Certain elements of the right wing are waging war against birth control.  Today's Washington Post has a story about efforts in certain states to limit access to emergency contraception.

Emergency contraception works exactly like the pill.  So if the radical anti-choice crowd believes that emergency contraception is abortion, they they must also believe the same about the pill.  They obviously know that position is not politically tenable, so they are instead using deceit and misdirection to cloak their real goals.

According to the Kaiser Family Foundation:

Researchers estimate that widespread use of EC could potentially prevent up to half of the approximately 3 million unintended pregnancies that occur annually in the U.S., and one study has suggested that broader use could help prevent as many as 700,000 pregnancies that now result in abortion.

The dishonesty of the arguments used in this debate are breathtaking.  For example, in Missouri, Governor Matt Blunt has equated RU-486 and emergency contraception, which are such very different things his deception had to be intentional.

The American Life League at least acknowledges that they oppose emergency contraception and the pill on the same basis.

Here's what they say about the pill:

How does the pill work?

The birth control pill can work in one of three ways:

1. It can prevent ovulation (releasing an egg from the ovary)
2. It can cause the mucus in the cervix to change so that if sperm reach the cervix, they are not allowed to enter, and
3. It can irritate the lining of the uterus so that if the first two actions fail, and the woman does become pregnant, the tiny baby boy or girl will die before he or she can actually attach to the lining of the uterus.

In other words, if the third action occurs, the woman's body rejects the tiny baby and he or she will die. This is called a chemical abortion.

Abortion is an act of direct killing that takes the life of a tiny human being-a life that begins at fertilization.

 And here's what they say about emergency contraception:

How do emergency contraception/morning-after pills work?

The emergency contraceptive/morning-after pill has three possible ways in which it can work:

1. Ovulation is inhibited, meaning the egg will not be released;
2. The normal menstrual cycle is altered, delaying ovulation; or
3. It can irritate the lining of the uterus so that if the first and second actions fail, and the woman does become pregnant, the tiny baby boy or girl will die before he or she can actually attach to the lining of the uterus.

In other words, if the third action occurs, her body rejects the tiny baby and he or she will die. This is called a chemical abortion.

Abortion is an act of direct killing that takes the life of a tiny human being-a life that begins at fertilization.

So that is the logic the GOP is buying into when they oppose emergency contraception--that life begins at fertilization.  In their view, implantation of a fertlized egg is not required for a pregnancy to occur.  That means the pill is an "abortion" too, under their logic.

If the GOP moralists want to control women by limiting their access to all birth control, they should have the guts to say so.  Then we can have a debate about whether that's the direction we want our country to go.  But they should not be allowed to make dishonest arguments so that they can pursue a radical agenda, while avoiding the political consequences of it.

Here is more from the American Life League on the right's opposition to the pill.