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http://www.jillstanek.com/2011/01/study-spain-contraception-use-up-abortions-double-researchers-cant-figure-out-why/#more-17897
We previously reported that on August 13th the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved a new prescription abortion drug called "ella" allowing Watson Pharmaceuticals to market this drug in the U.S. as an "emergency contraceptive" (EC). While proponents of ella claim that it is more effective than the so-called "morning-after-pill," Plan B, ella can also function as an abortion drug more like RU-486. On December 1st, Watson Pharmaceuticals began to aggressively promote ella over the internet and in pharmacies. Because ella is similar in its chemical make-up to the abortion drug RU-486, it therefore can destroy an implanted embryo, in addition to other modes of action such as preventing fertilization or preventing implantation. Until now the FDA has drawn the line between EC and abortion based on whether a drug prevents an established pregnancy or ends an established pregnancy. Therefore, approving ella as an EC even under their own definition of an abortifacient is doubly misleading. Because of the FDA's approval of ella as an EC, pharmacists may believe they must cover ella as a prescription drug. However, many pharmacists do not know about the dangers of this drug or that it functions like an abortion. Many major pharmacy chains may not know ella can cause an abortion, and need to be aware of these concerns before they begin stocking this abortion drug.
 BLOOD CLOTS FROM BIRTH CONTROL NEARLY KILL TEXAS WOMAN
Washington, DC (02 September 2009) – A woman in Austin, Texas, is the latest victim of the deadly side effects of the birth control pill.
Patti Kelly, 28, was diagnosed in August with multiple blood clots in both lungs. Her doctor told her that if she hadn’t come into the emergency room when she did, she “could have died instantly.”
Kelly’s doctor named birth control as the driving factor in onslaught of the blood clots that could have caused Kelly’s death.
Marie Hahnenberg, project director for American Life League’ s “The Pill Kills” outreach, is not surprised.
“We are constantly hearing about problems that stem from the dangerous chemicals used in hormonal contraception,” Hahnenberg said. “Women have been told for years that the birth control pill is the answer to their medical complications, when it is only causing more problems – even death.”
In 2008, Johnson and Johnson spent at least $68.7 million to settle hundreds of lawsuits filed by women who suffered blood clots, heart attacks or strokes after using the company’s Ortho Evra birth-control patch. This summer, lawsuits have been filed against Bayer’s dangerous and life-threatening Yasmin and Yaz birth control pills.
“Not only do the pill, patch, intrauterine device and similar birth control products cause great harm to the woman herself, but these products also can cause early abortions,” Hahnenberg said. “The physical and emotional perils associated with birth control are one of the most closely guarded secrets in the pharmaceutical industry. It’s time women knew the truth.”
For more information on the birth control pill and other hormonal contraception as well as victims of the pill check out www.thepillkills.com American Life League was cofounded in 1979 by Judie Brown. It is the largest grassroots Catholic pro-life organization in the United States and is committed to the protection of all innocent human beings from the moment of creation to natural death. For more information or press inquiries, please contact Katie Walker at 540.659.4942.
Condom Database and Resources: http://www.hli.org/condom_database.html
Vatican condemns IVF, the PillTHE Vatican today said life was sacred at every stage of its existence and condemned artificial fertilisation, embryonic stem-cell research, human cloning and drugs which block pregnancy from taking hold. A long-awaited document on bioethics by the Vatican's doctrinal body also said the so-called "morning after pill" and the drug RU-486, which blocks the action of hormones needed to keep a fertilised egg implanted in the uterus, fall "within the sin of abortion" and are gravely immoral.
"Dignitas Personae" (dignity of a person), an Instruction of Certain Bioethical Questions," is an attempt to bring the Church up to date with recent advances in science and medicine.
It said human life deserved respect "from the very first stages of its existence (and) can never be reduced merely to a group of cells."
"The human embryo has, therefore, from the very beginning, the dignity proper to a person," the docment by the Congregations of the Doctrine of the Faith said.
It said most forms of artifical fertilisation "are to be excluded" because "they substitute for the conjugal act ... which alone is truly worthy of responsible procreation".
It condemned in-vitro fertilisation, saying the techniques "proceed as if the human embryo were simply a mass of cells to be used, selected and discarded."
The highly technical document said only adult stem cell research was moral because embryonic stem cell research involved the destruction of embryos.
In the document, the Vatican also defended its right to intervene on such matters.
"There are those who say that the moral teaching of the Church contains too many prohibitions. In reality, however, her teaching is based on the recognition and promotion of all the gifts which the Creator has bestowed on man: such as life, knowledge, freedom and love," it said.
