Posted on 06/27/2008 5:27:16 PM PDT by UFC Pride K1
Professor James Trussell, a well recognized expert on contraceptives, told attendees of the British Pregnancy Advisory Service conference "The Pill is an outdated method because it does not work well enough. It is very difficult for ordinary women to take a pill every single day..."
Though he did not intend to, his statement in some ways vindicates those who argue that the net impact of the pill has been an increase in unwanted pregnancies and abortion.
The push to use multiple methods of contraception, along with Trussell's statement, is in part an admission that, at the population level, contraceptive programs and technologies have largely been a failure.
Predictably, Trussell doesn't advocate abstinence over the pill - for some reason the contraception crowd simply cannot fathom a cultural shift towards abstinence. Instead, he calls for increased use of the IUD: "The beauty of the implant or the IUD is that you can forget about them." IUDs have their own problems, including the "cost" of obtaining them as well as various side effects. .
Trussell also mentioned that studies indicated that women miss more pills than they recall - something that, at least in this author's mind, may cast further doubt on the calculated failure rates of combined methods as published by Santelli et al(2006).
Trussell's statement should bring into focus the public funding of Planned Parenthood, the nation's largest abortion chain and one of the largest distributors of the pill.
Planned Parenthood is well aware of the problems with the pill, yet over the past few decades it has provided it to minors - sans parental consent - using public funding. In the long run, a large population of sexually active teens and young adults dependant on the pill or other contraceptive methods to engage in sexual activity, sustains the demand for abortion. Planned Parenthood is well aware of this and has capitalized on it to grow their abortion practice - at the taxpayer's expense.
Trussell's admission should be a catalyst to re-evaluate both the public funding of contraception programs and cultural permissiveness towards premarital sexual activity, which is largely dependent on contraception. It should also bolster the call to eliminate - not simply to cut - funding for Planned Parenthood at all levels of government.
Related links: http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/uk/health/article4215441.ece?articleid=4215441
H/T Lifenews.com
I believe contraception is disgusting, but this sentence amazes me:
“It is very difficult for ordinary women to take a pill every single day...”
I know pro-aborts and pro-contracepts have made this sort of statement before. It seems to suggest contracepting women are stupid. Ironic when you consider the source.
I heard a former Planned Barrenhood employee say that they used extremely low dose Pills knowing that they often fail.
The pill works fine.. not all women do.
Though he did not intend to, his statement in some ways vindicates those who argue that the net impact of the pill has been an increase in unwanted pregnancies and abortion.
That's a total load of garbage. Match up a group of women who take the pill against a group of women who don't, both of equal sexual activity, and I guarantee you there are more pregnancies in the latter group.
outdated? what, did the race evolve an immunity to it?
Must be, because, according to Planned Parenthood, most pregnancies are CAUSED by “contraceptive failure.” That’s certainly an evolutionary change, because 100,000 years, I’d bet that hardly any pregnancies were caused by contraceptive failure.
That's a total load of garbage. Match up a group of women who take the pill against a group of women who don't, both of equal sexual activity, and I guarantee you there are more pregnancies in the latter group.
__________________
The net impact of the pill HAS been to promote sexual activity without commitment and with the intention of not having a child, and this period of life now often lasts until people are thirty or older. Because people are fallible and they don't think with their heads when it comes to sex, there has been an increase in the number of unwanted pregnancies among unmarried women, and resulting in an increase in the number of abortions.
If you want to match pregnancies among women taking the pill against women who don't, which women who don't? There are more reliable contraceptive methods than the pill, such as the IUD and Norplant. Well-practiced natural family planning will prevent pregnancy as well as average pill use does. As you said, it does come down to the people using the method, rather than the method - most methods, perfectly used, will have a 97-99% effectiveness rate. But that's why the experts want methods applied once a year or so by experts, and not daily by amateurs.
Expert: Vitamins don’t work - it is very difficult for women to remember to take a vitamin every day.
Expert: Food doesn’t work - it is very difficult for women to remember to eat everyday.
What barbara streisand.
I think PP was talking about unwanted pregnancies, and at least for a while, they defined contraceptive failure as having used a contraceptive during the month of conception - if you forgot to take your pills for three days, or were too drunk to wait for the condom that one time - contraceptive failure.
That may be (I am not convinced) but at what awful price?
The pill is a major cause of infertility and a host of other medical problems for women of childbearing age..and probably will be shown to be at the root of female cancers as well.
You DON’T have to take a pill every day. You are still protected if you forget one once in awhile and take two the next day. The whole idea is to get your hormones to a certain level and keep it up so you won’t conceive.
>>You DON’T have to take a pill every day. You are still protected if you forget one once in awhile and take two the next day. The whole idea is to get your hormones to a certain level and keep it up so you won’t conceive.
Depending on what generation/type of pill one is on, missing even one pill can result in pregnancy. Even taking them at different times can result in pregnancy..
*eye roll* There are elderly women who manage to take several prescriptions at varying times of the day. I'm sure a young woman can manage one pill, if she really wants to do so.
My wife took the pill for 10 years and we didn’t get pregnant until we wanted to.
I just always thought it was funny that PP put out these pie charts, showing the “various” causes of pregnancy. I had always thought there was just one cause.
>>My wife took the pill for 10 years and we didn’t get pregnant until we wanted to.
It’s true that married couples have a much lower failure rate with contraceptives...
If they were disciplined enough to stick the weekday stickers on the package every month, then they could always see exactly how many pills they have missed. What's going to happen in a few years when they need a blood pressure pill everyday? If they "miss more pills than they recall," they'll likely die of a stroke.
Exactly. Women manage to take BCPs, or vitamins or calcium supplements or whatever, every day. It’s not a contraceptive failure, it’s human error. I took BCPs for 15 years (before, between and after our sons), 2 planned pregnancies total. I think it directly relates to how much you really want to prevent having a child. Abstinence isn’t really an option I want to consider in marriage. And I didn’t want to be tied to only having it a few days a month either!
We decided to have another one. My gynecologist said after 6 years on depo, it could be a year until I even had a period ... longer until I would be fertile. One month later, I was pregnant with twins. I'm back on depo now, and will be until menopause.
Less sex?
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.