight surveys of women conducted in the United States, India and China. The survey found that the promotion of the morning after pill increased its use but did not lower the abortion and pregnancy rates as abortion advocates have...

WASHINGTON, April 16, 2007 (LifeSiteNews.com) - A lawsuit was filed April 12 in Federal Court seeking to overturn the Food and Drug Administration's (FDA) unprecedented approval of the morning-after pill, Plan B, as both non-prescription and prescription based on the age of the buyer. The lawsuit was brought by the American Association of Physicians and Surgeons (AAPS), Concerned Women for America (CWA), Family Research Council (FRC) and Safe Drugs for Women. The suit argues that the FDA committed numerous violations to approve the drug due to extreme political pressure exerted specifically by Senators Hillary Clinton (D-NY) and Patty Murray (D-WA)....

Washington, DC (LifeNews.com) -- The nation's largest abortion business has launched a new campaign to push the morning after pill on every American community. Pro-life advocates oppose the use of the drug because it fails to lower abortion rates and can lead to risky sexual behavior by teenagers. It may also cause an abortion in some circumstances. In an email Planned Parenthood sent to LifeNews.com late last week, the group said its signing up activists to go to every pharmacy in the country. "Every day in America, women are forced to play the lottery when they walk into their neighborhood...

Catholic Colorado Governor Signs Bill Mandating Catholic Hospitals Provide Abortion Drug By Gudrun Schultz DENVER, Colorado, March 16, 2007 (LifeSiteNews.com) - Colorado Catholic hospitals must offer abortifacient drugs to victims of rape under a controversial new law signed by Gov. Bill Ritter Thursday, the Denver Post reported earlier today. Although Senate Bill 60 contains an exception allowing physicians or medical practitioners who object to the drug on religious or moral grounds to opt out of recommending it, all hospitals, including Catholic, are required to retain staff that will offer information on so-called "emergency contraception." Colorado Right to Life opposed the...