American Society of Reproductive Medicine statement confirms the pill causes abortions http://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2008/dec/08121206.html
Contraceptive pill is polluting environment: Vatican newspaper http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5jAOv_zU_KMSFrB0Mt7QEcsO0c4vg
 http://www.usccb.org/prolife/issues/contraception/morningafterpill.shtml http://www.prolife.com/MorningAfterPill.html http://www.all.org/article.php?id=10130 Presbyterians Pro-Life
P.O. Box 11130
Burke, VA 22009-1130 http://www.ppl.org/TS_MorningAfterPill_March2001.html
Pill inventor slams ... pill http://www.cathnews.com/article.aspx?aeid=11004
American Journal of Epidemiology Advance Access
Published online on December 13, 2008 A Case-Control Study of Oral Contraceptive Use and Incident Breast CancerLynn Rosenberg, Yuqing Zhang, Patricia F. Coogan, Brian L. Strom and Julie R. Palmer http://aje.oxfordjournals.org/cgi/content/short/kwn360v1
January 19th, 2009 by Patti Maguire Armstrong Ladies and gentleman, May I have your attention please? Put down the birth control. You heard me. Put it down and walk away. http://catholicexchange.com/2009/01/19/115154/ by Janet E. Smith http://www.lifeissues.net/writers/smith/smith_12artificialnatural.html
  Pharmacist explains decision to not sell contraception
(Publication Date: 02-12-2009)
http://www.catholiccourier.com/tmp1.cfm?nid=77&articleid=105574&cfid=9980178&cftoken=64532310 
The Pill may impair muscle gains in young women http://uk.reuters.com/article/healthNewsMolt/idUKTRE53G41020090417?sp=true August 15, 2009 http://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2009/oct/09102903.html
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
16 February 2010
CONTACT: Katie Walker
540.659.4942| kwalker@all.org
50 Lawsuits in Indiana Exposing Dangers of
Birth Control YAZ and Yasmin
Washington, DC (16 February 2010) - Over 50 women in Indiana are filing
lawsuits against Bayer Pharmaceuticals charging that use of the company's
Yaz and Yasmin hormonal birth control pills caused conditions ranging from
gallbladder-related injuries to strokes.
There are now over 25,000 similar reported cases across the United States.
"We're seeing an increasing awareness of the very real health risks
associated with hormonal birth control," said Marie Hahnenberg, project
director of American Life League's The Pill Kills project. "For years,
criticism of birth control has been a sacrosanct topic, but the victims of
hormonal birth control are too numerous to ignore any longer."
American Life League' s annual Protest the Pill Day on June 5 seeks to
educate women on the dangers of hormonal birth control - a class one
carcinogen on the same level as tobacco - through protests and activism at
birth control retailers nationwide.
"The birth control pill, patch, IUD, and similar birth control products can
cause blood clots, heart attacks and pulmonary embolisms," Hahnenberg said.
"How many lawsuits, injuries and even deaths could be prevented if only
women were properly warned, or better yet, if these dangerous drugs were
taken off the market?"
American Life League was cofounded in 1979 by Judie Brown. It is the largest
grassroots Catholic pro-life organization in the United States and is
committed to the protection of all innocent human beings from the moment of
creation to natural death. For more information or press inquiries, please
contact Katie Walker at 540.659.4942.
FOR MORE INFORMATION:
American Life League: The Pill Kills
http://thepillkills.org/
Attorney at Law.com: Yaz Injury Lawsuits Could Top 25,000 Cases (11 January
2010)
http://www.attorneyatlaw.com/2010/01/yaz-injury-lawsuits-could-top-25000-cases/
The Indy Channel : More Than 50 Hoosiers Involved In Birth Control Lawsuits
(09 February 2010)
http://www.theindychannel.com/health/22505260/detail.html
# # #
FOR MORE INFORMATION:
American Life League: The Pill Killls http://thepillkills.com/ KVUE: Austin Woman Claims Birth Control Nearly Killed Her (29 August 2009)
http://www.kvue.com/news/newton/stories/082809_kvue_Birth_Control_Danger-ts.127771e6f.html
Bloomberg: J&J Paid $68 Million to Settle Birth-Control Cases (10 October 2008)
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601109&sid=amZT0X84_8zU&refer=home AboutLawsuits.com: Yasmin and Yaz Birth Control Lawsuits Mount Against Bayer (24 July 2009)
http://www.aboutlawsuits.com/yasmin-and-yaz-birth-control-lawsuits-mount-5062/
Combined monophasic early contraception pill, 1960. Pink contraceptive pills (marked 'PD') in a circular blue plastic dispenser. The Pill at 50: Sex, Freedom and Paradox
There's no such thing as the Car or the Shoe or the Laundry Soap. But everyone knows the Pill, whose FDA approval 50 years ago rearranged the furniture of human relations in ways that we've argued about ever since.
Consider the contradictions: It was the first medicine ever designed to be taken regularly by people who were not sick. Its main inventor was a conservative Catholic who was looking for a treatment for infertility and instead found a guarantee of it. It was blamed for unleashing the sexual revolution among suddenly swinging singles, despite the fact that throughout the 1960s, women usually had to be married to get it. Its supporters hoped it would strengthen marriage by easing the strain of unwanted children; its critics still charge that the Pill gave rise to promiscuity, adultery and the breakdown of the family. In 1999 the Economist named it the most important scientific advance of the 20th century, but Gloria Steinem, one of the era's most influential feminists, calls its impact "overrated." One of the world's largest studies of the Pill — 46,000 women followed for nearly 40 years — was released this March. It found that women who take the Pill are less likely to die prematurely from any cause, including cancer and heart disease, yet many women still question whether the health risks outweigh the benefits. (See "The Year in Health 2009.") Maybe it's the nature of icons to be both worshipped and stoned, laden with symbolic value beyond their proportions. Because the Pill arrived at a moment of epochal social change, it became a handy explanation for the inexplicable. The 1950s felt so safe and smug, the '60s so raw and raucous, the revolutions stacked one on top of another, in race relations, gender roles, generational conflict, the clash of church and state — so many values and vanities tossed on the bonfire, and no one had a concordance to explain why it was all happening at once. Thus did Woodstock, caked in muddy legend, become much more than a concert, and leaders become martyrs, and the pill become the Pill, the means by which women untied their aprons, scooped up their ambitions and marched eagerly into the new age. That age has seen changes in social behavior that continue to accelerate. In 1960 the typical American woman had 3.6 children; by 1980 the number had dropped below 2. For the first time, more women identified themselves as workers than as homemakers. "There is a straight line between the Pill and the changes in family structure we now see," says National Organization for Women (NOW) president Terry O'Neill, "with 22% of women earning more than their husbands. In 1970, 70% of women with children under 6 were at home; 30% worked. Now that's roughly reversed." (See TIME's special on the state of the American woman.) Today more than 100 million women around the world start their day with this tiny tablet. So small. So powerful. But in surprising ways, so misunderstood. Improvising Infertility
