Guest blog post: Get sold on awesome intimacy, not an expensive wedding

I can’t believe I totally missed this, but Dustin over at Engaged Marriage posted one of my articles as a guest post…..over a year ago! I remember sending him that piece earlier that year, and him saying it might be good for the spring, but I didn’t hear back. So…check it out. I’m going to go take a closer look at the comments.

Just in case you didn’t see this great piece by fertility super advocate and one time  One More Soul Exec Director, Jenn Giroux, check it it out: “Giving a Pass to the Pill.”

Shouldn’t the same standards and cautions be applied to warning labels to alert women about diseases caused by “the pill” and all other forms of harmful hormonal contraception?

This reminds me of a conversation with a nurse in Madison, Wisconsin, who I had asked to make some NFP brochures available in the OB/GYN floor. She saw the Go Organic brochure with contraceptive side effects/ risks listed, and freaked out–not because she was surprised to learn the truth, but because she that I was some extremist exaggerating and lying. I remember her saying, “If this stuff is true, there should be a black box warning on birth control.” No kidding, Nancy Drew. I responded by saying something less sarcastic than that (by an immense act of the will), suggesting that this information was clearly footnoted and referenced to legitimate studies, copies of which I sent to her. I also implied that she had a rather rosy view of corporate pharma, which has a lot of money at stake in the contraceptive business.

Shouldn’t women – and parents of young girls – be alerted? Isn’t it time to ask if the pill and other forms of hormonal contraception are a prescription for breast cancer?

Indeed, they should be alerted. This starts with copies of this article and other good information being passed on to young women, their mothers in every day and pastoral circumstances. Resolution: Send a copy of What a Woman Should Know About Birth Control and Giroux’s article to your pastor, DRE, and youth director. You’d be surprised at how many don’t know how  dangerous contraceptives can be–all in the name of clear skin and fake “regular” cycles.

Last night I was watching the local news about the chemical Triclosan, an active ingredient in a number of consumer products including hand sanitizers, antibacterial soaps, and toothpaste. I knew that using hand sanitizer and antibacterial soaps probably wouldn’t be good as they kill good bacteria too, but I had no idea that Triclosan was being investigated by the FDA, and comes from a pesticide family. Anyhow, I thought to myself, “How did I not know this? I’m really glad they’re doing this report on this. But there are many more stories like this that need to be told?”

Can you think of any underreported health concerns? Have you seen any local news stories on, say, certain carcinogenic fertility suppressants?

Perhaps you saw a little bit in the news some time ago about the FDA’s wrist-slap of a correction on Yaz’s hyperbolic claims of feminine healing? Well, I’m sure once Bayer got wind of it all hitting the fan over two years ago, their team of corporate fixers went to work. Do you think they decided to give up? Maybe they had a change of heart? Since Bayer’s profits off Yaz are not inconsiderable, you guessed it–they retooled the chemistry and yup, the marketing. The FDA decision should have been the canary in the coal mine for pill pushers (and takers) the first time around, so here’s hoping more comes to light.

This great guest post by Hillary Grigg-Spall of Sweetening the Pill Blog on Re: Cycling, the blog of the Society for Menstrual Research, unveiled for me the real sneakiness of these companies. You see,  Beyaz, the new version of Yaz by Bayer, and has a surprise for you–your daily dose of folate, a B Vitamin! Isn’t that nice of them? I’m sure there’s no catch there.

But, wait…Ms. Grigg-Spall has some information to share. Taken from Beyaz’s own web site and some very basic research, she points out some simple facts. The folate, by the company’s own disclosure, “…lowers the risk of having rare neural tube defects in a pregnancy occurring during Beyaz use or shortly after stopping.” Wait. lowers the risk of a birth defect? In the bullet point above, they list its primary function in order to “Prevent pregnancy – 99% effective when taken as directed.” Yet, its secondary function–not even qualified with a “this hardly ever happens” (because we all know pregnancy on the Pill is much more common than 1%) is to yes, help prevent a birth defect while either on the pill or shortly after getting off it. What?

But there’s more. Grigg-Spall reveals,

“A little research reveals folate supplementation has been linked in studies to a decrease in stroke and thrombosis risk – a subtext Bayer could not print without admitting blame and accepting the law suit claims.” (My emphasis.)

And adds,

“The production of pharmaceuticals is a billion dollar industry and it is, unfortunately, necessary to assume moves are made for money and the market and not in the hope of improving the lives of women. The less sick, or deceased women, the less lawsuits, and the more money to be made for Bayer. The creation of Beyaz suggests Bayer cares, and has the interests of women at heart, but essentially it is a cynical ploy to win back the loyalty of the many women who have become suspicious of Yaz, and consequently the Pill as a whole, due on the controversies and, most importantly, their own experiences.” (My emphasis.)

