See also: The abortion pill Protecting yourself from unplanned pregnancy Free pregnancy tests

"Morning after pills" (also called "emergency contraception" by some) are high doses of birth control pills which can cause a very early abortion by making the uterine lining hostile to implantation. If the morning after pills are taken before the human embryo has implanted, the uterus becomes too hard and an abortion results.

The immediate effects of morning after pills to women are flu-like symptoms of nausea and headaches. Other effects of the morning after pill are not known yet, because the FDA has not tested these pills when used for this purpose. An increase in breast cancer is expected to be one likely long-term effect of the regular use of morning after pills (excessive exposure to estrogen, which is used in these pills, is a key risk factor for breast cancer).

It is particularly tragic that some people are promoting the availability of "morning after pills" over the counter, without a prescription. This would likely increase the use of these pills, especially among teenage girls, eventually causing a significant breast cancer epidemic.

These so-called "birth control pills" have three modes of operation:

• they may suppress ovulation
• they may thicken the cervical mucous, inhibiting the passage of sperm
• they may harden the uterine lining, making it hostile to implantation (causing an early abortion)

For more information on the "morning after pill," see Dr. David Reardon's article "The Best Kept (ugly little) Secret in America".