Major conservative magazine posts contraception falsehoods
National Review accuses popstar Olivia Rodrigo of distributing "abortion pills" after concert goers were gifted free emergency contraception
Update: Jezebel reports that, after media coverage (which was predominately positive), Olivia Rodrigo’s team has informed local activist groups that the groups may not longer offer emergency contraception or condoms to concert goers attending Rodrigo’s upcoming concerts. Jezebel notes that the public reaction to the initiative to hand out these items “was mostly glowing but there were a few right-wingers, including Missouri state senator Bill Eigel (R), who falsely claimed that the morning-after pill is an abortifacient” — which is exactly what National Review did in the article discussed herein.
National Review is a well-known and long-established conservative magazine and website; it is also a major disseminator of misinformation, disinformation, and blatantly false information about contraception. For example, a National Review article by Michael New claimed that contraception does not lower the abortion rate. Michael News’ article was thoroughly debunked in an article by Tiana Lowe Doescher, which was published at the conservative Washington Examiner.
National Review's latest attack on contraception is an article entitled Popstar Olivia Rodrigo Partners with Advocacy Groups to Distribute Abortion Pills at Missouri Concert, written by Abigail Anthony. This headline is a brazen lie, and the article furthers this lie.
In the article Anthony claimed, “Olivia Rodrigo… is promoting abortion access on her ‘GUTS’ concert tour and working with local pro-abortion groups to distribute free abortion pills” at her concerts (emphasis mine). This is unequivocally false. Olivia Rodrigo is not distributing abortion pills at her concerts.
Here's the truth:
As reported by NPR, the singer and her team “worked in partnership with local advocacy groups to hand out free emergency contraceptive pills and condoms.” Contraception is not abortion, and emergency contraceptive pills are not abortion pills and do not cause an abortion.
Abortion is a medical term defined as the ending of an established pregnancy before fetal viability [1] [2] [3], though "some medical dictionaries mention 20 weeks' gestation or 500 g as the limit" [4]. “Contraception is the act of preventing pregnancy. This can be a device, a medication, a procedure or a behavior.” [5] “Emergency contraception refers to methods of contraception that can be used to prevent pregnancy after sexual intercourse. These are recommended for use within 5 days but are more effective the sooner they are used after the act of intercourse.” [6]
Anthony’s allegation that Olivia Rodrigo is distributing “abortion pills” at her concerts relies on the anti-reproductive-rights movement’s bogus claim that hormonal contraception is an “abortifacient,” a substance that terminates an existing pregnancy. I wrote about and meticulously debunked this fallacious claim in Myth: The ‘Morning After Pill’ is an Abortifacient. “Using EC does not cause an abortion.” [7]
In the National review article, Anthony wrote, “According to a photo shared on social media by an attendee of Rodrigo’s St. Louis concert, the Missouri Abortion Fund distributed the brand-name drug ‘Julie,’ which uses the same active ingredient (Levonorgestrel) as the brand name ‘Plan B One Step.’” The emergency contraception was supplied by Right By You, which is “a youth-focused* text line connecting Missourians to abortion care, birth care, adoption and parenting supports, birth control, and information about their rights.” Right By You partnered with the Missouri Abortion Fund to hand offer the Missouri concert goers emergency contraception and condoms.
Anthony then references a WebMD article that contains the outdated and scientifically disproven idea that levonorgestrel-based emergency contraception may impede the implantation of a fertilized egg into the uterine wall. By citing this outdated information from the WebMD article, Anthony is attempting to frame levonorgestrel-based emergency contraception, like “Julie,” as an abortifacient.
Here’s the truth:
*First, the claim that preventing the implantation of a fertilized egg is an abortion “is misleading because there’s no pregnancy to abort.” [8] A pregnancy begins “only when a fertilized egg has implanted in the wall of her uterus.” [9] The idea that contraception that prevents implantation “can somehow abort a pregnancy before a pregnancy begins” is patently absurd. [10]
*Second, levonorgestrel-based emergency contraception does not prevent implantation. As I noted in my newsletter on this topic, levonorgestrel-based emergency contraception has no effect on the uterine lining. Numerous studies show that there is “no difference in endometrial receptivity to implantation after exposure to Levonorgestrel EC compared to controls.” [11] “Levonorgestrel EC taken after ovulation does not affect implantation.” [12] As the FDA explains, levonorgestrel-based emergency contraception “prevents pregnancy by acting on ovulation, which occurs well before implantation.” [13] “Ovulation begins when the female brain releases specific hormones that spike in the bloodstream, triggering the release of an egg.” [14] Emergency contraception pills, “disrupt the feedback system between the brain and ovaries, thus inhibiting the release of an egg.” [15] Emergency contraception does not act on the uterine lining, nor does it prevent implantation.
