I apologize in advance for the text formatting issues, I tried to correct them but, to no avail.

Introduction:

I will start this article by stating that yes, I am a Catholic and that I have serious moral issues with the HHS ruling on exemptions for religious institutions and birth control coverage. I will also state that I do not believe in artificial birth control methods but, will be discussing them in this article. However, I decided that arguing from a standpoint of religion is not really an effective path to take. The reason is that there are many people who are Atheist, Agnostic or just simply don’t follow their religion closely enough to influence their thoughts on the matter.

I could try to make a Constitutional argument about the 1^st, 9^th or 10^th Amendments which would sound great, except for the fact that I do not know the Constitution as well as I probably should. Also, in regard to the 1^st Amendment, this argument again would be a religious based one, which, I am trying to avoid for the purposes of this post.

So, in lieu of approaching this from a religious standpoint, I’ve decided to take a better, more solid approach. Simply put, there are scientific and sociological myths that have fueled the hormonal birth control issue for a very long time. These myths have been amplified and further developed over time culminating in a culture who would rather believe in the myth and turn a blind eye to scientific and social fact on the matter. This, in turn, created the environment in which the HHS Mandate on Contraception could be passed and applauded as one of the greatest revolutions in women’s care since Roe v. Wade, Doe v. Bolton and Griswold v. Connecticut.

In intend to also back up the following myths with citations of studies and websites that back up the claims. I will fore-warn everyone by saying that ANY study is subjective. I am confident that a study can be sponsored by M&M/Mars that shows candy is good for you and then a study by the American Dental Association will show the exact opposite. Simply put, studies are almost always pointed toward a particular side of an issue and are usually flawed or biased in some way. However, for the purposes of this article, I will be citing studies. A reader should take them as they will.

Myth 1: Contraception is Expensive

The first myth is that there are millions of women who cannot afford the exorbitant costs for birth control, and thus, must rely on the state to provide it for them. This is both for recreational and/or medical purposes.

I am going to tackle this one in two parts. First, the recreational side. If, in fact, a person is only contraception for recreational reasons and not for medical purposes. A quick search on http://shopping.google.com reveals that an individual person can purchase 50-100 condoms for anywhere from $30-70. If purchasing a 100 pack, this would be enough to enjoy the joys of sex roughly twice a week per year for about $.70 a pop, which isn’t too expensive at all and is a far cry from the thousands of dollars being suggested by the media.

Ah, but, what about contraception for medical purposes, or for the person who is allergic to, or doesn’t like the feeling/responsibilities of condoms? As it turns out, many retailers have extremely low prices on a monthly supply of birth control, even without health insurance. Some recent articles have stated that Target has a price of around $9, and I am confident that other stores with pharmacies such as Wal-Mart, CVS and other major retailers have similar prices. This brings the yearly total, at $10 a month, to $120.

Granted, there are some forms of birth control that will cost more than others. For example, the, “one period a year” pill is probably much more expensive than the standard generic pill. There are also specific pills prescribed for specific purposes due to their chemical combinations, which also might cost more. However, we will be addressing the medical use of contraception later in this article.

Now, the one thing not a single pundit, few health care practitioners and almost zero individuals talk about is the Sympto-Thermal method of Natural Family Planning. This scientific method of a woman naturally determining her fertile and infertile times, based upon basal body temperature and mucous observations, costs all of a basal thermometer and some sheets of paper, usually around $40. The studies below reflect that this method is comparable to over-the-counter methods but requires no drugs, only self control at certain times of the month.

http://informahealthcare.com/doi/abs/10.3109/09513599709152535

http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1552-6909.1994.tb01881.x/abstract

http://humrep.oxfordjournals.org/content/22/5/1310.short

I will also take the time to note that because of the charting/documentation involved in many NFP methods, it provides a great tool to doctors when trying to diagnose medical issues as well. Many times doctors will have patients chart this information anyway for ongoing problems, so a track record such as the one provided by Natural Family Planning methods gives doctors a better picture as to how to treat issues. Given, this isn’t a cost benefit but, this information fits better here than in the next myth.

Lastly, there are many women’s health centers, pregnancy centers, and other locations in most cities that give out contraception for free. This includes Planned Parenthood, a group which I don’t really care too much for but, they do provide free contraception to those in need. I did not have the time to research free prescription plans or Medicare/Medicaid plans for their coverages, although, I am sure there are some levels of coverage there as well.