As long as people have been making little people, they've wanted to know how not to. The ancient Egyptians mixed a paste out of crocodile dung and formed it into a pessary, or vaginal insert. Aristotle proposed cedar oil and frankincense oil as spermicides; Casanova wrote of using half a lemon as a cervical cap. The condom is often credited to one Dr. Condom in the mid-1700s, who was said to have invented a sheath made out of sheep intestines for England's King Charles II to help limit the number of bastards he sired, though such devices had actually been around for centuries. (Watch a video about the Pill's importance.) "The Pill was not at all what separated reproduction and sex among married people," argues Harvard economist Claudia Goldin, who calls that "among the biggest misconceptions" about sexual behavior and the Pill. Long before its introduction, women already knew how to avoid pregnancy, however imperfectly. The typical white American woman in 1800 gave birth seven times; by 1900 the average was down to 3.5. (See TIME's sex covers.) But well into the modern age, contraception met with unified opposition from across the religious spectrum, Protestants and Catholics, Western and Eastern Orthodox. Sex, even within marriage, was immoral unless aimed at having a baby. Fear of pregnancy was a powerful check on promiscuity — and information about contraception was treated as the equivalent of pornography. In 1873 Congress passed a law banning birth control information as obscene. So women seeking ways to limit the number of children they bore had to know how to read the papers. Through the turn of the century, advertisements for potions to treat "female disorders" or menstrual irregularities carried a bold, bright warning: "Portuguese Female Pills, not to be used during pregnancy for they will cause miscarriage." The warning, of course, was the ad. See how exercise during pregnancy can benefit babies' health. See TIME's special women's health checkup.
Read more:
http://www.time.com/time/health/article/0,8599,1983712,00.html#ixzz0m5HxMcbn http://www.time.com/time/health/article/0,8599,1983712,00.html#ixzz0m5IT9dyf http://www.time.com/time/health/article/0,8599,1983712,00.html
 Pro-lifers protest birth control Charlie Butts - OneNewsNow - 6/5/2010 4:15:00 AM Today, a number of pro-life groups are protesting contraceptives by taking part in The Pill Kills Day. As birth-control advocates are celebrating 50 years of hormonal contraceptives, a coalition of pro-life groups across the country is participating in the largest protest of the birth-control pill in the United States.
"The pill is very dangerous to the woman's health," contends Marie Hahnenberg of the American Life League. "There [have] been many...examples of women who have experienced blood clots, pulmonary embolisms, and with an estimate of 25,000 lawsuits against the Yaz birth-control pill, it definitely causes great harm to the woman herself."
In addition to the health risks, she says the abortion issue is also a problem. "The pill also causes early chemical abortions," Hahnenberg explains. "It thins the lining of the mother's uterus so the new baby cannot attach, and thus dies. And also, the pill has had a terrible effect on our environment."
Several studies in recent years show that the synthetic estrogen in birth-control pills has been entering waste waters and affecting fish. As a result, some fish are becoming feminized, so there are now intersex fish. Studies have also shown a link between birth-control pills and breast cancer. Additional information on other risks can be found on The Pill Kills website.
ON 50TH ANNIVERSARY, ‘PILL KILLS DAY’ EXPOSES HEALTH, ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT OF BIRTH CONTROL For National Women’s Health Week, Women Deserve the Truth, says Group Washington, DC (14 May 2010) – For the 50th anniversary of the FDA–approved birth control pill, American Life League is highlighting the health and environmental dangers of artificial contraception with nationwide protests to mark “The Pill Kills Day” on June 5. "It is truly hard to believe that those concerned with the environment in which we live are not equally concerned about the environment of a woman's body, polluted as it is with artificial chemicals that are really nothing more than recreational drugs," said Judie Brown, president of American Life League.
Marie Hahnenberg, project director of the Pill Kills Day, agreed. “Women need to talk to their doctors about healthier and safer alternatives than the birth control pill,” Hahnenberg said. “The pharmaceutical industries are doing everything they can to ignore the estimated 25,000 lawsuits in the U.S. alone. During this National Women’s Health Week especially – women deserve to be better informed on what they’re putting in their bodies.”
While it is estimated that over 12 million American women take the birth control pill, the Mayo Clinic warns that birth control use is one of the major contributing factors for pulmonary embolism and blood clots. Hormonal birth control is considered a class one carcinogen – alongside cigarettes - in cancer-causing potential.
Scientists also warn that birth control in the nation’s waterways is wreaking havoc on fish populations – a fact that could have a significant domino impact up the food chain.
A 2006 study conducted in the waters of the Potomac River and its tributaries found that 80 percent of the male small mouth bass were strange intersex fish – these male fish were growing female reproductive parts. Scientists have also found that exposure to estrogen reduces the production of immune related proteins in fish, making them more susceptible to disease. This could explain why intersex fish, massive fish kills and fish with lesions coexist in the Shenandoah and Potomac rivers.
According to Conrad Volz, co-director of exposure assessment at the University of Pittsburgh Cancer Institute's Center for Environmental Oncology, “We need to pay attention to chemicals that are estrogenic in nature, because they find their way back into the water we all use.”
