Anti-Choice Legislators Oppose Successful Colorado Contraception Program by Conflating Birth Control and Abortion

NPR: Colorado Debates Whether IUDs Are Contraception Or Abortion, by Megan Verlee:

A popular contraception program in Colorado is receiving criticism from conservative lawmakers who say that the program's use of intrauterine devices, or IUDs, qualify as abortions.

More than 30,000 women in Colorado have gotten a device because of the state program, the Colorado Family Planning Initiative. An IUD normally costs between $500 and several thousand dollars. Through the program women could receive one for free. . . .

State health director Larry Wolk says that the program has largely been a success. "Our teen birth rate has dropped 40 percent over the last four years," says Wolk. "The decline in teen births has been accompanied by a 34 percent drop in abortions among teens." . . .

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Oh dear.  Contraception/abortion conflation strikes again.  Recent research shows that IUDs' primary mechanism is pre-fertilization.  For example, this article from American Family Physician advises:

. . . When discussing the mechanism of IUDs as part of the informed consent process, patients may be told that although prefertilization and postfertilization mechanisms may both contribute to the contraceptive effectiveness of IUDs, research suggests that the majority of effects occur prefertilization. . . .

Moreover, regardless of the mechanism, IUDs don't cause "abortions."  Doctors define pregnancy as beginning at implantation, not before.  That makes sense, especially given that about half of all fertilized eggs never successfully implant.  (You don't see anti-choice advocates lamenting the loss of all of these "persons.")  

-CEB