Rewire called contraception “right up there with vaccines and water sanitation,” phony-baloney Catholics for Choice channeled Occupy Wall Street with “99%” rhetoric, and Planned Parenthood clearly didn’t think this through:
Meanwhile, the University of Notre Dame decided it was just kidding about ending its birth control coverage, and a recent interview in Crux reveals the famous Sr. Carol Keehan, head of Catholic Health Association, to be a stunningly naïve, inept, and self-serving negotiator on religious freedom.
My own complicated personal history with birth control goes back to my teen years. I quit it several years ago after realizing I had no clue what it was doing to my body, good or bad.
With such pathetic examples of Catholic leadership, it’s vital for laywomen (and men) to speak up. Here are my favorite reasons why we’re all better without birth control:
-
Women Ain’t Broke; Don’t Fix ‘Em
Let’s be honest: millions of healthy women have been convinced that being drugged 75% of the time is normal. Only 4% of women taking the Pill do so for endometriosis, according to the pro-abortion, pro-contraception Guttmacher Institute. Some researchers even want celibate nuns to take The Pill. This is insane.
-
You’re Not Crazy – Birth Control Can Make You Miserable
A rigorous, peer-reviewed study published earlier this year in the journal Fertility and Sterility found that “healthy women reported reduced quality of life, mood, and physical wellbeing after taking a common birth control pill containing ethinylestradiol and levonorgestrel for three months.”
A previous study in JAMA Psychiatry found that women using hormonal birth control had a 40% increased risk of depression after six months, with the highest risk came with transdermal patches. Antidepressant use in teens ages 15 to 19 increased 80% when they took the combination pill.
-
The Pill Raises the Risk of Breast Cancer
Women who used The Pill in the past year had a 50% higher risk of breast cancer overall, a Fred Hutch study found. Breast cancer is the most common cancer among U.S. women and the second most lethal after lung cancer. NB: Birth control pills could be proven to make the sun explode, and some jerk would still recommend that the results be “interpreted cautiously.”
-
It Kills Some of Us Outright
Sophie Murray, 16. Fallen Kurek, 21. Charlotte Foster, 23. Kathleen Thoren, 25. Zakiya Kennedy, 18. Sasha Webber, 25. Abbey Parkes, 20. Maria Santa, 17. Miranda Scott, 18. Stacey Brindle, 16.
A student. A mother of three. A ballerina. Healthy, fit young women killed by birth control – or as hardcore sexual revolutionaries call them, collateral damage.
One lucky survivor had to put her Olympic dreams aside thanks to pulmonary blood clots caused by the NuvaRing. Remember that when they tell you how great birth control is for women’s careers.
-
Some “Contraceptives” Can Cause an Early Abortion
Including the copper IUD. It’s science.*
-
Less Dangerous Alternatives Exist
So you have a medical issue. I feel your pain. But a word to the wise: Don’t assume your Gyn is going to know or proactively inform you about all your treatment options.
NaPro is an approach developed to cooperate with our bodies, not thwart them. This is life-changing. More alternatives that deserve a chance:
-
Dysmenorrhea: Exercise can help. It may even “eliminate or reduce the need for medication.” It’s also good for a host of other reasons, and Americans lead more sedentary lives than ever.
-
PCOS: Have you been checked for insulin resistance? Being treated for it can help bring androgens (male hormones) down.
-
Acne: We have more options than our mothers did. For example, one can now buy prescription-strength Differin over the counter for the first time in thirty years). Go to a dermatologist. It’s worth it. Also – and this is important – a peaches-and-cream complexion is not literally to die for. Pushing The Pill for acne is sexist garbage, even if it comes from a female doctor.
-
The Cult of The Pill Helps Keep Us Ignorant
Via Dr. Marguerite Duane,* “a 2014 study showed that 40 percent of women between the ages of 18 and 40 were not familiar with the ovulatory cycle and their time of fertility.” Yikes. Weren’t we supposed to get basic information like this in high school health classes, instead of giggling about bananas?
-
The Illusion of Control
An absurd number of things can affect the efficacy of oral contraceptives: Certain antibiotics. Digestive problems. Taking them at inconsistent times.
St. John’s Wort. Epilepsy medications. Anti-retrovirals, anti-fungals, antidepressants. There have been at least five major recalls of contraceptive pills for manufacturer error in the last five years, meaning potentially thousands of women could name their surprise-babies “Pfizer.”
-
Birth Control Contributes to the Spread of STDs
Women who have Depo injections are “significantly more likely to acquire HIV.” A British studyfound that “offering the morning after pill free over the counter has not reduced the number of teenage pregnancies and may be associated with a rise in sexually-transmitted diseases.” Shocking, I know.
-
Birth Control Is Not Environmentally Friendly
Hormones from birth control pass from the body and into water supplies, where they become difficult and expensive to remove and can wreak havoc on aquatic life.
So We Should All Have Twenty Gazillion Babies?
Despite decades of population control propaganda, babies are still popular. I spent many years ambivalent about having them, but have warmed to the idea. In any case, most of us are only fertile a few days a month, and now there are apps for figuring out exactly when.
But seriously, don’t hate on babies. They’re awesome and important and sanctifying. Have a gazillion or twenty!
____________________________
