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Posts Tagged ‘contraception’

The ambiguous legacy of The Pill

December 3rd, 2014 Comments off

Contraceptives didn’t solve all of women’s problems. In fact, they created whole series of new ones.

by Jennifer Roback Morse

This article was first published at Mercatornet.com on December 3, 2014.

I am in the process of writing a book which argues that the Sexual Revolution has been a rich person’s hobby horse from the beginning. The rich and powerful like the idea of separating sex from child-bearing. While this idea is sometimes wrapped up in a disguise of helping woman and the poor, the fact remains that the rich and powerful pioneered and implemented these ideas, quite often at the expense of women and the poor. Read more…

Why Sandra Fluke is a household name and wait, who is that other lady?

November 19th, 2014 Comments off

In a recent article, Holly Griggs Spall observes that women on the Pill have many potential problems to deal with, including health concerns, problems with relationships, psychological side-effects and more. She complains that a lack of feminism is the problem.

Why is it that we hear most about the side effects of the pill that directly impact men? It could be because science lacks

"The Pill is the greatest thing since sliced bread: move along,now, nothing to see here...."

The Pill is the greatest thing since sliced bread: move along,now, nothing to see here….

feminism. … In science, as in – one might say grandiosely – life, female hormones are seen as a hindrance.

Who the heck is Holly Griggs Spall, you might ask, and why am I only hearing about her just now?

Before I answer that, I would like to suggest a different answer to the question she poses. While I agree that society generally does see female hormones as a hindrance, I don’t believe women need more “feminism.”

What women really need is to contest the current understanding of “feminism.” In principle, “feminism” could mean any set of ideas and policies that promote the betterment and interests of women.  A “feminist” could be anyone who advocates or works for the improvement in the lives of women.

Such an understanding of feminism is broad enough to include all kinds of people, male or female. It could include men or women who Read more…

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In celebration of Blessed Paul VI, Prophet and Pope

October 21st, 2014 Comments off

Pope Francis beatified Pope Paul VI at the close of the Synod on the Family.  This means two things. First, the Church officially recognizes the personal sanctity of Paul VI. Second, the Church has no intention of backing away from its ancient teachings on artificial contraception. For Paul VI is the author of the 1968 surprise encyclical, Humanae Vitae.  He dashed any hope, inside or outside of the Catholic Church, about a “new day dawning” on the subject of contraception.  And this is why Pope Francis’ decision to honor Paul VI is especially significant. The rich and powerful who promoted the over-population hysteria back in 1968, don’t look so smart today. Meanwhile, Paul VI’s predictions have been proven correct. And we can see now, that he was the one defending the weak, against predatory governments.

Pope Paul VI: Prophet

Pope Paul VI: Prophet

Against all the “winds of change,” Paul VI reiterated the ancient teaching of the Catholic Church. (In fact, the prohibition on contraception had been the universal teaching of all the Christian churches right up until 1930, but I digress.) In spite of all pressure arrayed in favor of artificial birth control, Paul VI predicted that this social experiment would end badly.

In paragraph 17 of Humanae Vitae, called Consequences of Artificial Methods, Paul VI makes his predictions, all of which have come to pass. Who can deny that we have an “increase in marital infidelity?” Who can deny that there has been a “general lowering of moral standards?” Who can deny that we have obliterated the incentives for “young people to avoid temptation?” Who can deny that men have “lost their reverence for women?”

But his analysis of the misuse of governmental power deserves special Read more…

World Health Organization: The Pill causes cancer in humans

July 24th, 2014 Comments off

My doctor won’t give me Hormone Replacement Therapy to help relieve my menopause symptoms. He says those hormones are associated with increased health risks. Yet, if I were 40 years younger and asked the doctor for oral contraception, he would prescribe it in a snap.  Even though hormone replacement therapy and oral contraceptives consist of similar hormones with similar risks for cancer and other illnesses.

