I’m a conservative, Christian, woman, but I’m really upset at something I’ve heard circulating around that IUDs are a form of abortion or just as bad.

I got my IUD because I was thinking about what I would do if I got pregnant right now, and I didn't really have a good answer for the most disruptive and inconvenient possible thing that could happen to me at this point in my life. My first thought was, "Not being able to drink wine for a year would really suck." That is how I knew I will not be ready for a baby for a very, very, very long time.

I did the responsible thing and recognized that I’m not great at taking the pill regularly. And maybe if I can’t manage to take the pill every day I shouldn’t have kids yet. Getting the IUD was not a cakewalk. It hurt like a son of a gun. (I would give my gyno 6/5 stars on Yelp! because she was so patient and dealt with how extremely extra I was.) But it was the responsible thing to do. I did it so that I could build a life that I can build a family in.

IUDs are not as immoral or bad as getting an abortion and they are not abortifacients.

My IUD is not comparable to having an abortion.

Those two are not the same and it is ridiculous and irresponsible to make any claim that they are. They’re the most effective form of birth control and prevent countless unplanned pregnancies every year--and not by killing babies.

I take it personally that such a claim would be made about IUDs. Does it make all us who have them murderers? No. It makes us responsible and in charge of our bodies. We’re being proactive in preventing pregnancies and not reactive by having abortions or having kids out of wedlock.

If IUDs are “abortifacients” (they are not) because they prevent pregnancies by sometimes (because hormonal IUDs have three methods of prevention) preventing fertilized eggs from attaching to the uterus, are we baby killers when a zygote just doesn’t attach to the uterus for natural reasons that are completely out of anyone's control?

It's estimated that roughly 2/3 of zygotes do not implant or spontaneously abort.

If that's not enough, the mortality rate early on (first couple of weeks after conception) is sitting around 70%.

So every time we don’t get pregnant after having sex, we’re killing babies? Is that the logic here? I’m not killing my children with my IUD — because they don’t exist.

The implication that if there is any interference between the initial fertilization of the ovum and implantation of the zygote into the uterine wall, a human life is ended is ridiculous. Not every fertilized egg implants and thus is a pregnancy. We wouldn’t even know if it happened. It’s all speculative. The implication of guilt over something that is speculative is absurd.

I am not just an incubator or a homemaker. I am a human being, just like every other woman. IUDs have provided women with the freedom to make choices that don’t revolve around children without the inconvenience (though it may be mild) of remembering to take a pill or the side effects.

While abstinence is always an option, refusing to accept that other people don’t adhere to that is irresponsible.

Safe sex is pro-life.