A friend posted this article, Just Take A Pill For That on Facebook. And I have to make some comments about it, because it rings true for me.
Firstly, “nobody should take medicine without first reading all of the information and understanding that there is a possibility of unpleasant, or even dangerous, side effects… Having said that, one has to ask the logical question: What should make birth control pills any different?”
While I was pregnant with Timothy (in the USA), the OB clinic kept pressuring me to decide what form of contraceptive I would take after his birth. I told them I would not take any. I was infertile for 10 years, and so I wasn’t gonna take something to stop pregnancy now.
They argued with me. Told me all my options. If I wasn’t willing to take a drug, then how about a tubal ligation? After Timothy’s birth, the Nurse Practitioner spent a full hour with me at my 6 week postpartum visit expounding the virtues of contraception. When I asked her about side effects, she blew me off. I began to tell her of my experience with oral contraceptives, and she blew me off. I asked her about the physical impact of a tubal ligation, and she blew me off.
Why? When I ask my doctor about the effects of a given drug, he usually happily gives me the answers I’m looking for. But with any form of contraceptive, the questions are deflected with an array of irrelevant arguments. “You don’t want another baby, do you?? You’re getting older.” “What about overpopulation?” “You’re husband doesn’t earn enough to support another child.”
I didn’t ask for a commentary on how I feel about another pregnancy or the world economy. I want to know: What effect will this drug have on my body? Short term and Long term? If I take this, will it end up killing me, leaving my children motherless??
The Author hits the mark when she says, “Well, there are a couple of things that make that assortment of drugs (BCP) unique… they are part of the medicine chest preferred by those who promote sexual promiscuity and abortion.”
But I also think that the reason women take these drugs without question is that we want to be ‘free’ to do with our bodies what we will, without worrying about the responsibility that ‘freedom’ brings. It’s not just the doctors fault. As women we don’t ask the questions, because we just want a quick fix. We want to be able to “Just Take a Pill for That” and not have to worry about the consequences of our actions.
Besides, when we all end up with cancer, we can just sue the Pharmaceutical companies for suppressing the information. And yet again, thwart our own responsibility for the health (or lack thereof) of our own bodies.
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