Abortion-Causing Potential of "Morning-After" Pill Is Noted

The report was prepared by the bishops' Bioethics Commission and surveys the research of the last 30 years done on the effects of levonorgestrel, the component of so-called emergency contraception.

The documentation includes 33 scientific works presented in July -- together with 190 pages of appended information -- to Health Minister Pilar Mazzetti, who has promoted the introduction of the drug in Peru.

The report quotes several studies that corroborate the drug's anti-implantation effect, which has been omitted in texts prepared by the Health Ministry.

According to the research, the morning-after pill causes modifications in the endometrium, the inner lining of the uterus, which impedes the implantation or nesting of the human embryo.

The information presented has been confirmed by institutions such as the U.S. Food and Drug Administration; Princeton University; Gedeon Ritcher, the laboratory that manufactures and commercializes the drug in various countries; and the 2004 edition of the Physicians' Desk Reference, a book that lists all the drugs in current use.