Free Republic

Because of these substances, Lance ArmstrongÂ’s cycling victories were taken from him and he was disqualified from further competition; Jose Canseco and Mark McGuire were stripped of their baseball records; numerous congressional hearings were held to assign blame regarding their use. We do our best to protect athletes from these dangerous substances while, at the same time, encouraging women to put them in their bodies.What are these substances? Steroids.Oral contraceptives (commonly known as birth control pills) are steroidal hormones. These drugs manipulate hormones to prevent conception, just as performance-enhancing steroids manipulate hormones to enhance physical size, strength, speed and...

Growing evidence confirms that abortions take more than an emotional toll on those who obtain them. A new study, completed in January and released at the end of April, finds that women who have had abortions are 180 percent more likely to develop breast cancer, confirming evidence found in a number of similar studies around the world. The study, led by Dr. Unmesh Takalkar, a consultant surgeon and chief medical director at United CIIGMA Hospital in India and an endoscopic surgeon and fellow at Johns Hopkins, focused on 220 women in Aurangabad, India, and found that the odds of developing...

The recent Health and Human Services mandate and the ensuing debate appear to have pitted religious-liberty claims against women’s health. But because religious leaders (rightly) focused on the need for a religious exemption, it may appear to some observers that they are unable to articulate a reasoned and weighty response to the administration’s claim that contraceptives are essential to women’s health and well-being.The Obama administration is wrong on this score as well, and the substantive case needs to be made: The contraceptive revolution has failed to be the unmitigated boon to women or to society that it was hyped...

The Pill Turns 50: Medicine That Makes You SickROBERT F. CONKLING, M.D.Recently three major health stories appeared in the Washington press in less than two weeks that were an occasion to pause and reflect. Recently three major health stories appeared in the Washington press in less than two weeks that were an occasion to pause and reflect.First, the Potomac Conservancy made headlines about the contamination of rivers and drinking water in major metropolitan areas, including Washington DC. Contaminants include not only bacteria, industrial chemicals and agricultural pesticides but also potentially endocrine-active pharmaceuticals, such anti-depressants, contraceptive sex hormones, antibiotics and...

U.S. Journalists 'Celebrate' a Carcinogen's Birthday / British Scientists Shill for the Pill by Karen Malec, President, Coalition on Abortion/Breast Cancer * Karen Malec is a frequent contributor to RFFM.org. Malec is the Founder and President of the Coalition on Abortion/Breast Cancer. A free press and the dissemination of accurate information are among the elements needed for the continuation of a democratic republic. A free people must be educated and have access to truthful information in order to make decisions about the issues of the day, choose worthy candidates for office, participate in the legislative process and promote the common...

Associated Press SAN ANTONIO: Taking menopause hormones for five years doubles the risk for breast cancer, according to a new analysis of a big federal study that reveals the most dramatic evidence yet of the dangers of these still-popular pills. Even women who took estrogen and progestin pills for as little as a couple of years had a greater chance of getting cancer. And when they stopped taking them, their odds quickly improved, returning to a normal risk level roughly two years after quitting. Collectively, these new findings are likely to end any doubt that the risks outweigh the benefits...

Aurora, IL (LifeNews.com) -- As more reports surface on the new abortion center Planned Parenthood is building Aurora, Illinois, pro-life advocates are concerned about how it was built with so little advanced notice. The 22,000-foot building is one of the largest abortion centers in the nation but Planned Parenthood was able to build it under the radar. As LifeNews.com reported Tuesday, Planned Parenthood/Chicago Area will open the abortion business in the 200 block of North Oakhurst Drive, located in the DuPage County section of Aurora. But the new facility escaped the attention of pro-life advocates and area residents until recently...

Medicaid Changes Mean No More Discounts Millions of college students are suddenly facing sharply higher prices for birth control, prompting concerns among health officials that some will shift to less preferred contraceptives or stop using them altogether. Prices for oral contraceptives are doubling and tripling at student health centers, the result of a complex change in the Medicaid rebate law that essentially ends an incentive for drug companies to provide deep discounts to colleges. "It's a tremendous problem for our students because not every student has a platinum card," said Hugh Jessop, executive director of the health center at Indiana...

Pollution Suspected Cause of Anomaly in River's South Branch MOOREFIELD, W.Va. -- The South Branch of the Potomac River is as clear as bottled water here, where it rolls over a bed of smooth stones about 230 miles upstream from Washington. But there is a mystery beneath this glassy surface. Many of the river's male bass are producing eggs. Scientists believe this inversion of nature is being caused by pollution in the water. But they say the exact culprit is still unknown: It might be chicken estrogen left over in poultry manure, or perhaps human hormones dumped in the river...