American Life League was cofounded in 1979 by Judie Brown. It is the largest grassroots Catholic pro-life organization in the United States and is committed to the protection of all innocent human beings from the moment of creation to natural death. For more information or press inquiries, please contact Katie Walker at 540.659.4942. FOR MORE INFORMATION:
American Life League: The Pill Kills
http://thepillkills.org/ Scientific American: Bringing Cancer to the Dinner Table (17 April 2007)
http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=bringing-cancer-to-dinner-table-breast-cancer-cells-grow-under-influence-fish-flesh
Mayo Clinic: Pulmonary embolism
http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/pulmonary-embolism/ds00429/dsection=risk-factors
 New abortion pill ella one the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) quietly announced approval of a new prescription abortion drug called "ella" -- allowing the manufacturer HRA Pharma to market this drug in the U.S. as an emergency contraceptive (EC). Proponents of ella claim that it is more effective than the so-called "morning-after pill," Plan B, because it can be taken up to 5 days after unprotected sex, vs. the 3-day approved time frame for Plan B. FRC opposes Plan B because in addition to preventing ovulation and fertilization, it can also work as an abortifacient by preventing the implantation of a conceived embryo, thereby causing the embryo's death. But ella can also destroy an implanted embryo. Ella is similar in its chemical make-up to the one FDA approved abortion drug, RU-486. Until now the FDA has drawn the line between EC and abortion based on whether a drug prevents or ends an established pregnancy. Therefore, approving ella as an EC even under their own definition of an abortifacient is doubly misleading.
To educate the public about this new abortion drug and shed light on its dangers, FRC worked with coalition partners to produce a video which exposes what President Obama's FDA fails to explain. Watch the video, learn more about this deceptively dangerous new drug, and tell your friends about ellacausesabortions.com. http://ellacausesabortions.com/ellapetition/Welcome.html
FOR 50TH ANNIVERSARY, DOCTOR EXPOSES PILL'S 'DIRTY LITTLE SECRET' Washington, DC (17 May 2010) – The following is a letter written by Dr. Chris Kahlenborn on the 50th anniversary of the birth control pill. Dr. Kahlenborn, coauthor of “Oral Contraceptive Use as a Risk Factor for Pre-menopausal Breast Cancer: A Meta-analysis” (Mayo Clinic Proceedings, October, 2006), practices internal medicine in Altoona, Pennsylvania. Dr. Kahlenborn is available for interviews upon request. The Pill After 50 Years: The Dirty Little Secret By Chris Kahlenborn M.D.
I find it disturbing that after nearly 50 years, both the media and the medical establishment have failed to give a true airing to one of the pill’s most dangerous side effects, namely, that “dirty little secret.” What’s that? One need only check the Mayo Clinic Proceedings—the major medical publication of the Mayo Clinic—to find our little-known study, which showed that the pill increases the risk of premenopausal breast cancer substantially when taken at a young age (see Mayo Clinic Proceedings: October 3, 2006). In October 2006, we reviewed the medical literature and combined data in an analysis (referred to as a meta-analysis): We found that 21 out of 23 studies showed that using oral contraceptives prior to a woman’s first birth resulted in a 44 percent increased risk in premenopausal breast cancer. Our meta-analysis remains the most recent study in this area and updates the previously analysis (the Oxford analysis published in 1996), which relied on older data with older women (two-thirds of whom were over age 45); unfortunately, the Oxford study continues to be quoted by ACOG, textbooks, the National Cancer Institute, the American Cancer Society and most researchers and obstetricians, claiming that oral contraceptives carry little breast cancer risk especially 10 years after last use.
I continue to be amazed at the discordance between the medical literature and public/medical awareness. To my dismay, after our meta-analysis was published, the Mayo Clinic sent out a press release to all major media in the country. The response? ( ). The blank space between the parentheses is purposeful. Although our meta-analysis received scant internet coverage, almost no major media covered this study, which is shocking, given the fact that about 40,000 women in the U.S. get premenopausal breast cancer annually, oral contraceptives are an elective risk factor and our study is the most recent meta-analysis to date on the oral contraceptive-breast cancer link.
In addition to our meta-analysis, it’s important to note that the World Health Organization classified oral contraceptives as a Class I carcinogen in 2005—the most dangerous classification. Even more data has come forth recently in a paper by several researchers—one of whom is a major researcher of the National Cancer Institute—which not only cited our meta-analysis, but found that oral contraceptives increase the risk of triple-negative breast cancer in women under 40 by 320 percent (triple-negative breast cancers are extremely aggressive). (Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers & Prevention, April 2009.)
Few in the medical establishment or the public are aware of this data, or if they are, young women almost never hear about them. It’s been almost four years since the publication of our study in the Mayo Clinic Proceedings; I am beginning to think that our study has been effectively “buried.” Breast cancer and the pill—that dirty little secret? Some day perhaps someone in the media and/or medical establishment will dust a little dirt off those pink ribbons and let young women hear all the facts so they can finally make truly informed decisions.
