Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul is taking heat from one Christian conservative leader after saying he has no problem with the morning-after pill.
Tony Perkins of the Family Research Council on Thursday criticized Paul, writing on Twitter: “Plan B can have an abortifacient effect.”
“W/due respect to @SenRandPaul, Plan B isn’t “basically” birth control,” Perkins wrote in a tweet. “Its function is to create conditions hostile to human life in utero.”
Plan B is not “just” birth control. Plan B can have an abortifacient effect: http://t.co/P1oYlBZXwS
— Tony Perkins (@tperkins) October 2, 2014
W/due respect to @SenRandPaul, Plan B isn’t “basically” birth control. Its function is to create conditions hostile to human life in utero. — Tony Perkins (@tperkins) October 2, 2014
Campaigning in South Carolina earlier this week, Paul was asked during a Q and A if “life starts at conception, should medicine that prevents conception like Plan B be legal?”
“I am not opposed to birth control,” Paul said, according to CNN.
“That’s basically what Plan B is,” Paul went on. “Plan B is taking two birth control pills in the morning and two in the evening, and I am not opposed to that.”
While Paul’s stance may cause him trouble with some conservative Christians, his position keeps Democrats from being able to accuse him of being anti-birth control.
UPDATE: Paul’s senior adviser, Doug Stafford, responded to Perkins’ comments in a statement to The Daily Caller on Thursday:
“Senator Paul is pro-life, probably the most pro-life U.S. Senator,” Stafford said. “He didn’t ‘back’ anything, he simply said he would not ban the use of a pill that can be used as birth control and prevents conception. As a physician, Senator Paul knows that Plan B is a high concentration of the same artificial hormones as regular birth control pills, and therefore acts to prevent ovulation and fertilization. It is not an abortion, and is different than abortion pills like RU 486. Further, having this argument between people who are all pro-life does nothing but make it more difficult to work toward ending abortion in this country, as Mr. Perkins should realize.”