Rand Paul goofs on Plan B, jeopardizes his 2016 plans
Rand Paul jeopardized his pro-life credentials and his 2016 chances by resolutely insisting that Plan B is not an abortifacient. The problem for the good doctor is that it is.
Plan B, the “morning after” pill, also referred to as “emergency contraception,” can cause an abortion. It does so by preventing a fertilized egg - a human being in her earliest stage of development - from implanting in the womb of the mother.
The brand new baby is flushed from the mother’s body like medical waste.
It’s called the morning after pill since it can be taken after unprotected sexual intercourse for the purposes of preventing an enduring pregnancy. It is not in fact “contraception” at all, since it doesn’t prevent fertilization. What it prevents is implantation.
The pro-death crowd has tried to redefine the term “pregnancy” by trying to argue that it only technically or medically begins with the implantation of the embryo on the uterine wall. But that occurs days after the sperm has fertilized the egg and brought a new baby into existence.
By redefining the term, they are hoping you won’t think the destruction of a baby in the first seven days of her life is not in fact the destruction of a baby in the first seven days of her life.
So Plan B is not a form of contraception, it’s not a form of “birth control,” it results in a chemically induced abortion.
Now Rand Paul is a medical doctor. He’s not an Ob-Gyn, he’s an ophthalmologist, but as a trained physician and a pro-lifer, he really should know better. In fact, he does know better. After all, he sponsored a pro-life bill in 2013 that defines life as beginning at fertilization, not implantation.
And yet Dr. Paul was insistent this week that Plan B does not cause an abortion.
At a campaign stop at the College of Charleston, he was asked directly, "If life starts at conception, should medicine that prevents conception like Plan B be legal?”
Paul at first gave a terse answer: "I am not opposed to birth control," was all he said. Then after a pregnant pause, he added, "That's basically what Plan B is. Plan B is taking two birth control pills in the morning and two in the evening, and I am not opposed to that."
He then defended his answer after the event when pressed by reporters. "Plan B is taking birth control," he said. "I am not against birth control and I don't know many Republicans who would be indicating that they are against birth control."
Putting both of his responses together, here’s Rand Paul on Plan B:
“I am not opposed to birth control… Plan B is taking two birth-control pills in the morning and two in the evening, and I am not opposed to that... Plan B is taking birth control… I am not against birth control, and I don’t know many Republicans who would be indicating that they are against birth control.”
Sen. Paul has triangulated toward the center on any number of socially conservative issues in the last year or so (marriage, drug laws and crime) as he has set his eyes on the White House. But this blunder - if it is that - could prove fatal for his chances at garnering the support of evangelicals and social conservatives in 2016.
The only thing that can save him now is a full-scale apology and retraction. It better be soon and it better be convincing.