American Life League was cofounded in 1979 by Judie Brown. It is the largest grassroots Catholic pro-life organization in the United States and is committed to the protection of all innocent human beings from the moment of creation to natural death. For more information or press inquiries, please contact Katie Walker at 540.659.4942. FOR MORE INFORMATION:
American Life League: The Pill's Dirty Little Secret (14 May 2010)
http://all.org/newsroom_judieblog.php?id=3046 Mayo Clinic Proceedings: Oral Contraceptive Use as a Risk Factor for Premenopausal Breast Cancer:A Meta-analysis (October 2006)
http://mayoclinicproceedings.com/content/81/10/1290.full.pdf+html Polycarp Research Institute: Oral Contraceptive Use as a Risk Factor for Premenopausal Breast Cancer:A Meta-analysis (October 2006)
http://www.polycarp.org/
<Previous | Next > Page
http://www.jillstanek.com/2011/01/study-spain-contraception-use-up-abortions-double-researchers-cant-figure-out-why/#more-17897
We previously reported that on August 13th the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved a new prescription abortion drug called "ella" allowing Watson Pharmaceuticals to market this drug in the U.S. as an "emergency contraceptive" (EC). While proponents of ella claim that it is more effective than the so-called "morning-after-pill," Plan B, ella can also function as an abortion drug more like RU-486. On December 1st, Watson Pharmaceuticals began to aggressively promote ella over the internet and in pharmacies. Because ella is similar in its chemical make-up to the abortion drug RU-486, it therefore can destroy an implanted embryo, in addition to other modes of action such as preventing fertilization or preventing implantation. Until now the FDA has drawn the line between EC and abortion based on whether a drug prevents an established pregnancy or ends an established pregnancy. Therefore, approving ella as an EC even under their own definition of an abortifacient is doubly misleading. Because of the FDA's approval of ella as an EC, pharmacists may believe they must cover ella as a prescription drug. However, many pharmacists do not know about the dangers of this drug or that it functions like an abortion. Many major pharmacy chains may not know ella can cause an abortion, and need to be aware of these concerns before they begin stocking this abortion drug.
BLOOD CLOTS FROM BIRTH CONTROL NEARLY KILL TEXAS WOMAN Washington, DC (02 September 2009) – A woman in Austin, Texas, is the latest victim of the deadly side effects of the birth control pill.
Patti Kelly, 28, was diagnosed in August with multiple blood clots in both lungs. Her doctor told her that if she hadn’t come into the emergency room when she did, she “could have died instantly.”
Kelly’s doctor named birth control as the driving factor in onslaught of the blood clots that could have caused Kelly’s death.
Marie Hahnenberg, project director for American Life League’ s “The Pill Kills” outreach, is not surprised.
“We are constantly hearing about problems that stem from the dangerous chemicals used in hormonal contraception,” Hahnenberg said. “Women have been told for years that the birth control pill is the answer to their medical complications, when it is only causing more problems – even death.”
In 2008, Johnson and Johnson spent at least $68.7 million to settle hundreds of lawsuits filed by women who suffered blood clots, heart attacks or strokes after using the company’s Ortho Evra birth-control patch. This summer, lawsuits have been filed against Bayer’s dangerous and life-threatening Yasmin and Yaz birth control pills.
“Not only do the pill, patch, intrauterine device and similar birth control products cause great harm to the woman herself, but these products also can cause early abortions,” Hahnenberg said. “The physical and emotional perils associated with birth control are one of the most closely guarded secrets in the pharmaceutical industry. It’s time women knew the truth.”
For more information on the birth control pill and other hormonal contraception as well as victims of the pill check out www.thepillkills.com American Life League was cofounded in 1979 by Judie Brown. It is the largest grassroots Catholic pro-life organization in the United States and is committed to the protection of all innocent human beings from the moment of creation to natural death. For more information or press inquiries, please contact Katie Walker at 540.659.4942.
Condom Database and Resources: http://www.hli.org/condom_database.html
Vatican condemns IVF, the PillTHE Vatican today said life was sacred at every stage of its existence and condemned artificial fertilisation, embryonic stem-cell research, human cloning and drugs which block pregnancy from taking hold. A long-awaited document on bioethics by the Vatican's doctrinal body also said the so-called "morning after pill" and the drug RU-486, which blocks the action of hormones needed to keep a fertilised egg implanted in the uterus, fall "within the sin of abortion" and are gravely immoral.
"Dignitas Personae" (dignity of a person), an Instruction of Certain Bioethical Questions," is an attempt to bring the Church up to date with recent advances in science and medicine.
It said human life deserved respect "from the very first stages of its existence (and) can never be reduced merely to a group of cells."
"The human embryo has, therefore, from the very beginning, the dignity proper to a person," the docment by the Congregations of the Doctrine of the Faith said.
It said most forms of artifical fertilisation "are to be excluded" because "they substitute for the conjugal act ... which alone is truly worthy of responsible procreation".
It condemned in-vitro fertilisation, saying the techniques "proceed as if the human embryo were simply a mass of cells to be used, selected and discarded."
The highly technical document said only adult stem cell research was moral because embryonic stem cell research involved the destruction of embryos.
In the document, the Vatican also defended its right to intervene on such matters.
"There are those who say that the moral teaching of the Church contains too many prohibitions. In reality, however, her teaching is based on the recognition and promotion of all the gifts which the Creator has bestowed on man: such as life, knowledge, freedom and love," it said.
