The Pill Should Be Prescribed Less, Not Made Available Over the Counter, Says Marriage Expert

Sept. 27, 2010 - PRLog -- Responding to recent reports that the birth control pill may be made available in the United States without a prescription, a Canadian guest editorial writer has lambasted the idea, citing studies showing its dangers and saying it would be bad for women’s health.

Calling it “Do It Yourself Doctoring,” Andrea Mrozek, the manager of research and communications at the Institute of Marriage and Family Canada, said that “the Pill is not Tylenol or cough medication. Certainly it's widely used. However, forever downplayed are the nasty and known side effects….”

Mrozek pointed out the risk of blood clots leading to stroke and mood swings. “There's increased risk of cervical cancer, (alongside the highly touted effect of decreasing the risk of ovarian cancer),” she said. “There's a 44-per-cent increased risk of developing breast cancer for young women prior to having children, a finding published in the Mayo Clinic journal in 2006.”

The expert pointed to anecdotal evidence which has some women feeling permanently nauseous, while others get depressed. Still others lose the desire to have sex.

The World Health Organization classified the Pill as a carcinogen in 2005. Besides that, the writer relates, the late Barbara Seaman, an investigative journalist, wrote a book about treating women with hormones called The Greatest Experiment Ever Performed on Women. In it she reveals how the Pill came to be and at what cost. Mrozek wrote in the Sept. 6 Ottawa Citizen.

Natural Family Planning Classes Taught

Classes in Natural Family Planning are taught in 17 locations in the Chicago metro area, including southeast Wisconsin and northeast Indiana. The next series of classes will begin Friday, Oct. 1, 2010, at 7:30 p.m., at Holy Family Hospital, Des Plaines, taught by Lloyd & Monica Cassidy.

To register, and for a list of classes throughout the U.S., go to CCL International at http://www.ccli.org, (800) 745-8252. Chicago area NFP information is at http://www.naturalfamilyplanningchicago.com.

The method taught is the Sympto-Thermal Method, which is also taught via CylePRO software. Sign up for a membership with the Couple to Couple League International at www.ccli.org, and receive “Family Foundations.”

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The Couple to Couple League (CCL) is an international, Catholic, non-profit organization dedicated to teaching Natural Family Planning (NFP) to married and engaged couples. This news article is sponsored by the Chicago chapter of CCL International.