3 Reasons Why Men Need to Be Concerned About Birth Control
“Mom, I’m cramping so bad. It hurts! I’m NOT going to school today!” yelled my sister from the couch in our living room as I was walking out the door to catch the school bus. Living with three sisters, this was an all-too common scenario that took place often in the house. Thank GOD I’m not a woman! Has been a consistent thought as I grew up realizing that men and women are VERY different biologically. Bleeding, cramping, “that time of the month,” whether it was direct language or code word for period, I know there are experiences women have that I will never personally understand. As my sister continued growing up, I remember overhearing my parents discussing the possibility of my sister using birth control to ease her symptoms. Birth Control? Isn’t that for preventing pregnancy? As I grew up, I came to my own opinions and beliefs that using birth control was wrong. But, I couldn’t see why it was wrong for women to take it for health reasons.
For a long time, I never felt that I had a voice in the birth control conversation. And let’s be honest. As a man, I didn’t grow up being told to take the pill for medication or my own protection from pregnancy. That’s just straight biological. The only people I heard discussing the topic of birth control were women. And for that reason I never looked into it. However, I was recently asked to research this topic. That’s when my world of indifference was shattered.
Today, I want to spit out three FACTS on why not only women, but MEN also need to be more active in speaking out against the use of hormonal birth-control. Disclaimer: I’m not a medical professional, but I will provide links to the research for your own curiosity and fact-checking.
- The Pill uses synthetic (chemical) hormones that are 10-40x more potent than the body’s hormones, while rods and implants are many thousand times more potent. This not only makes a woman’s body believe it is pregnant, but it flattens the chemical make-up for women.
Think about this for a quick second. A woman’s body produces estrogen and progesterone during her natural cycle. These hormones are necessary for overall bone, heart, blood, breast, immune, metabolic, and endocrine health. ALL of these help protect women against heart disease, breast cancer, cervical cancer, heart attacks, osteoporosis, and strokes. With that being said, if a woman is using birth control, these hormones will be shut down and replaced by chemicals that mimic what her body normally produces. And what does that mean for her? Her health will be exposed to potential dangers that can kill her in the long-run.
- The Pill increases a woman’s risk of breast cancer by about 30%. Before The Pill became widespread, only 1 in 12 women developed breast cancer. After the Pill’s widespread use, those numbers rose to 1 in 8 women.
These numbers speak for themselves. But what I find even more disturbing is that because of its link to breast cancer, veterinarians stopped prescribing Depo-Provera (a birth control shot, for those men out there that are as clueless as I was up until this point) for dogs. And if that doesn’t move you out of your seat already, it is also used to inject male sex offenders in order to kill their SEX DRIVE. Why are we still allowing women to take these injections?? (You can find these facts straight out from the American Cancer Society and the CDC.)
- The makers of The Shot (Pfizer Pharmaceuticals) have been sued for 700 million dollars because the drugs thin out a woman’s bones.
According to Dr. Janet Smith, 98% of women between the ages of 15-44 have used some sort of contraceptive in their lifetime. Around 45% of women use a form of contraceptive between the ages of 18-30. These are incredibly high numbers. And if bone development is critical during teenage years, then we are simply setting up these young women for deadly long-term side effects, including osteoporosis.
If you know someone that is taking a form of contraceptive, please share this information with them. If they are taking it for health reasons, especially when it comes to heavy cramping, there are medical professionals that specialize in identifying and correcting underlying cycle irregularities, instead of simply suppressing a woman’s cycle.
Overall, what we are seeing here based on these facts are bad news bears. As a man that strives to fight for the health, well-being, and empowerment of women, I would be failing them if I continued staying idle. There are simply too many worrisome and serious health concerns that are past the boundaries of a gray area on whether birth control is right or wrong. As a man, it is in our nature to protect the ones we love. Whether you are single or married, if we know someone is using the Pill, it is our duty as a friend, relative, or significant other to make sure that those whom we love are healthy. If we are introducing the Pill or another contraceptive, or allowing someone in our life to take it, are we truly loving that person? There can only be two positions in this question based on these facts. We are either loving this woman, or we are seriously risking their health. If we want to show that we care for the health and well-being of the women in our lives, then sharing information such as this shows how much we care for them. Which side will you stand on?
Resource Links:
http://chastity.com/wp/wp-content/uploads/2013/05/depo-bone-loss.pdf
https://multinationalmonitor.org/hyper/issues/1985/02/index.html
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/2142608?dopt=Abstract
https://www3.nd.edu/~afreddos/courses/264/contraception-whynot.htm