American Society of Reproductive Medicine statement confirms the pill causes abortions http://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2008/dec/08121206.html
Contraceptive pill is polluting environment: Vatican newspaper http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5jAOv_zU_KMSFrB0Mt7QEcsO0c4vg
http://www.usccb.org/prolife/issues/contraception/morningafterpill.shtml http://www.prolife.com/MorningAfterPill.html http://www.all.org/article.php?id=10130 Presbyterians Pro-Life
P.O. Box 11130
Burke, VA 22009-1130 http://www.ppl.org/TS_MorningAfterPill_March2001.html
Pill inventor slams ... pill http://www.cathnews.com/article.aspx?aeid=11004
American Journal of Epidemiology Advance Access
Published online on December 13, 2008 A Case-Control Study of Oral Contraceptive Use and Incident Breast CancerLynn Rosenberg, Yuqing Zhang, Patricia F. Coogan, Brian L. Strom and Julie R. Palmer http://aje.oxfordjournals.org/cgi/content/short/kwn360v1
January 19th, 2009 by Patti Maguire Armstrong Ladies and gentleman, May I have your attention please? Put down the birth control. You heard me. Put it down and walk away. http://catholicexchange.com/2009/01/19/115154/ by Janet E. Smith http://www.lifeissues.net/writers/smith/smith_12artificialnatural.html
Pharmacist explains decision to not sell contraception
(Publication Date: 02-12-2009)
http://www.catholiccourier.com/tmp1.cfm?nid=77&articleid=105574&cfid=9980178&cftoken=64532310
The Pill may impair muscle gains in young women http://uk.reuters.com/article/healthNewsMolt/idUKTRE53G41020090417?sp=true August 15, 2009 http://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2009/oct/09102903.html
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
16 February 2010
CONTACT: Katie Walker
540.659.4942| kwalker@all.org
50 Lawsuits in Indiana Exposing Dangers of
Birth Control YAZ and Yasmin
Washington, DC (16 February 2010) - Over 50 women in Indiana are filing
lawsuits against Bayer Pharmaceuticals charging that use of the company's
Yaz and Yasmin hormonal birth control pills caused conditions ranging from
gallbladder-related injuries to strokes.
There are now over 25,000 similar reported cases across the United States.
"We're seeing an increasing awareness of the very real health risks
associated with hormonal birth control," said Marie Hahnenberg, project
director of American Life League's The Pill Kills project. "For years,
criticism of birth control has been a sacrosanct topic, but the victims of
hormonal birth control are too numerous to ignore any longer."
American Life League' s annual Protest the Pill Day on June 5 seeks to
educate women on the dangers of hormonal birth control - a class one
carcinogen on the same level as tobacco - through protests and activism at
birth control retailers nationwide.
"The birth control pill, patch, IUD, and similar birth control products can
cause blood clots, heart attacks and pulmonary embolisms," Hahnenberg said.
"How many lawsuits, injuries and even deaths could be prevented if only
women were properly warned, or better yet, if these dangerous drugs were
taken off the market?"
American Life League was cofounded in 1979 by Judie Brown. It is the largest
grassroots Catholic pro-life organization in the United States and is
committed to the protection of all innocent human beings from the moment of
creation to natural death. For more information or press inquiries, please
contact Katie Walker at 540.659.4942.
FOR MORE INFORMATION:
American Life League: The Pill Kills
http://thepillkills.org/
Attorney at Law.com: Yaz Injury Lawsuits Could Top 25,000 Cases (11 January
2010)
http://www.attorneyatlaw.com/2010/01/yaz-injury-lawsuits-could-top-25000-cases/
The Indy Channel : More Than 50 Hoosiers Involved In Birth Control Lawsuits
(09 February 2010)
http://www.theindychannel.com/health/22505260/detail.html
# # #
FOR MORE INFORMATION:
American Life League: The Pill Killls http://thepillkills.com/ KVUE: Austin Woman Claims Birth Control Nearly Killed Her (29 August 2009)
http://www.kvue.com/news/newton/stories/082809_kvue_Birth_Control_Danger-ts.127771e6f.html
Bloomberg: J&J Paid $68 Million to Settle Birth-Control Cases (10 October 2008)
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601109&sid=amZT0X84_8zU&refer=home AboutLawsuits.com: Yasmin and Yaz Birth Control Lawsuits Mount Against Bayer (24 July 2009)
http://www.aboutlawsuits.com/yasmin-and-yaz-birth-control-lawsuits-mount-5062/
Combined monophasic early contraception pill, 1960. Pink contraceptive pills (marked 'PD') in a circular blue plastic dispenser. The Pill at 50: Sex, Freedom and Paradox
There's no such thing as the Car or the Shoe or the Laundry Soap. But everyone knows the Pill, whose FDA approval 50 years ago rearranged the furniture of human relations in ways that we've argued about ever since.