I could not agree more. But the questions running through my mind are (to which I partially know the answers): Why is this not more widely known? Why is the FDA and other supposedly protective agencies so blind to these details? Why hasn’t there been more investigative work on the pharmaceutical industry done? What’s more, why do the myths of the safety of chemical and hormonal contraceptives persist, and why are so many medical professionals (and the people who train them) complicit in perpetuating these myths? Why are the opponents of chemical and hormonal contraception not banding together despite their differences? What can we do to change that?

The obvious answer to the first couple of questions is the dangerous triumvirate of money, ideological sacred cow, and ignorance. But what do you think the answers to the last two questions?

This is not breaking news, but a oldie but goodie article link I didn’t get a chance to post before.

Contraceptives May Double Risk of Stroke.

My favorite line: “benefits [of contraception] still outweigh the risks for most users.” Growing numbers of “most users” would disagree.

Just found this new blog, Sweetening the Pill, which is all about spreading the bad news of the BCP, and empowering women to find something better.

Take her poll: Have you experienced negative side effects of the Pill?

The surprising part of this article isn’t that it gets that the Pill isn’t a panacea. Nope, it’s a frank article that questions the health benefits and one size fits all approach to women’s wellness that currently passes as health care. The surprising thing is that after admitting the side effects, the possible (probable) cancer risks, and the un-natural, fertility suppressing approach to it all, the only alternative they really suggest is the non-hormonal IUD’s.

Huh.

Can anyone out there think of an alternative to the Pill that’s *not* an IUD , an abortafacient? Something that’s marriage building, mutually used, can be used to help diagnose the causes of infertility? Something that people use for religious as well as non-religious reasons?

Exactly. The funny thing is that most of the people commenting (Yay, Canada!) on the article are NFP/FAM fans, and at least one person comments on the interesting fact that the author completely misses the other half of her point, failing to mention natural methods of family planning. We’ll consider it an act of accidental ignorance, rather than a prejudicial act (far too common, unfortunately).

The Lolek Young Adult group in Elm Grove will feature rockin’ speaker Vicki Thorn, founder of Project Rachel. Vicki’s topic will be “What they didn’t tell you in sex ed,” aka “What you didn’t learn in sex ed,” which is a talk we featured last February in the Diocese of Madison for our St. Therese Lecture series. I love Vicki Thorn, and I love her down to earth way of communicating science as common sense.

Vicki’s talk will cover the science of attraction and bonding and the impact of the Pill on wrong partner choice, how we are changed by our sexual partners, how women carry cells from every child they have ever had and men are hardwired for fatherhood during the pregnancy.

Facebook users, find more info here.

No, it’s *not* actually a surprise to NFP fans the that Pill isn’t a panacea. Modern NFP has been around since the 60′s, and more widely known since the 70′s and 80′s. But to those outside the NFP-world-niche, the fact that “Women Look Beyond the Pill” is news.

A Red Tent Sister, an object of my recent post on FAM/ecosex entrepreneurs, gets quoted in this recent article out of The Montreal Gazzette, a Canadian publication.

A Highlight of my favorite part of the article:

The continued popularity of the pill doesn’t indicate it is the best form of birth control for women, said Laura Wershler, executive director of Sexual Health Access Alberta in Calgary.Instead, she said, it indicates women don’t know enough about their options.

“What I see in our communities is an absolute failure to move beyond the idea that hormonal birth control is the be-all and end-all,” Wershler said. “What’s happening is we’re not developing support programs and advocacy for women looking for non-hormonal methods.”

Natural family-planning methods, or fertility-awareness methods, whereby a woman determines the fertile and non-fertile times of her monthly cycle, aren’t often taken seriously by physicians, she added.

“There’s this lack of knowledge and understanding within my own field,” Wershler said. “Women are going to sexual health clinics and being laughed off by the doctors and clinics for looking for alternatives.”

For a related message inviting women to “look beyond the Pill” , listen to my talk, “Think Outside the Pill.” (Trademark phrase of mine–some day I’ll actually trademark it!)

Because I have a variety of readers from across the religious/ political spectrum, I rarely–if ever–touch on the “A” word. Being pro-life is important to me, and I want other people to be pro life, but I never want to hit people over the head with it. Far more people come to understand my position (and the Church’s) through friendship, research, and appreciation of fertility, rather than judgmental nagging. Having said that, as I was commenting on another blog about this, I realized I needed to post this video, and let thoughtful people decide for themselves.

Now, if feel strongly about this, you may be interested in the American Life Leagues “The Pill Kills” campaign. I agree with their fundamental premise, and the great need to address this function of the Pill and other contraceptives (I guess “IUDS kill” or “Depo Kills” isn’t as catchy) for unsuspecting pro lifers. However, this campaign will change few hearts for the undecided or the pro choice person. For the latter audience, I think there are better ways to go about this conversation. Some will think this makes me pusillanimous or weak, but I think it’s simply a better approach.