The World Health Organization has classified oral contraceptives as Group 1 carcinogens since at least 2005.   However, they issued a public statement, attempting to reassure the public:

Read more…

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Did You Know? The Pill Doubles the Risk of Glaucoma  

July 1st, 2014 Comments off

The long-term use of oral contraception doubles a woman’s risk of glaucoma and other eye diseases. You never heard this before? Listen to this press release from the American Academy of Ophthalmology:

NEW ORLEANS – Nov. 18, 2013 – Research presented today, at the 117th Annual Meeting of the American Academy of Ophthalmology in New Orleans, has found that women who have taken oral contraceptives for three or more years are twice as likely to suffer from glaucoma, one of the leading causes of blindness which affects nearly 60 million worldwide. The researchers caution gynecologists and ophthalmologists to be aware of the fact that oral

Check your eyes or flush your pills?

Check your eyes or
flush your pills?

contraceptives might play a role in glaucomatous diseases, and inform patients to have their eyes screened for glaucoma if they also have other risk factors.  (Emphasis added.)

“Inform patients to have their eyes screened.”  Notice they do not caution women to reconsider their decision to take oral contraception in the first place.  I wonder why? The press release goes on: Read more…

Did You Know?  British women hoping to sue Big Pharma over contraception

June 30th, 2014 Comments off

The Sexual Revolutionaries are predictably upset by the recent Supreme Court decision in the Hobby Lobby.  So this is a good time to consider the question of whether contraception really is health care in any meaningful sense.  Hormonal contraception interrupts a perfectly natural process in perfectly healthy women. Pregnancy is not an illness or injury or disease. Preventing pregnancy can be accomplished in a number of ways.  Over the next few days, I am going to talk about some of the health risks associated with hormonal contraception.

Let’s start with a few cases from the United Kingdom.

Charlotte Porter died from a blood clot when she was 16.

Trudi Banning, in better days, before the Pill

Trudi Banning, in better days, before the Pill

Trudi Banning, a 22 year old “super-fit” female soldier, was stricken with a stroke that created gangrene in her digestive system, and ultimately left her infertile.

What do these British women have in common? They were taking the so-called “third generation” of birth control pills, such as Femodene and Dianette.  These women are hoping to sue American manufacturers of these “Third Generation” hormonal contraceptives.

The bitter irony for Trudi is that she was an 18 year old virgin when she entered the army and was put on contraception.  She says, ‘The Army didn’t want girls getting pregnant, and Read more…

Where is Murray Rothbard when we need him?

June 23rd, 2014 Comments off

Quick: what are the legitimate activities of government, according to libertarians?

Usually, libertarians will mention a short like including things like national defense, criminal justice, protection of property rights. Some, such as Murray Rothbard, are anarcho-capitalists and believe even these traditional functions of government could and should be handled by the private sector.

Murray Rothbard, self-described "Enemy of the State." Where are you when we need you, Murray?

Murray Rothbard, self-described “Enemy of the State.”
Where are you when we need you, Murray?

Where, then were the libertarians when the United States supported efforts to impose the “Reproductive Health Bill” on the Republic of the Philippines?

This bill mandates that all school children receive Age- and Development-Appropriate Reproductive Health Education. – Read more…

Why Normal People Should Care About “Baby Busts”

June 12th, 2014 Comments off

by Anne Morse, Media Coordinator for the Population Research Institute.

This article was first published at pop.org on June 11, 2014.

Long, long ago, when Anne’s parents were in college (sorry, mom and dad), demographers made an observation: they saw that for most of human history, even though couples were having far more than two children, mortality was also very high. The result was that populations either stayed the same or grew very slowly. Read more…

Entrenching a ‘duty to do wrong’ in medicine

March 28th, 2014 Comments off
Canadian government is funding a project to suppress freedom of conscience and religion

A 25-year-old woman who went to an Ottawa walk-in clinic for a birth control prescription was told that the physician offered only Natural Family Planning and did not prescribe or refer for contraceptives or related services. She was given a letter explaining that his practice reflected his “medical judgment” and “professional ethical concerns and religious values.” Read more…

Does having a conscience make a doctor unprofessional?

March 6th, 2014 Comments off
An Ottawa woman created a social media storm after her doctor refused to prescribe contraceptives for her.

On the morning of January 29 this year, a 25-year-old married woman went to Care-Medics Medical Centres in Ottawa, a walk-in clinic that she claims she had frequented for about two years. She wanted a prescription for birth control pills. Read more…