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CMAJ
CMAJ - May 30, 2000JAMC - le 30 mai 2000

Access to the morning-after pill in BC

CMAJ 2000;162:1554

What exactly are we treating with the morning-after pill? [News and analysis]1 The absence of any medical facts is obvious. The morning-after pill is really an abortion pill. The joining of the sperm and the ovum in the fallopian tubes creates the beginning of a life. All of the DNA that we will require for the rest of our lives is present at that first moment. After that, only the amount of dependency on our parents decreases with time. The morning-after pill prevents the implantation of a unique human individual, tiny but unique and genetically complete.

Is it any wonder that some pharmacists are objecting on ethical grounds? They don't want to see themselves as abortionists. Who can blame them? Let's stick to the facts. Rhetoric about providing a service and reducing violence against physicians obscures the fact that this pill is ending a unique individual's life.

William D. Gutowski
Psychiatrist
Chilliwack, BC

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Reference
  1. Sibbald B. Despite some opposition, BC pharmacists to dispense morning-after pill without prescription. CMAJ 2000;162(6):876-7.

© 2000 Canadian Medical Association or its licensors