Consider the contradictions: It was the first medicine ever designed to be taken regularly by people who were not sick. Its main inventor was a conservative Catholic who was looking for a treatment for infertility and instead found a guarantee of it. It was blamed for unleashing the sexual revolution among suddenly swinging singles, despite the fact that throughout the 1960s, women usually had to be married to get it. Its supporters hoped it would strengthen marriage by easing the strain of unwanted children; its critics still charge that the Pill gave rise to promiscuity, adultery and the breakdown of the family. In 1999 the Economist named it the most important scientific advance of the 20th century, but Gloria Steinem, one of the era's most influential feminists, calls its impact "overrated." One of the world's largest studies of the Pill — 46,000 women followed for nearly 40 years — was released this March. It found that women who take the Pill are less likely to die prematurely from any cause, including cancer and heart disease, yet many women still question whether the health risks outweigh the benefits. (See "The Year in Health 2009.") Maybe it's the nature of icons to be both worshipped and stoned, laden with symbolic value beyond their proportions. Because the Pill arrived at a moment of epochal social change, it became a handy explanation for the inexplicable. The 1950s felt so safe and smug, the '60s so raw and raucous, the revolutions stacked one on top of another, in race relations, gender roles, generational conflict, the clash of church and state — so many values and vanities tossed on the bonfire, and no one had a concordance to explain why it was all happening at once. Thus did Woodstock, caked in muddy legend, become much more than a concert, and leaders become martyrs, and the pill become the Pill, the means by which women untied their aprons, scooped up their ambitions and marched eagerly into the new age. That age has seen changes in social behavior that continue to accelerate. In 1960 the typical American woman had 3.6 children; by 1980 the number had dropped below 2. For the first time, more women identified themselves as workers than as homemakers. "There is a straight line between the Pill and the changes in family structure we now see," says National Organization for Women (NOW) president Terry O'Neill, "with 22% of women earning more than their husbands. In 1970, 70% of women with children under 6 were at home; 30% worked. Now that's roughly reversed." (See TIME's special on the state of the American woman.) Today more than 100 million women around the world start their day with this tiny tablet. So small. So powerful. But in surprising ways, so misunderstood. Improvising Infertility
As long as people have been making little people, they've wanted to know how not to. The ancient Egyptians mixed a paste out of crocodile dung and formed it into a pessary, or vaginal insert. Aristotle proposed cedar oil and frankincense oil as spermicides; Casanova wrote of using half a lemon as a cervical cap. The condom is often credited to one Dr. Condom in the mid-1700s, who was said to have invented a sheath made out of sheep intestines for England's King Charles II to help limit the number of bastards he sired, though such devices had actually been around for centuries. (Watch a video about the Pill's importance.) "The Pill was not at all what separated reproduction and sex among married people," argues Harvard economist Claudia Goldin, who calls that "among the biggest misconceptions" about sexual behavior and the Pill. Long before its introduction, women already knew how to avoid pregnancy, however imperfectly. The typical white American woman in 1800 gave birth seven times; by 1900 the average was down to 3.5. (See TIME's sex covers.) But well into the modern age, contraception met with unified opposition from across the religious spectrum, Protestants and Catholics, Western and Eastern Orthodox. Sex, even within marriage, was immoral unless aimed at having a baby. Fear of pregnancy was a powerful check on promiscuity — and information about contraception was treated as the equivalent of pornography. In 1873 Congress passed a law banning birth control information as obscene. So women seeking ways to limit the number of children they bore had to know how to read the papers. Through the turn of the century, advertisements for potions to treat "female disorders" or menstrual irregularities carried a bold, bright warning: "Portuguese Female Pills, not to be used during pregnancy for they will cause miscarriage." The warning, of course, was the ad. See how exercise during pregnancy can benefit babies' health. See TIME's special women's health checkup.
Read more:
http://www.time.com/time/health/article/0,8599,1983712,00.html#ixzz0m5HxMcbn http://www.time.com/time/health/article/0,8599,1983712,00.html#ixzz0m5IT9dyf http://www.time.com/time/health/article/0,8599,1983712,00.html
Pro-lifers protest birth control Charlie Butts - OneNewsNow - 6/5/2010 4:15:00 AM Today, a number of pro-life groups are protesting contraceptives by taking part in The Pill Kills Day. As birth-control advocates are celebrating 50 years of hormonal contraceptives, a coalition of pro-life groups across the country is participating in the largest protest of the birth-control pill in the United States.
"The pill is very dangerous to the woman's health," contends Marie Hahnenberg of the American Life League. "There [have] been many...examples of women who have experienced blood clots, pulmonary embolisms, and with an estimate of 25,000 lawsuits against the Yaz birth-control pill, it definitely causes great harm to the woman herself."
In addition to the health risks, she says the abortion issue is also a problem. "The pill also causes early chemical abortions," Hahnenberg explains. "It thins the lining of the mother's uterus so the new baby cannot attach, and thus dies. And also, the pill has had a terrible effect on our environment."
Several studies in recent years show that the synthetic estrogen in birth-control pills has been entering waste waters and affecting fish. As a result, some fish are becoming feminized, so there are now intersex fish. Studies have also shown a link between birth-control pills and breast cancer. Additional information on other risks can be found on The Pill Kills website.
ON 50TH ANNIVERSARY, ‘PILL KILLS DAY’ EXPOSES HEALTH, ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT OF BIRTH CONTROL For National Women’s Health Week, Women Deserve the Truth, says Group Washington, DC (14 May 2010) – For the 50th anniversary of the FDA–approved birth control pill, American Life League is highlighting the health and environmental dangers of artificial contraception with nationwide protests to mark “The Pill Kills Day” on June 5. "It is truly hard to believe that those concerned with the environment in which we live are not equally concerned about the environment of a woman's body, polluted as it is with artificial chemicals that are really nothing more than recreational drugs," said Judie Brown, president of American Life League.
Marie Hahnenberg, project director of the Pill Kills Day, agreed. “Women need to talk to their doctors about healthier and safer alternatives than the birth control pill,” Hahnenberg said. “The pharmaceutical industries are doing everything they can to ignore the estimated 25,000 lawsuits in the U.S. alone. During this National Women’s Health Week especially – women deserve to be better informed on what they’re putting in their bodies.”
While it is estimated that over 12 million American women take the birth control pill, the Mayo Clinic warns that birth control use is one of the major contributing factors for pulmonary embolism and blood clots. Hormonal birth control is considered a class one carcinogen – alongside cigarettes - in cancer-causing potential.
Scientists also warn that birth control in the nation’s waterways is wreaking havoc on fish populations – a fact that could have a significant domino impact up the food chain.
A 2006 study conducted in the waters of the Potomac River and its tributaries found that 80 percent of the male small mouth bass were strange intersex fish – these male fish were growing female reproductive parts. Scientists have also found that exposure to estrogen reduces the production of immune related proteins in fish, making them more susceptible to disease. This could explain why intersex fish, massive fish kills and fish with lesions coexist in the Shenandoah and Potomac rivers.