Myth 2: Contraception as an Effective Medical Treatment

The most common argument for providing birth control at low or no cost to women is for medical reasons. The birth control pill is used almost as a cure all to treat multiple kinds of diseases and ailments. These include cramping, heavy period bleeding, irregular periods/cycles, no period/cycles, acne, and also serious diseases such as Polycystic Ovary Syndrome. However, this may be more of a problem than a solution.

The contraceptive pill is very good at treating the symptoms of many of the issues listed above, however, in treating the symptoms, the root cause is never found. Hormonal birth control replaces the naturally occurring hormones in a woman’s body with a different combination of hormones, usually estrogen and progesterone. These suppress and decrease the results of a woman’s normal cycle. The uterine lining builds up less and tends to be harder, which is what prevents pregnancy. Once these chemicals stop being present, AKA, the time during the month when the sugar pills are taken, the body sees the lack of this chemical mixture as a sign to try and re-start it’s normal cycle, which happens to be the sloughing off of the uterine lining.

The problem with this methodology is that any real, genuine hormonal imbalances are actually hidden and covered up by the pill. If there is a lack of progesterone, or one of the many other hormones in the body resulting in a normal female cycle, the pill will cover this up in a chemical cocktail, making it more difficult to discover the root cause of the problems.

As it turns out, many of the hormonal imbalances could be supplemented or treated in other ways that actually deal with the root causes of the issue. Some of these treatments are even cheaper than birth control, such as calcium supplements. Below is a take of one doctor on this issue.

http://www.all.org/article/index/id/MjQ4NQ

Unfortunately, mass studies in these kind of treatments are not pursued and couldn’t be found. Although, many doctors who only work with those using Natural Family Planning methods have been using these other techniques successfully for years. This is largely due to the fact that drug companies spend millions of dollars advertising various birth control methods and their benefits. Other methods of treatment that might actually solve the issue would cause a serious problem to their cash flow. The sad fact is that other treatment plans that might actually lead to the body correcting itself are not pursued because the drug companies have a constant monthly, quarterly or yearly supply of cash. It is also “easier” to just take the pill and have a quick way to “treat” a variety of ailments. Many doctors don’t even know other ways to treat certain diseases than to prescribe the pill, and everyone is pretty much OK with that.

If a woman were to contact a doctor more familiar with Natural Family Planning methodologies, they might be able to find alternate treatments that would prevent the need to use birth control every month. I offer, below, a small list of some of these doctors, in case anyone is genuinely interested.

http://onemoresoul.com/nfp-providers

Nobody in the contraception debate wants women to go without real treatment for serious medical problems. However, I would argue that the medical community at large is doing a disservice to women by simply telling them to cover over hormonal and other issues causing their problems by taking a daily pill. It is more important that successful treatment plans that don’t tie a woman down to a potentially costly pill regimen for the rest of her life be found. There are real treatments to many of these ailments which are totally ignored, and I’m not talking Acupuncture either. They are a far cry from the late-night infomercial kind of snake oil treatments, but, nobody reports them, simply because taking more calcium isn’t profitable for drug companies.

Myth 3: Hormonal Birth Control is Safe for Women

This is one of the biggest myths out there. The myth is that artificial hormonal birth control is safe and harmless to women. The fact is that there have been multiple studies, and lawsuits, that prove that this is far from the case.

First, the best place to go to see the health risk of birth control pills are the fact sheets presented online and to people who have them prescribed. I submit for the reader’s review the following:

http://www.drugs.com/pro/aranelle.html

http://www.drugs.com/pro/balziva.html

http://www.drugs.com/pro/lessina.html

http://www.drugs.com/pro/ortho-tri-cyclen.html

http://www.drugs.com/pro/yaz.html

http://www.drugs.com/pro/yasmin.html

http://www.drugs.com/pro/tri-norinyl.html

http://www.drugs.com/pro/depo-provera.htm

All of the contraceptives listed have an increased risk of strokes, heart attack, blood clots, certain kinds of non-carcinogenic benign tumors, and, yes, even according to the FDA, a slight increased risk of cancers of the reproductive tissues and breast. Now, again, there are multiple studies showing that birth control pills are or are not carcinogenic in nature. I will leave the reader to investigate this further.

I will note though, that the World Health Organization does label some kinds of contraception as a level 1 carcinogen, and this is an international medical body.

