Raycom

“pill manufacturers do their best to suppress any unfavourable comments about the pill.”

Wow – I’d like to see any credible evidence of this. All the side effects and risks printed on the product details sheet usually under the title “possible side effects” that accompanies the pills in the box. Too assert that “side effects of the pill on children born to the pill takers, e.g. reduced fertility.” is just plain ludicrous, (and outside of any evidence based realm).

Oh and there is no evidence of the pill being linked to infertility. FYI: 50% of couples fronting for IVF treatment do so because of male infertility. Only a small percentage can be attributed to both male and female delayed child production. Rather - Infertility has become more visible in society of over the last 20 years as it is nolonger a subject of pity and shame. Thank God the days of women ‘visiting’ their mother and arriving back 6 months later with an (adopted) “baby” and having to hide the fact of the adoption from the everyone including the child. Also - since treatments for infertility have become more available society has become more knowledgeable and aware of the subject.

And the increased incidence of breast cancer? Nothing to do with the pill. More women are now living long enough to succumb to this cruel disease and the diagnosis rates are rising in line with the aging population. Oh and the rising rates of diagnosis among younger women can more reliably attributed to known links such as more women being overweight and eating more heavily meat based diet. Oh – and this is another condition we able to talk about now. 20 years ago if a woman died of breast cancer – no one said breast cancer – rather just “cancer”.

Oh and you’d be surprised to learn that a woman’s chance of developing ovarian cancer is dramatically reduced if she takes the pill for about 7 years of fertile period. This is the only know way of reducing the risk of developing this deadly and silent killer.

I was having Mother's Day lunch with a friend of mine. She is 46, not married and doesn't have any children. She finds Mother's Day pretty hard, because she has come to the realisation that she probably won't have children. She said that for all the freedom she found in her younger years, she wishes someone would have told her what life would look like now...

My friend asked whether I thought that young women would listen to her story and maybe think twice about contracepting and aborting their way through their 20s and 30s. I told her they probably wouldn't, because we value "freedom", even if it is just captivity in disguise, too highly.

I might send her a copy of this article... maybe there is some fertile ground for her story out there (pardon the pun). Thanks Amy.

Monica, what you are implying is that some women simply don't
know what they want from life.

You can't blame the pill for that.

Yes, our present society gives us freedoms like never before,
which many of us cherish.

But in the end, we are responsible for our own actions and choices.

It sounds like your friend simply did not do enough soul searching
before she hit menopause. She can only blame herself for that,
not the pill, or society, or anyone else.

Perhaps its time that she bought a dog :)

Well done Amy for speaking out on a contentious issue. It could be said that the Pill is just like any of the other contraceptives in existence, but its symbolic value in the Western World certainly makes it unique. This is partly due to its prolificness, but it also due to its links with the “sexual revolution”. Whether the Pill’s introduction in the 60’s is a coincidence with or a causator for the revolution is another matter, but what is more important is the question of what the consequences (positive and negative) of the revolution have been.

Many say that the sexual revolution has brought freedom. What freedom? Freedom to act on your impulses, with no regard for long term consequences? Freedom to engage with another person in a most intensely personal way, only to walk out the next morning, hoping never to see them again? Freedom to end the life of an unborn because their very existence is inconvenient to you? This is not the sort of freedom we need; rather than set us free it enslaves us in a dark world of broken hearts, disappointment and guilt. The invention of the Pill was certainly not our finest hour, and I see no need to celebrate it.

Finally, to address some of Amy’s detractors:
- Amy’s age is of no ill-consequence. She is old enough to vote, old enough to marry and old enough to be a mother. She most certainly is entitled to hold and profess a well-informed opinion on this issue, in fact everyone of mature age should!
- Whilst it is true that Amy is employed by the Catholic Church, she has written this article in a public forum of her own free-will. She has not mentioned the Church at all in her article, and is presenting her own honest opinion. Moreover, she has based this on an appraisal of the challenges faced by women in a post-sexual-revolution world. She has applied reason to form her opinion, and she certainly isn’t just spinning some propaganda to impress her employer.

Keep it up Amy!

*This is not the sort of freedom we need *

Err speak for yourself, Dominic P, for the rest of us might agree to
disagree. We know very well, the sorts of hangups and guilt that
the Catholic Church tries to enforce on people, when it comes to
matters of sex.

Luckily these days, the wings of the church have been clipped,
they cannot burn people at the stake anymore, for disagreeing with
them.

But for the flock of true believers, hey, whatever, believe what
you will.

Just don't ever again try to enforce that dogma on the rest of us.

Fact is, even when it comes to the pill, most Catholics take no
notice of the Vatican bleatings. No wonder that those church pews
keep emptying in the West. The church is largely out of touch with
its members on this issue.

A woman's life is not black and white as you depicted above Yabby. If only as cut and dried as you describe in your remarks. It takes a good 20 years for a woman to educate and work herself along in her career greatly contributing to society. Sometimes women have tried on many occasions to find their right partner while working long hours in their jobs, travelling overseas in their positions, representing their workplace by participating on many Boards Committees and Meetings. Do not forget the voluntary organisations many women get up and running over the years during what would be their social hours. I work with many of these women who simply have not had the time as a result of their work to meet their Mr Right.

Before they realise, a good 15 years lived and the biological clock has expired, with menopause stepping in earlier than expected [women cannot plan or KNOW when menopause will hit Yabby; likewise for you. What a hard hearted mean spirited statement, particularly in view of the fact that you are not walking in womens' shoes and dont endure half the crap we do. At least talk on something you have experienced; unless you are a transvestite your comments are clearly sexist.