HORMONAL CONTRACEPTION
humanlife.org
HAS CONSEQUENCES Is it ever worth taking a Group 1 carcinogen to control fertility? According to the Center for Disease Control, 9 out of 100 women each year who take the pill faithfully as directed will get pregnant.1 Also, about 1 in 5 teen couples using condoms as birth control became pregnant after one year.2 Hormonal contraceptives (the pill, the patch, and the shot) have side effects–ranging from minor inconveniences to major–even life threatening problems.
SOME MINOR SIDE EFFECTS: 3,4
• Weight Gain • Mood Changes • Dizziness
• Headaches • Nausea • Breast Tenderness
• Depression
SOME MAJOR HEALTH RISKS:
• Hormonal contraceptives don’t protect against STD’s. • Two to three times the risk of lung blood clots.5 • Decreased bone density.6 • Increased risk of heart attack and stroke.7
• The Pill can increase your risk of certain cancers just like hormonal replacement therapy. 8,9,10,11,12
• Long-term hormonal contraception was associated with an increase in glioma, a brain cancer.13
WHAT THEY’RE NOT TELLING YOU...
Women are often prescribed the pill for health reasons but not told how it works. The pill primarily works by releasing synthetic hormones at specific times in a woman’s cycle to prevent ovulation. The secondary method works by impeding sperm through changes in cervical mucus. If those two functions fail fertilization can occur. The third method thins the uterine lining to prevent a developing human from implanting.14
Dear Evie, A random guy contacted me through social media and started telling me how beautiful I am. I have no clue who he is. What do you think of this? What should I do? –Randomly Beautiful Dear Randomly Beautiful, I think this is a red flag, and you should definitely “ghost” him. This could be an identity theft attempt OR an online predator trying to meet up with you in order to kidnap, assault or sell you into human trafficking. Predators lure vulnerable youth who don’t find love or support at home and prop themselves up as a man that will love and take care of them. They convince young girls and even guys that their beauty will land them a lucrative modeling job, only to find themselves victims of prostitution, pornography and slave labor.
Steroidal estrogens pose a serious threat to humans and wildlife through ground water. The endocrine-disrupting chemicals released into our eco-system have connections to increased reprotoxicity, metabolic disorders, and cancers.15 Waste treatment plants cannot filter out all hormones released into the water systems.16 In the past ten years, researchers have discovered 37 species of male fish with female eggs.17 These high levels of intersex fish can result in reproductive impairment, diseases, infections, and die offs in fish.18 A study in Ontario, Canada, showed that chronic exposure of the fathead minnow to low concentrations of ethynylestradiol led to feminization of males and, ultimately, a near extinction of this species from the lake. 19 The pill works by suppressing natural hormones. Many doctors prescribe the pill to correct an irregular cycle, reduce cramps, acne, and stop painful or heavy periods. These are all signs of unbalanced hormones and reveal health problems like Polycystic Ovary Syndrome or Endometriosis. While the pill can help regulate cycles and stop symptoms, it does not treat underlying health problems. There are natural ways to keep a healthy reproductive system working with the body instead of against it.20 It is empowering to know how the body works. Sources Available at: humanlife.org/sources
OTHER POPULAR BIRTH CONTROL METHODS Also Carry Serious Health Risks IUDs can cause infection that lead to pelvic inflammatory disorder and ovarian cysts.21 Serious risks of IUDs include expulsion or migration into internal organs and perforation.22 Patch users have a three times higher risk of death from blood clots verses pill users. 23
Bayer Pharmaceuticals was sued over five hundred times for not disclosing other dangerous side effects from its Mirena IUD such as abcesses, infections and tubal pregnancies.24 Condom using couples increase their risk of preeclampsia.25
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