Cuckoo for contraceptives
On September 21 the Huffington Post published results of a new survey on contraceptive use. The most provocative find:
5. The pill is the most popular form of contraception. About 15 percent of women reported using the pill in the last 30 days, compared to 8 percent who said they used a male condom.
Note the spin. “The most popular for of contraception” is used only 15% of the time.
Another interesting find:
4. Forty-three percent of women who had been pregnant previously, had experienced at least one unintended pregnancy. Of those 43 percent, 50 percent said that their unintended pregnancies had occurred as the result of failed birth control (i.e. a ripped condom or not taking their birth control pill regularly).
In other words, contraceptives used in real time (not theory) have a 50% failure rate.
Aside from the fact the female public doesn’t like the Pill, and aside from the fact contraceptives have a dismal success rate, feminists and the abortion industry are currently pushing for pandemic distribution of free hormonal contraceptives because, they say, it’s what women want and need to prevent unintended pregnancy.
Neither liberals nor the mainstream media nor the government stop to analyze the reality that contraceptives fail the hype. Instead we get this:
Bear in mind, the morning-after pill contains 2-10 times the dosage of female hormones as the birth control pill, and there are no long-term studies on the harm to adolescent girls, particularly with repeated use.
Liberals are all-organic, all-green, and anti-Big Pharma – except when it comes to hormonal contraception, in which case they turn a blind eye.
This is because the alternative to pushing contraceptives on the public is unthinkable, for three reasons:
- The Pill was the cornerstone is the 1960s sexual revolution, and the hippies are now in charge of the country.
- The Pill is lucrative, as is the back-up plan, abortion.
- The only foolproof way to prevent pregnancy and STDs is by maintaining abstinence until marriage and then being faithful, a message that would be to admit Christian prudes were right and would also stop the gravy train.
Step back. In plain English hormonal contraceptives (which include the Pill, shots, and implants) contain artificial steroids taken on a daily basis over the course of decades that chemically alter a woman’s normal monthly menstrual cycle by overriding messages sent by the hypothalamus and pituitary gland, both located in the brain.
Does that sound healthy? We now know it’s not. Hormonal contraceptives increase a woman’s risk of fibroid tumors, ovarian cysts, heart attacks, strokes, breast cancer, ovarian cancer, infertility, liver tumors, yeast infections, and more; and they decrease her bone density and libido, and more. (And a new study shows the Pill increases the risk of staph infections, aside from the fact it offers no protection against STDs.)
Will we ever learn? It’s possible. It just depends on whether or not we’re sailing on the Contraceptive Titanic.
Jill Stanek is a nurse turned speaker, columnist and blogger, a national figure in the effort to protect both preborn and postborn innocent human life.
No Big Gulps or french fries for you, sweetie!
Oh…you want to chemically abort your child? Why didn’t you SAY so? THAT we can do.
Michelle Obama: Not ok with junk food for children; Ok with stabbing partially born children with scissors (which means they don’t have to grow up with the possibility of living as -gasp!- obese people).
To be fair, it says that 15% of women had used the pill in the last 30 days. So every woman who is pregnant, breastfeeding, trying to conceive, etc, plus many who are not currently in a relationship (I know several women who go off the pill if they are single and back on it if they get into a relationship) would be counted out even if she considers the pill her primary form of contraception. I also have known women who went off one kind of the pill and took a month break before trying to find a new brand.
It’s crazy to me how some people start and stop the pill like it’s…tylenol or something. A friend of mine recently stopped taking the pill so that she is ready to try to conceive after her wedding, which is in November. But now her husband is terrified to have sex with her, even though they’re using condoms. He asks her almost every day when her period is due – literally almost every day of the month! As if it changes day by day, or something! I told her it sounds like he really isn’t ready to have sex at all, birth control or not. He says that he will be less obsessive about it after the wedding and I told her that if he really believes that’s the case – I don’t, but it’s not my call – then he should not be having sex until after the wedding. He says he is fine to have sex but he wants her to go back on the pill. For two months. Until after the wedding. It really just kind of blows my mind. It took her two months to feel normal after coming off the pill! It will probably take her a month or two to feel normal after going back on it! For people who already hope to have a child within the next year or so, are two months REALLY worth all that misery?
Alexandra, that is so strange about that groom to be. She would be what? 2 months pregnant at the wedding? Who would know? And who cares??? If you care that much about being pregnant before marriage then don’t have sex before you’re married! Seriously…people have no common sense.
I hated the pill. I had no side effects (weight gain or mood swings etc…) but I hated the idea that I was chemically altering my body. After I conceived my son while on Yaz I told my hubbyI was not taking it ever again. I am glad I stuck to my guns. The pill is destroying women’s (and unborn children’s ) bodies and also the environment. Where is the EPA on this?
I had to stop taking the pill after it was prescribed to me after having my first child. The horrible hormonal anger it made me experience was going to have a negative effect on my then-husband’s ability to continue living.
The EPA is busy calling mud puddles wetlands, and cracking down on homeowners who want to alter their homes in any way.
X @ 12:55. Same reason I had to give up Tequilla!
lol Praxedes! I don’t know how I would fare on the pill, since I’ve never taken it, but I do know that while I’m not an angry drunk, there is roughly a 75% chance of audible sobbing when tequila and I join forces…
hahha X and Prax. Yeah when my emotions ranged from unfounded rage to giddy elation then down into the depths of despair in one day with no discernible cause, we decided maybe BC wasn’t the way to go. Haha my poor husband – that first year was a little… strange. :)
And Alexandra, tequila just makes me laugh way too much. hahaha
Jill, this was the best post on contraception I have read on contraception, and the Pill in particular. Way to go.