If you read Dustin at Engaged Marriage’s What You Want to Know About Natural Family Planning, this is Kathleen at Project M‘s reply, which begins

I am an educated, fancy-pants, trendy individual. I have two completely useless liberal-arts degrees to prove it. So of course, like other liberal-arts-educated and trendy individuals, I am drawn to the word “natural.” It makes us organic-eating tree-huggers think of healthy bodies, uncorrupted oceans and virginal rainforests. Read the rest at Dustin’s blog.

You’ll see that she has a major change of heart, going from “It doesn’t work” to “it’s probably a preferably form of birth control,” and not just because of the natural element. Though she’s ambivalent about the abortafacient factor (still discerning this–she is Pro Life), she gets the relational and grassroots Non-Big Pharma social factor of it. A glaring misconception (no pun intended) that still exists for her is that NFP is contraception. Yes, for non-Catholics it can be used that way, but it’s inherently different than contraception because of the way it works. Further, Kathleen is trying to get pregnant, and she misses the point that NFP can be used to achieve pregnancy as well! An early commenter lets K in on the little achieving secret, which is good. Something I hope to add to the conversation is that it’s also an infertility treatment alternative.

What are your best thoughts and evidence on the abortafacient effect of the Pill? What did you think of the entry? Overall I thought it was honest, forthright, tolerant, and well written.

Part two of Michelle’s testimony of why they ditched contraception. This part includes more of their actual discovery of the Church teaching, the wonders of fertility, the horror of abortifacients, and the joy of desiring children.

What I think will resonate deeply with readers is the anger of never receiving this information, of being lied to by the medical community, and of never being invited to the beauty of the Church’s teaching–all too common of an experience.

I was angry because I found out that contraceptives had abortifacient properties.  I was angry that those in the medical community had morphed the definition of the beginning of pregnancy to be when the embryo implanted, thereby negating the life that exists from conception.  And I was angry that no one (save our priest during our pre-marriage counseling) had ever offered to us that NFP was a viable alternative.  Our families, our friends, fellow Catholics…no one stepped forward and made us think about looking into Natural Family Planning.  As a matter of fact…that anger still rises on occasion, because we do not have the support of some people close to us and we are looked down on…like we must simply not know any better…and we see disappointment in loved ones’ faces as we announce the pending arrival of another blessing.

| Catholic PRWire

My friend Emily, the new Family Planning Coordinator in the Diocese of Madison, just emailed the link to this commentary on the TIME article and a little bit about my work in Madison. It was posted on Catholic.org by Catholic PRWire, which found it through a press release from Chicago CCL (promoting its classes). Thanks Chicago CCL for the mention! While I don’t exclusively endorse CCL, this is a great example of harnessing buzz about NFP to promote classes. Well done, Chi-CCLers.

Time Magazine Notes Another NFP Benefit: It Keeps the Rivers Clean

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
MEDIA ADVISORY
Catholic PRWire

GLENVIEW, IL (November 10, 2009) – Sexual morality isn’t the only attraction to draw couples to Natural Family Planning (NFP) these days. Those concerned with the environment are finding that NFP doesn’t pollute the waterways with synthetic hormones and other chemicals.

A recent Time magazine author related how NFP rates high for such reasons. “Like all good Catholics, my husband and I had to attend church-run marriage prep before we tied the knot last year,” wrote Kathleen Kingsbury in Time’s Oct. 26 issue.

“I was surprised, however, during the hard sell on natural family-planning, that this updated version of the rhythm method was being advertised not only as morally correct but also as ‘organic’ and ‘green.’ I was even more surprised when I found out that some of the most popular instructors of NFP — known in secular circles as the Fertility Awareness Method — are non-Catholics who praise it as a means of avoiding both ingesting chemicals and excreting them into rivers and streams.”

The article, sprinkled with terms such as phthalates and bisphenol, also looks into the use of chemicals in the makeup of sex toys and tracks a trend of earth-friendly production materials in these products.

The article also says that the Catholic Church is catching on to the organic trend. “People pay $32 for eye cream because they’re told it is good for them and the planet,” says Jessica Marie Smith, whom Time says repackaged the NFP program at the diocese of Madison, WI. “We figured we could do the same with NFP.”

Ingest, Poke and Patch

In an article on the Madison diocese’s website, “Green is the New Black: How NFP is good for your soul and the earth,” Smith, the diocese’s [former] family planning coordinator, says, “Doesn’t it seem interesting that we’ll go to great lengths to ensure our meat, dairy and other grocery products are ‘all natural’ and hormone free, but then we’ll turn around and ingest, poke or patch our bodies with all sorts of synthetic hormones, the ramifications of which we’re still discovering?”