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.

I’ll be giving my version of Janet Smith’s “Contraception: Why Not” called “Family Planning: Thinking Outside the Pill” at the Denver Cathedral CLAY Group, April 11th at 7:45pm (after 6:30pm Mass) in the parish rectory basement.

The talk will cover contraception, its false promises, what the Church really teaches on marriage, family, fertility and family planning, and what what the deal is with Natural Family Planning (NFP).

Questions that will be addressed include:

• Contraception helps women and families? Why is the Church against helping ease family stress?
• What about overpopulation? Isn’t contraception helping this?
• Doesn’t contraception help prevent unwanted pregnancies and lower the abortion rate…isn’t the Church against abortion?
• I need the Pill for medical reasons. Isn’t that okay?
• NFP isn’t effective. If we really need to postpone a pregnancy, why would I even use NFP?
• I’m not Catholic. Isn’t NFP just a Catholic thing?

….and more!

Facebook invite is here.

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?

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.

 Developed migraines since starting the Pill? Have you had a pesky blood clot go to your lung or brain? Those darn birth control Pills may have been at it again!

I just found this great web site, a feminist support site devoted to educating people on the dangers of the Pill, aptly named “Ditch the Pill.” About the group whose entire non-sectarian goal is to empower women:

DitchThePill.org is a non-profit organization dedicated to the understanding, research and treatment of women’s health concerns caused by the toxic side effects of birth control pills (BCP’s).  It was created in response to what is becoming a growing epidemic of health problems in women over the last 50 years, beginning with the introduction of oral contraceptives.

DitchThePill.org strongly feels that women should have a vital part in managing medical decisions regarding their own health.  Prescription medications, particularly in the form of oral contraceptives, have unknowingly caused an epidemic of health problems in women since the advent of the Pill in the 1960’s.

Have you been told that taking BCP’s are the only way to prevent your family history of ovarian cancer? Oops, that’s not entirely supported anymore.

What’s the alternative, to a hormone-free, pro-fertility, pro-woman approach?

Shockingly (!), I’m going to suggest natural methods of family planning. You’re going to have to go elsewhere from this site to find information on Natural Family Planning (NFP), because, strangely enough, they don’t know all that much about modern NFP. Guess who’s going to give them a call today? Maybe you should too (281-962-4264).

NFP/ Fertility Awareness Resources:

• Secular NFP, or Fertility Awareness Method (FAM)–this is a great book and educationally amazing for women, although it advocates the option of using barrier methods during a woman’s fertile time, which some readers may be opposed to.
• NFP Background info–religious base (same science)