However, my point here is to illustrate that there are risks associated with taking chemical birth control. Some of those risks are higher than others dependent upon the delivery method and the type of drug used. Mortality rates tended to be higher amongst women who smoked or had existing cardio vascular problems.

Now, all that being said, the relative safety of the contraceptive pill has been shattered in many cases. In recent history there have been a multitude of law suits against drug companies for birth control related illness, death or injury. Many times, this occurs because the drug company in question did not test the long term side effects or the side effects in general, for a long enough period of time before bringing the drug to market.

There have also been studies suggesting that birth control hormones, which pass through a woman’s body and are not filtered in most city’s processed water supply, have caused sexual mutation in animals and have had some negative effects on human men. A reader can research this on their own.

Here are some examples of FDA warnings, law suits and investigations into what were once and still are popular birth control methods:

http://www.yazontrial.com/

http://www.birthcontrolpatchsideeffects.com/ortho-evra-lawsuits/

http://www.resource4thepeople.com/defectivedrugs/nuvaring.html

http://news.yahoo.com/defective-birth-control-could-spur-big-lawsuits-pfizer-184603402.html

http://birthcontrolnews.org/fda-debates-pulling-yaz/

http://www.kaiserhealthnews.org/Daily-Reports/2011/December/09/contraceptive-labels.aspx

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Norplant#Norplant_discontinued_in_the_United_States

These are just some examples, and there are many, many, MANY more. The fact is that the increased risks of hormonal birth control, largely in the arena of blood clots, has caused deaths, strokes and other major problems. However, despite these facts, the FDA and drug companies are only “considering” stronger warning labels on the pill.

I will also mention that if the pill is solely being taken as a contraceptive, it is usually suggested that a person wait at least 30 days to avoid the risk of mis-carriage. It is also true, like any drug, if a dosage is missed, a pregnancy can still occur and the chemicals in the pill, which create a weaker uterine wall, can result in the loss of the baby or in a child with serious health complications.

I also find it ironic that some of the law suits in question were for “accidental pregnancy”. While these law suits are less common, they illustrate that when birth control fails in the sexual arena, people then fail to take responsibility for their actions. Regardless of birth control or NFP method, there is ALWAYS a risk of pregnancy. People tend to forget that.

While some, and many might argue that the risks of side effects are low and that the cases listed above are in extreme, when there are law suits involving 50,000 women, such as with Norplant, I tend to view that as not so isolated or low. The recent Pfizer recall due to not including the proper amount of pills or dosages affected thousands of women as well.

I would also be more willing to accept these things if they were a one-off kind of thing. However, these particular lawsuits, and even worse ones, having to do with birth defects and things of that nature have been a constant plague throughout the history of the contraceptive pill.

Myth 4: Hormonal/Chemical Contraception has had Only a Positive Effect on Society

Here is another really big myth. The contraceptive pill has long been heralded as a sign of the femenist movement in America. It was a way for women to take control of their sexuality and of their lives. It made them to have the freedom to pursue the careers they desired, without the risk of unwanted pregnancy. Simply put, the pill set women free.

First, the very inventor of the modern birth control pill has come out in recent years speaking with a regret about his invention. Since the invention and wide spread use of birth control, there has been a severe population decline in Europe. While it isn’t as pronounced in the US, the national average of around 2 children per couple has been steady for many years. This is actually problematic. If a country is merely replacing its adult population, it is not growing. This means a smaller work force, smaller GDP and less people to take up critical positions in innovating fields.

However, in Europe, the population is actually DECLINING, meaning, the population isn’t even replenishing itself. This was due, in part, to the contraceptive pill giving people the ability to avoid pregnancy as long as they wanted. Here are some articles illustrating that very fact:

http://geography.about.com/od/obtainpopulationdata/a/russiapop.htm

https://www.nytimes.com/2008/06/29/magazine/29Birth-t.html?_r=1&pagewanted=all

http://www.christiantelegraph.com/issue4672.html

http://www.nap.edu/openbook.php?record_id=1421&page=R1

The next and largest part of the myth is that the contraceptive pill would lead to happier women who had control over their destiny and fertility. This would thus, reduce the amount of unwanted pregnancies and abortions and would improve family life and relationships. While some of this is true, other parts of the picture are less clear or are not present at all.

For example, peer-reviewed population researcher Robert T. Michael has done multiple research papers on population, marriage and the causes of changes. In his 1988 paper, “Why Did the U.S. Divorce Rate Double Within a Decade?” Research in Population Economics 6: pages 367-399, it was discovered that part of the reason divorce doubled, although, not all of it, was due to the sociological opportunities presented by birth control. Basically, if you can prevent getting pregnant within marriage, you can also prevent it outside of marriage and more easily have affairs.

