In the 1960s the birth control pill became widely available. Early reports of serious side effects (blood clots, fatalities) led to a congressional investigation. As a result pharmaceutical companies were required to include an insert in a package of birth control pills that listed side effects and risks.
How many women read the insert? The medical field has responded to popular demand and the pills have become an accepted way of life. The pills are composed of synthetic hormones that change the delicate hormonal balance in a woman’s body. The desire for birth control that is simple and can even treat sexual encounters afterwards has led to multiple forms including hormonal injections, implants and abortifacients.
At the same time the rate of breast cancer, blood clots in women and maternal deaths are on the rise. A number of factors are involved, but research has shown that hormonal birth control is one of the risk factors.
Personally, I don’t believe that the HHS Mandate (part of the Affordable Care Act) to provide all forms of birth control for free is a good policy. I followed Hobby Lobby’s lawsuit against the Health & Human Services Mandate. Hobby Lobby provides 16 forms of birth control but the HHS Mandate was requiring Hobby Lobby to supply all 20 forms of birth control in their health insurance. Hobby Lobby opposed contraception that allowed a conceived life to be aborted. It seems to me that HHS Mandate has taken the free provision of birth control to the extreme. Is it really health care?
On Monday the Supreme Court ruled that Hobby Lobby cannot be forced to provide all 20 forms. An article by Mark Sherman, posted on AOL gives the court’s opinion:
Justice Samuel Alito wrote in his majority opinion, over a dissent from the four liberal justices, that forcing companies to pay for methods of women’s contraception to which they object violates the 1993 Religious Freedom Restoration Act. He said the ruling is limited and there are ways for the administration to ensure women get the birth control they want.
I applaud the Supreme Court decision. At the same time I am disturbed by our culture’s dependence on hormonal birth control. I would like to see women engaged in discussion about birth control, the various forms, the ways they work, the health risks, the effect on fertility.
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