There has been a lot of talk around the blogosphere, in the news, and
likely in our homes about the HHS Mandate and what it means for our
Church and our lives lately. Now, from what I’ve read from those who
back the Mandate, they are primarily motivated by concern for women.
They (seem to) sincerely believe that providing free artificial birth
control is the right thing to do. They point out that there is a link
between BC and a reduced risk of ovarian cancer. They say not all women
can practice NFP because not all women are in healthy relationships.
Some think that NFP only works if your cycles are clockwork regular and
if there are no added conditions such as endometriosis or PCOS. All of
these points sound very reasonable. Compassionate even. But sadly,
they are misguided. Society has been lied to, and it believes the lies.
The thing is, birth control is not going to fix any of that. For
women in abusive relationships, it is easier to prescribe a drug than to
do whatever we can to get her out of that situation. It will do nothing
to change the man’s behavior towards her, yet many feel like preventing
her pregnancy with drugs is the charitable choice. Women and men need
and deserve real help, not stop-gap measures that treat fertility like a
disease. Her fertility isn’t the problem, the relationship is. These
women don’t need birth control, they need to be taken out of harmful
relationships. Their men need to be taught respect. It’s not easy. But
it is the right thing.
As far as cancer goes…well…no. The thing is, a woman has a 1 in 70 chance of developing ovarian cancer. That’s a 1.4% chance over the course of her lifetime. A woman has a 1 in 8 chance ( 12.5%)
of developing breast cancer over the course of her lifetime. And while
some may argue that there is no link between breast cancer and BC, I just can’t buy that. Looking at the math, it’s just not worth it.
The idea that only women with regular, perfectly healthy cycles is
just false. A quick google search can fix that, but to save you the
trouble, here is a link. So
many women are denied the incredibly satisfying experience of looking
at their chart and saying, “Wow. I did that. I ovulated. My body is a
beautiful, wonderful creation.”
Conversely, they are denied the fertility awareness to look at their
charts and realize that their bodies may not be functioning in fertile
ways. Those of us in the NFP community hear stories of women struggling
with infertility, PCOS, endometriosis, and other difficulties who
learned about these issues because they learned about their bodies. The
BC stop-gap strikes again when women on chemical birth control are
unable to determine these issues through fertility awareness.
Most people who advocate for BC do so out of compassion for women.
They really truly believe that it is for the best. No one wants anyone
to be in an abusive relationship, have an increased risk of cancer, or
be denied real, problem-solving treatment. The problem is that their
love, their charity, lacks truth.
-excerpt from this post. Whether or not you agree with the author's Catholic beliefs, she has a pretty good statisitc that's worth emphasizing.
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