There have also been other surveys showing among Catholics, the largest religious organization against artificial contraception, of those who practiced Natural Family Planning 98% of them remained married and rated their marital happiness higher than those who used artificial contraception. In fact, those Catholics who used artificial contraception experienced roughly the same divorce rate as those who were non-Catholic. The site below compiles statistics from multiple studies and illustrates this data:

http://www.lifeissues.net/writers/wils/wils_01naturalfamilyplanning2.html

So, essentially marital happiness and success have DECLINED since the invention and availability of birth control. Again, this is not ENTIRELY due to birth control, however, as the studies suggest, it is a significant factor.

Another sad point is that varying studies, and even Planned Parenthood statistics show that contraception does not prevent unwanted pregnancies. In fact, the majority of those who have “unplanned” pregnancies are using contraception at the time. See the data in the links below, if you don’t believe me:

http://www.guttmacher.org/pubs/journals/3301901.pdf

http://www.guttmacher.org/pubs/journals/3105699.pdf

The studies above were commissioned and partially funded by Planned Parenthood, and illustrate that of those who use artificial contraception are over 60% of the people who have “unplanned” pregnancies, that is over half.

There is also a multitude of recent scientific studies showing that women who use artificial contraception override their bodies abilities to detect and produce the normal hormones for being attracted to or attracting a potential mate. While studies linking these things to the success or failure of a marriage, it is interesting to note that a woman overrides her body’s natural ability to detect a good mate when using contraception. Here are the links:

https://www.unm.edu/~gfmiller/cycle_effects_on_tips.pdf

http://www.thestranger.com/images/blogimages/2009/10/07/1254931423-tree_final_proofs.pdf

There are many studies that have shown that the “hook up” mentality that can be spurred by the “safe sex” mentality actually has a negative effect on the chemical bonding that takes place between sexual partners. The sexual bond is scientifically geared toward creating a stronger bond between those who have a sexual relationship. Males will be more attracted to their female counterpart and more protective while females are more relaxed around and attracted to the male. However, this bond lessens and lessens the more sexual partners a person has. The article below references a book on the topic.

http://voices.yahoo.com/research-shows-premarital-sex-damaging-5625862.htm

One of the more interesting points that many scientists make is that the human being is one of the most highly evolved creatures and that we have risen above our base instincts and have dominated the planet because of that. However, when it comes to sexuality and birth control, people are now free to pursue their sexual urges to whatever ends, in the hope of no consequences for those actions. To me, that isn’t rising above our animal instincts too much.

There have been a LOT of positive social impacts of contraception, and I will not deny that. Again, I just want to demonstrate that there are plenty of negatives as well. Those negatives, of course, go unreported as a whole and are ignored. I also want to mention that I didn’t even bother trying to cover the increase in STDs over the past several decades linked in increase sexual activity as a result of “safe sex”.

Conclusion

While society would have us believe that Contraception as part of Women’s Health Services is the most important thing for women to have access to, it is clear that society also actively ignores and evades the reasons why contraception can be harmful to women and society. It isn’t to say that to the majority who are OK with Contraception, there aren’t some benefits. It is to say that there are plenty of reasons why hormonal contraception is negative for women and their health and why further research needs to be done before mandating access to these drugs for everyone.

Were some of the studies in my above article linked from religious websites? Yes. However, many of them are from original sources, such as peer-reviewed medical documents, studies or other things of that nature. Many of the sites linked to have citations of sources that a reader can further pursue if desired.

Can these studies be biased and their results flawed? You Bet! I said that at the beginning. However, the same case can also be made for the studies on the opposite side of the argument.

While I doubt this post/article will change anyone’s mind on the whole topic, I sincerely hope that it does open the eyes of some people. I’m not necessarily trying to push out my personal belief that birth control is wrong. The higher purpose of this article is to illustrate issues that are not always brought to the forefront. They can be taken as a grain of salt or, can be further researched by the reader.

I truly want women to have safe options for health care. However, I don’t think that the contraceptive pill is necessarily the be all end all of woman’s health. I think better education and research into actually finding the causes of irregularities and fixing those need to be worked on. We shouldn’t just settle for woman’s care but, demand better woman’s care with full access to the facts. That is my point.