That bizarre claim comes in a strange web video making the rounds. The video, You Deserve to Know the Truth about Contraception, apparently produced by a group of Roman Catholic nuns called the Children of Mary order, argues that women who take “chemical” contraception no longer produce hormones that attract men. So heterosexual men eventually will turn to other men for sex:
“What is a man to do when the majority of women are contracepting and he no longer finds them desirable, while contracepting women degrade themselves through immodest dress and action in an attempt to attract men who are confused from the lack of fertile women?”
The video goes on to argue — with no real evidence — that contraception also leads to more divorce, adultery and promiscuity. And it distorts science by claiming that hormonal contraception causes cancer, causes the abortion of millions of early pregnancies and pollutes the water supply with synthetic estrogen excreted in women’s urine.
In fact, research on the cancer risk of contraception is mixed. Some studies show a slightly and temporarily elevated risk for breast cancer, while other research doesn’t. Still other research shows that hormonal contraception actually reduces the risk of ovarian and endometrial cancers. Moreover, as we pointed out in an earlier post, research simply doesn’t support the claim that contraception causes abortions.
And what about synthetic estrogen polluting the water supply? Nope. From the Association of Reproductive Health Professionals:
“A literature review published in Environmental Science and Technology by researchers at the UCSF PRHE debunks the myth that birth control pills (and other estrogen-based hormonal contraceptives) are a major contributor to the presence of estrogenic compounds in waterways. The reviewers conclude that birth control pills contribute a negligible amount of synthetic estrogen to waterways, and EE2 is minimal or nonexistent in drinking water. The notion of unsuspecting Americans drinking water filled with birth control hormones may get headlines—but it does not accurately describe the state of the science.”
In some ways the war on birth control resembles efforts to dumb down teaching about evolution in public schools. In both cases we see science distorted or ignored altogether in an attempt to hijack public policy and use it to promote the personal religious beliefs of some over all others. (See more examples of junk science employed in attacks on contraception here.)
The video above also makes a number of religious arguments against contraception:
“Chemical contraceptives are not the only problem. It’s the whole birth control mentality – this idea that we have the right to decide when and how life comes about.”
It declares that the “birth control mentality” causes a “pollution of the heart” that “rejects the will of God and seeks selfish pleasure instead.”
We absolutely support the right of anyone to hold such faith beliefs. Indeed, that right is at the core of religious liberty — individuals have the right to choose for themselves, based on their own religious beliefs (or nonreligious views), whether or not to use contraception. But distorting the science around issues like contraception is irresponsible and discredits the arguments of those who engage in such tactics.
(Hat tip: Huffington Post)
Incredible. I remember what the Christian conservatives were saying in Nashville in the 1960s:
“The Pope has a bunch of trumped up baloney theology about contraception. The Catholic Church damn well knows why they are really against contraception. They want to keep the Catholic birth rate high so they will always be the dominant church numerically around the world. It’s all about church politics and exerting power.”
I don’t know about that, but I do know this. On a planet with severe environmental problems, declining natural resources, and a population that will eventually outstrip the carrying capacity of the planet, the Catholic and conservative Protestant positions against contraception are unloving, immoral, and socially irresponsible. One day about 100 years from now, some Pope is going to fall to his knees and repent of this position in sack cloth and ashes—and I think most American Catholics are already smart enough to know that. Problem is—it may be too late by that time.
As soon as I stop laughing at the imbecilic mutterings of people who have no concept of what they are talking about, I will start laughing again.
The various churches that go along with the Adam and Eve myth quote the supposed statements of God telling them to multiply. That is why so many countries in which the Roman Catholic church is predominant has such a high degree of poverty! How many more children have to be born to families who cannot afford to feed them? Personally, I get sick and tired of “charities” who beg people to give them money to feed the children.
Don’t get me wrong, my heart goes out to those children, it isn’t their fault that their parents keep multiplying because of a myth. It isn’t even their parent’s fault because they fear hell more than common sense.
Anyone who accepts the story of Adam and Eve is in serious need of mental help. It was a simple way to explain to people some 3,000 years ago how humanity started. Human life began in AFRICA, not in the Middle East. That is science and that is a fact.
To claim that people can BECOME gay is as funny a concept as anything else I’ve heard lately. It is beyond time that the superstitions of some churches be stopped
Well, a distinct lack of persons of the other sex for extended periods of time tends to increase homosexual activity (not for nought was homosexuality also known as the monastic microbe). But there are no indications that this is any any way a permanent shift that will not reverse when partners of the other sex become available again. And not everyone is affected to the same degree.
Actually, God told only Adama and Eve to be fruitful and multiply. It does not say anything about the people that would come after them. The idea that it does is just someone’s religious spin added to the Bible.
I almost made it through the entire video before nodding off. I was particularly intrigued by pheromone-reducing side-effect of women on chemical contraceptives. Garsh! That explains a whole bunch of stuff. I guess I and lots of men will be turning gay any day now! But seriously, trying to contradict the consequences of rapid world-wide population growth is egregiously irresponsible. Sure, stuff us all into the state of Texas and let someone else figure out food, water, sewer, etc. I’ll stop before I get a headache.