Anthony’s article takes advantage of the fact that there is great confusion among the American public “about how pregnancy works, how abortion pills end it, and how birth control and emergency contraception (such as Plan B) prevent it.” [16] National Review continues to publish misinformation, disinformation, and blatantly false information about contraception as part of the movement to further restrict reproductive freedom. This isn't about science; it’s about ideological hegemony.
“In the near future, most Republicans will likely continue to dismiss the idea that there’s any threat to birth control at all, and leaders of anti-abortion organizations will surely do their best to change the subject. But pay attention to how fights over expanding access to birth control — including nonhormonal methods like condoms — play out. Pay attention to proposals to gut funding for Title X, a federal program that provides birth control to millions of low-income people in the United States. Pay attention to efforts in Congress to restrict access to contraception in foreign aid spending bills. And pay attention to how courts and lawmakers aim to expand the definition of abortion.” [17]
Citations:
[1] “Chapter 11: First- and Second-Trimester Pregnancy Loss.” AccessMedicine, https://accessmedicine.mhmedical.com/content.aspx?sectionid=263815963&bookid=2977#263816185.
[2] “Abortion: Taber's Medical Dictionary.” Abortion | Taber's Medical Dictionary, https://www.tabers.com/tabersonline/view/Tabers-Dictionary/766365/all/abortion.
[3] Grimes, David A., and Gretchen Stuart. “Abortion Jabberwocky: The Need for Better Terminology.” Contraception, Elsevier, 21 Oct. 2009, https://www.contraceptionjournal.org/article/S0010-7824%2809%2900415-6/fulltext.
[4] Ibid. 4
[5] Bansode OM, Sarao MS, Cooper DB. Contraception. [Updated 2023 Jul 24]. In: StatPearls [Internet]. Treasure Island (FL): StatPearls Publishing; 2023 Jan-. Available from: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK536949/
[6] World Health Organization. (2021, November 9). Emergency contraception. World Health Organization. https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/emergency-contraception#:~:text=What%20is%20emergency%20contraception%3F,after%20the%20act%20of%20intercourse
[7] American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists. (2019). Emergency contraception. ACOG. https://www.acog.org/womens-health/faqs/emergency-contraception
[8] Cohen, R. M. (2024, March 3). The anti-abortion playbook for restricting birth control. Vox. https://www.vox.com/24087411/anti-abortion-roe-dobbs-birth-control-contraception-ivf
[9] Artal-Mittelmark, Raul. “Stages of Development of the Fetus - Women’s Health Issues.” Merck Manuals Consumer Version, Merck Manuals, 30 Aug. 2023, www.merckmanuals.com/home/women-s-health-issues/normal-pregnancy/stages-of-development-of-the-fetus.
[10] Cohen, R. M. (2024, March 3). The anti-abortion playbook for restricting birth control. Vox. https://www.vox.com/24087411/anti-abortion-roe-dobbs-birth-control-contraception-ivf
[11] Endler, M., Danielson, K. G., & Li, R. (2022, January 23). Effect of levonorgestrel emergency contraception on implantation and ... Contraception. https://www.contraceptionjournal.org/article/S0010-7824(22)00006-3/fulltext
[12] Ibid. 11
[13] Center for Drug Evaluation and Research. (2022, December 23). Plan B one-step information. U.S. Food and Drug Administration. https://www.fda.gov/drugs/postmarket-drug-safety-information-patients-and-providers/plan-b-one-step-15-mg-levonorgestrel-information
[14] Frank, Rachel. “Miss-Conceptions: Abortifacients, Regulatory Failure, and Political Opportunity.” Yale Law Journal, vol. 129, no. 1, Oct. 2019, pp. 215. 2019-2020, https://www.yalelawjournal.org/pdf/FrankNote_nsp64s9w.pdf.
[15] Ibid. 14
[16] Cohen, R. M. (2024, March 3). The anti-abortion playbook for restricting birth control. Vox. https://www.vox.com/24087411/anti-abortion-roe-dobbs-birth-control-contraception-ivf
[17] Ibid. 16