One more. As most of you know, the Connecticut bishops announced this week that they were agreeing to allow Catholic hospitals to adhere to a state law requiring hospitals to give the “Plan B” pill to rape victims without an test to determine if the victim had recently ovulated.
The issues are very complicated mostly because it is claimed by some that the true effects of the Plan B medication are not known – that is, it is not definitely known whether or not the pill impedes implentation of an already fertilized egg.
The bishops’ statement is here.
Jimmy Akin has a lengthy post attempting to understand the decision here.

There are disputed claims about whether Plan B will prevent the implantation of a newly-conceived child. The manufacturer’s own label for the product (see links to American Papist and Curt Jester) say that it may have this effect. Legal disclaimers of this nature are notoriously broad–in order to prevent future lawsuits–and they frequently list potential outcomes for the use of drugs that are either not possible with the drug in question or which are very unlikely. Because of this kind of language in medical disclaimers, as well as a lack of knowledge about how Plan B actually works, there is ambiguity about whether or not it is abortifacient.
That ambiguity is what generates a lot of the tension within the Connecticut bishops’ statement, and it is one of the things that I find troubling about the whole situation.
I’m far from being an expert on Plan B, but any time there is a possibility that something is abortifacient, I want to apply the Deerhunter Principle: If you’re out in the woods hunting, you cannot open fire if the result is reasonably foreseen to involve the possible death of a human.

The American Papist:

Since there is still much confusion on this topic, it might be helpful to restate some of my reservations:

• This statement by the CCC is a reversal of precedent. Previously, Catholic hospitals in the US have overwhelmingly followed a protocol that prohibited dispensing Plan B to rape victims who have ovulated. The CCC itself followed such a protocol, until this week.
• Up to this point, the scientific consensus which formed the basis of these protocols for Catholic hospitals said that Plan B could act as an abortifacient, in that it prevents the human embryo from implanting in the uterine wall as one of its mechanisms for avoiding sustained pregnancy and gestation.
• Given points one and two, new scientific claims that call into question the previous consensus do not sufficiently justify a change of course. In cases where human life is at stake, prudence dictates that one not choose a course of action that may harm newly-conceived human life.
• Clearly this statement is causing confusion among the faithful. The fact that this decision has taken so many Catholics by surprise in turn demands a response from Church leaders, if at the very least to avoid scandal among the faithful. Certainly the secular world is taking this decision as a retreat from Catholic principle and this too must be aggresively addressed.
• Furthermore, it is a disservice to the cause of building a Catholic culture and a culture of life when decisions are made under constrained circumstances and bear the stamp of hastiness. More explanation and clarity is required in this situation, because more than the isolated issue of rape protocols is at issue. This debate also touches upon a) the right of Catholic hospitals (and employees) to operate free from legal intrusion in moral matters. b) the relationship between scientific fact finding and subsequent Church guidelines. c) the important comprehensive witness the Church provides to the world on life issues.
• It is also probably useful to note that there seems to be an inherent contradiction in the CCC statement. Namely, if Plan B cannot act as an abortifacient, than it should not matter if the woman has ovulated. That said, why does the CCC continue to demand that the law be changed to allow an ovulation test? Either the statement is wrong to request the ovulation test be written into the law, or they are actually not confident that Plan B is non-abortifacient, and if they are not confident that Plan B is non-abortifacient, they should not be allowing it to be given to rape victims who may have ovulated.
• If this statement by the CCC is correct, and Plan B cannot act abortifaciently, then any Catholic hospitals in the US could proscribe Plan B to all rape victims. So, either the rest of Catholic hospitals can change their policy, or the CCC must revise its statement. Similarly, if Plan B may or may not cause abortion, the correct protocol for both the CCC and the US Bishops is to disallow its use in cases where the woman has ovulated. I am here invoking the principle that when human life is at stake, the prudent choice is to err on the side of life and not choose a course of action that may result in killing an innocent life.

From Vox Nova:

In light of the complexity of this case, the question that should be asked is not whether the Connecticut Catholic Conference contradicted Church tradition (it did not), but whether it acted prudently and in full knowledge in the light of the might of the law and the expediency of scientific findings. I do not see anything problematic from a strictly doctrinal standpoint. The problem as I see it is compounded by additional moral questions: Because we do not yet know scientifically whether or not Plan B is an abortifacient when taken after conception has occurred, should the drug be administered in the interim? If it turns out that Plan B can be scientifically shown to cause abortion, then would not the culpability of this evil effect be diminished due to ignorance? If it turns out that Plan B can be scientifically shown to not cause abortion, then wouldn’t the bishops’ decision be a positive provision that provided a good service to women who were sexually assaulted? In other words, the real question is prudence–not courage–where the bishops must determine whether to approve a medical measure that provides a good for women despite the fact that there is no conclusive evidence that Plan B either can or cannot cause abortion.

In all of these posts, important discussions are going on in the comments boxes as well.