In every package of birth control pills, there is a paper with a statement about how the pill is NOT 100% effective in preventing pregnancies. If taken the same time every single day, it’s 99.9% effective. It is true that some women have gotten pregnant while on the pill, but it’s usually because they didn’t take it properly or were on antibiotics at the time of conception which canceled out the effects of hormonal contraception. In this particular case, 113 women from 28 states experienced unwanted pregnancies because the pills they were taking were packaged in the wrong order.
Birth control pills work by tricking the body into believing it’s already released an egg during ovulation. In a set of 28 pills per package, only 21 contain the hormones for active contraception. The other seven are placebos, made as reminders for the woman to continue taking the pills during menstruation. In September of 2011, the the birth control pills made by “Qualitest, a subsidiary of Endo Pharmaceuticals, were packaged in the wrong order, ‘rotated 180 degrees … reversing the weekly tablet orientation.” By taking the placebo sugar pills at the wrong time of the month, these women were left “without adequate contraception.”
Now these women are suing the company for “millions in damages, with some asking for the total cost of raising a child until adulthood, including education.” Only one blister pack was confirmed to be defective and sold to a patient by the company.
I feel for the children who were born to these women. They will know that they weren’t wanted. And that’s not saying anything bad about the mothers, because maybe it was a time where they were seriously unable to support a child. Whether they just gave birth and wanted to prevent pregnancy until they were ready to add to the family again, or their financial status forced them to hold off on expanding the family, or they genuinely do not want children. Whatever the case may be, the kids are going to know that they were mistakes. And maybe the mothers will end up seeing this as a blessing in disguise some day, but if they were able to sue over it, chances are they thought it was a terrible fate at one point.
I believe children are gifts from God. When I finally do become a mom, I hope it’s because it’s something I wanted and planned for. If God has other plans for me, I hope I’ll be ready to accept that too.

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