(Washington, DC) - The Pentagon is coming under fire for making available to female soldiers the so-called "morning-after" pill, a controversial drug that is usually taken after unprotected sex to prevent pregnancy.

The drug, known as Plan B, prevents a fertilized ovum from implanting itself in the uterus by changing the lining. Rape victims who wanted to prevent pregnancy have used it for some time at military facilities, a Pentagon spokesman said.

The drug is not carried at all of the Pentagon's 76 military hospitals and 500-plus health clinics worldwide, nor is it part of "the basic core formulary," which mandates the drugs that all medical facilities must stock.

"It's basically up to the individual pharmacy, and it's not just the Army, it's a DoD policy that's been in use for years," Army Maj. Steve Stover said.

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved Plan B, or levonorgestrel, in July 1999. The drug, which prevents conception if taken up to 72 hours after sex, is sometimes confused with RU-486, which causes spontaneous abortions in early pregnancy, and which is not carried at any of the Defense Department's medical treatment facilities.

However, family groups said levonorgestrel acts as an abortifacient and should not be distributed at military medical facilities, which ban abortions.

"As far as we're concerned it causes an abortion to take place. It kills a human embryo," said Robert Maginnis, vice president of the Family Research Council and a retired Army colonel.

The prohibition against abortion at military facilities should include chemical abortion, whether it's one day after the sex act or months afterward, Maginnis said.

"The time is inconsequential because it's a human being in our viewpoint that's being killed here, and the Defense Department should not be in the business of killing innocent human beings, whether on the battlefield in Afghanistan or in hospitals," he said.

Wendy Wright, communications director for Concerned Women for America, said dispensing the drug at military medical facilities could have the effect of encouraging illicit sexual activity among people in the armed forces.

"That breaks down morale, it breaks down discipline and it's activity that the military should be explicitly trying to prevent, not facilitate," she said.

Schools also are coming under fire for dispensing morning-after pills to students.

In April 2000, over 180 schools across the country were offering the morning-after pill at school-based clinics to girls as young as 13 and 14, and this without their parents' permission or knowledge, said Brendan Benner, communications director for Rep. Melissa Hart (R-Pa.), citing statistics released by the Congressional Research Service.

Hart recently introduced legislation through the Education Committee that seeks to block federal funding from public schools that provide the medication.

"It's essentially saying, if you give this out, you're going to lose your federal funding," Benner said.

Judie Brown, president of the American Life League, said the high doses of hormones in morning-after pills present a danger to girls who are not fully grown and to women suffering from high blood pressure, or who have a history in their families of breast cancer.

"No one is going to know whether or not they have contributed to the early death of one of these women because no one is collecting any of this kind of information," she said.

Abortion rights advocates say that Plan B is not an abortifacient, arguing that the medical definition of pregnancy is when a fertilized egg attaches to the uterus.

The National Abortion and Reproductive Rights Action League (NARAL), a proponent of emergency contraception, did not return calls seeking comment.

However, a statement on its website said much of the opposition to emergency contraceptive pills (ECPs) "arises from the mistaken belief that ECPs cause abortion. ECPs, however, do not disrupt an established pregnancy, which begins with implantation of the fertilized egg in the uterine lining."

"Rather, ECPs delay or inhibit ovulation or implantation prior to pregnancy and therefore, do not cause abortion," it said.

NARAL also said hospitals should provide emergency contraception to rape survivors.

"Emergency contraception is a safe and effective method to prevent unwanted pregnancy. It also can empower women who have been raped with a sense of control and provide an important way to help them to cope with the trauma of sexual assault," the group said.

Advocates are pushing the FDA to allow morning-after pills to be sold over the counter. In Alaska, California and Washington, women can get morning-after pills directly from pharmacists who are authorized to dispense prescription drugs without having to see their doctor.

The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists has urged its members to offer prescriptions for emergency contraception during patients' regular checkups.