{"id":225462,"date":"2020-06-12T08:37:25","date_gmt":"2020-06-12T13:37:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.liveaction.org\/news\/?p=225462"},"modified":"2024-09-20T12:19:16","modified_gmt":"2024-09-20T17:19:16","slug":"tear-gas-miscarriage-pro-life-fact-checker","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/tear-gas-miscarriage-pro-life-fact-checker\/","title":{"rendered":"Can tear gas cause miscarriage? A pro-life fact checker investigates."},"content":{"rendered":"
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(The Gospel Coalition<\/a>)\u00a0The Claim:<\/strong> Tear gas is an abortifacient, and exposure\u2014such as during a protest\u2014could cause miscarriage.<\/p>\n

The Background:<\/strong> The recent protests and riots<\/a> in response to the homicide of George Floyd has renewed interest in the claim that the chemicals used in tear gas cause abortion. For example, a 2014 article by Michelle Goldberg titled \u201cTear Gas Is an Abortifacient. Why Won\u2019t the Anti-Abortion Movement Oppose It?<\/a>\u201d has received renewed interest on social media.<\/p>\n

Is the claim true? Is tear gas an abortifacient? Before we can answer the question, we must first clarify the meaning of the terms \u201ctear gas\u201d and \u201cabortifacient.\u201d<\/p>\n

The first term, abortifacient,<\/a> means \u201cthat which will cause a miscarriage\u201d (derived from the Latin abortus<\/em> (miscarriage) and faciens <\/em>(making), and refers to any drug or chemical preparation that induces abortion. Abortifacients cause death by either killing the child directly or by preventing implantation in the uterine lining of the embryonic child. The term is often used for drugs used to induce a medical abortion (i.e., a method that uses an abortifacient to stimulate uterine contractions<\/a> and end the pregnancy in a process similar to miscarriage), though it can also be used to refer to any chemical preparation that causes miscarriage, whether intentional or unintentional.<\/p>\n

The second term, tear gas<\/a>, is a colloquial phrase for riot control agents that contain chemical compounds that temporarily make people unable to function by causing irritation to the eyes, mouth, throat, lungs, and skin. The most common compounds<\/a> found in riot control agents are known as chloroacetophenone (CN)\u2014the active ingredient of Mace\u2014and chlorobenzylidenemalononitrile (CS). CS is most commonly what people think of by the term \u201ctear gas,\u201d because it is also used in military settings to test the speed and ability of military personnel to use their gas masks.<\/p>\n