Yep that is what we need more prepubescent and teen girls on steroidal estrogen/progesterone carcinogens, bone desity depleting, blood-clot forming, stroke causing, infertility causing, infection promoting drugs via shots, IUDs, implants, along with male and female condoms, and don’t forget the dental dams for “waist-up blow jobs” while their waiting for the antibiotics/anti-virals to kick in because kids cannot live without being sexually active; all so PP can make more money doing more pap smears, more breast exams, (opps but they need to send them out for their mammograms), more STDs treatments and then when the contraceptives don’t work dialte, mutilate, vacuum suction and evacuate their little uteruses or is it uteri at $400-500 a pop. Cha-ching, Am I the only one hearing more cash registers ringing?
I haven’t even touched the emotional, mental and psychological consequences of heartbreak, depression, low self-esteem, self-loathing and suicidal attempts from being used, abused and devalued that comes from being treated like a piece of trash. Reminds me of the medical waste being thrown out at PP, someone that is meant to be cherished, loved and nurtured just gets ripped apart and pitched in the garbage. Makes me want to cry and puke at the same time. Where have all of the grown ups gone? God help our kids. I’ve. worked with teen parents so pro-aborts don’t tell me that I don’t know what I’m talking about.
I hear so many stories similar to yours, Praxedes and Xalisae. Why do liberals never promote sex-ed that includes contraceptive side-effects and failure rates? I mean, they can’t all be working for PP and raking in the cash from selling that crap, so what gives?
My gynecologist almost fainted when I politely declined hormonal BC after having my first baby–I use NFP, and I will never understand why this method is not taught more! It’s so empowering as a woman to finally know what my body is doing, and what my normal cycle symptoms mean! Plus, my poor husband can be warned when the “crazy days” are approaching!
Thumbs up for Natural Family Planning! Read more about it on ccli.org (Couple to Couple League) for sympto-thermal method or there’s Creighton or the Marquette Method. No side effects to Natural Family Planning, completely reversible in a heartbeat, no risks to an unintentionally-conceived baby, no harm to the environment, etc!
I’m not a real fan of The Pill, but I have to question the numbers here:
I’m just starting a statistics course, so I can’t answer this myself yet, but that doesn’t sound right. To have a 50% failure rate, wouldn’t each women have had to have sex only twice, using contraception both times, with one of the times failing in order for this to be true? That seems pretty far off from reality.
Very true Jil! As I have written many times and also in my research, contraception is bad medicine!
Roxy, it all depends on how you measure. From a standpoint of single use, 50% is incorrect. But if the desired effect is to never get pregnant while using them, and 50% of people who use them get pregnant, than that is a correct way to measure the failure rate. We can’t really get the correct stat because Jill doesn’t go into the nuts and bolts, but according to one study in the Journal of Family Practice (September 2000 · Vol. 49, No. 9), of 396 women through their lifetimes, “a total of 168 (42%) of the women became pregnant while using contraception, some more than once. Forty-nine women (13%) became pregnant twice and 13 women (3%) 3 times while using contraception.” So, those advertised 95% or whatever effectiveness rates for a year only matter if you have sex for one year of your life. That’s just not how human beings work, and that’s why the theory than more contraception will solve unintended pregnancies is ridiculous, even if you ignore the fact that people will engage in more risky sexual encounters thinking they only have a 1 or 2 percent chance of getting pregnant.
Ms. Stanek,
To be credible, you need to brush up on statistics and the use thereof. Your broad brush “conclusions” discredit your arguments right up front.
Thanks, Chris. I remember from seeing studies referred to from here that the effectiveness rates showed that, overall, women aren’t very good about using contraceptives correctly. I’ve always wondered why that is. If you truly don’t want to get pregnant, educate yourself and use your method properly. It’s not that hard, and abortion is a terrible alternative.
I was so misinformed and uninstructed about the pill that I think the usual reported stats of over 90% effectiveness are a lie. One must take the pill every day at the same time for it to be most effective.
Jill might not be a statistician, but if more than a third of the women seeking abortions were using birth control, then guess what? It’s easy to make an arguement that birth control is just being used by clinics as a gateway drug to abortion. They want to get young people using these methods, they engage in even more risky behavoir, and cha-ching! They can charge hundreds for an abortion when the birth control “fails.” Of course it fails!! It’s supposed to!!! Once everyone can get “free” abortions, we’ll see the government charged thousands for what used to cost the mothers hundreds. Anyone remember the $500 hammers and $5,000 toilet seats in the government contractor scandals of the late 70’s?? You ain’t seen nothin’ yet.
I’ve always wondered how we could get real stats on artificial contraception. While couples may use the pill or other methods, how many of the are actually in a place of fertility? Some men or women may be infertile and not know it. An egg really only lasts for about 24 hours — some studies show eggs might be available for fertilization for only 8-12 hours. The stats discussed here present effectiveness rates for couples/women who report using contraception, even at a time when it is impossible to get pregnant because the egg is dissolved. What are the real effectiveness rates? No one knows…
Prolifer L., thank you for saying that! After reading your post, I thought, “No wonder the suicide rate is going up!” I think I just saw a report that showed suicide is now the #1 cause of death in America.
Thanks MissMissy, suicide is I think#3 cause of death among teens to young adults. I think accidents are #1 but your point is well taken. Among teens who are sexually active compared to teens who are not sexually active girls are 3X more likely to be depressed and suicidal and with sexually active boys they are 2X more likely to be depressed and 8X more likely to be suicidal than boys who are not sexually active. God help our kids.