According to Conrad Volz, co-director of exposure assessment at the University of Pittsburgh Cancer Institute's Center for Environmental Oncology, “We need to pay attention to chemicals that are estrogenic in nature, because they find their way back into the water we all use.”
American Life League was cofounded in 1979 by Judie Brown. It is the largest grassroots Catholic pro-life organization in the United States and is committed to the protection of all innocent human beings from the moment of creation to natural death. For more information or press inquiries, please contact Katie Walker at 540.659.4942. FOR MORE INFORMATION:
American Life League: The Pill Kills
http://thepillkills.org/ Scientific American: Bringing Cancer to the Dinner Table (17 April 2007)
http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=bringing-cancer-to-dinner-table-breast-cancer-cells-grow-under-influence-fish-flesh
Mayo Clinic: Pulmonary embolism
http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/pulmonary-embolism/ds00429/dsection=risk-factors
New abortion pill ella one the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) quietly announced approval of a new prescription abortion drug called "ella" -- allowing the manufacturer HRA Pharma to market this drug in the U.S. as an emergency contraceptive (EC). Proponents of ella claim that it is more effective than the so-called "morning-after pill," Plan B, because it can be taken up to 5 days after unprotected sex, vs. the 3-day approved time frame for Plan B. FRC opposes Plan B because in addition to preventing ovulation and fertilization, it can also work as an abortifacient by preventing the implantation of a conceived embryo, thereby causing the embryo's death. But ella can also destroy an implanted embryo. Ella is similar in its chemical make-up to the one FDA approved abortion drug, RU-486. Until now the FDA has drawn the line between EC and abortion based on whether a drug prevents or ends an established pregnancy. Therefore, approving ella as an EC even under their own definition of an abortifacient is doubly misleading.
To educate the public about this new abortion drug and shed light on its dangers, FRC worked with coalition partners to produce a video which exposes what President Obama's FDA fails to explain. Watch the video, learn more about this deceptively dangerous new drug, and tell your friends about ellacausesabortions.com. http://ellacausesabortions.com/ellapetition/Welcome.html
FOR 50TH ANNIVERSARY, DOCTOR EXPOSES PILL'S 'DIRTY LITTLE SECRET' Washington, DC (17 May 2010) – The following is a letter written by Dr. Chris Kahlenborn on the 50th anniversary of the birth control pill. Dr. Kahlenborn, coauthor of “Oral Contraceptive Use as a Risk Factor for Pre-menopausal Breast Cancer: A Meta-analysis” (Mayo Clinic Proceedings, October, 2006), practices internal medicine in Altoona, Pennsylvania. Dr. Kahlenborn is available for interviews upon request. The Pill After 50 Years: The Dirty Little Secret By Chris Kahlenborn M.D.
I find it disturbing that after nearly 50 years, both the media and the medical establishment have failed to give a true airing to one of the pill’s most dangerous side effects, namely, that “dirty little secret.” What’s that? One need only check the Mayo Clinic Proceedings—the major medical publication of the Mayo Clinic—to find our little-known study, which showed that the pill increases the risk of premenopausal breast cancer substantially when taken at a young age (see Mayo Clinic Proceedings: October 3, 2006). In October 2006, we reviewed the medical literature and combined data in an analysis (referred to as a meta-analysis): We found that 21 out of 23 studies showed that using oral contraceptives prior to a woman’s first birth resulted in a 44 percent increased risk in premenopausal breast cancer. Our meta-analysis remains the most recent study in this area and updates the previously analysis (the Oxford analysis published in 1996), which relied on older data with older women (two-thirds of whom were over age 45); unfortunately, the Oxford study continues to be quoted by ACOG, textbooks, the National Cancer Institute, the American Cancer Society and most researchers and obstetricians, claiming that oral contraceptives carry little breast cancer risk especially 10 years after last use.
I continue to be amazed at the discordance between the medical literature and public/medical awareness. To my dismay, after our meta-analysis was published, the Mayo Clinic sent out a press release to all major media in the country. The response? ( ). The blank space between the parentheses is purposeful. Although our meta-analysis received scant internet coverage, almost no major media covered this study, which is shocking, given the fact that about 40,000 women in the U.S. get premenopausal breast cancer annually, oral contraceptives are an elective risk factor and our study is the most recent meta-analysis to date on the oral contraceptive-breast cancer link.
In addition to our meta-analysis, it’s important to note that the World Health Organization classified oral contraceptives as a Class I carcinogen in 2005—the most dangerous classification. Even more data has come forth recently in a paper by several researchers—one of whom is a major researcher of the National Cancer Institute—which not only cited our meta-analysis, but found that oral contraceptives increase the risk of triple-negative breast cancer in women under 40 by 320 percent (triple-negative breast cancers are extremely aggressive). (Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers & Prevention, April 2009.)
Few in the medical establishment or the public are aware of this data, or if they are, young women almost never hear about them. It’s been almost four years since the publication of our study in the Mayo Clinic Proceedings; I am beginning to think that our study has been effectively “buried.” Breast cancer and the pill—that dirty little secret? Some day perhaps someone in the media and/or medical establishment will dust a little dirt off those pink ribbons and let young women hear all the facts so they can finally make truly informed decisions.
American Life League was cofounded in 1979 by Judie Brown. It is the largest grassroots Catholic pro-life organization in the United States and is committed to the protection of all innocent human beings from the moment of creation to natural death. For more information or press inquiries, please contact Katie Walker at 540.659.4942. FOR MORE INFORMATION:
American Life League: The Pill's Dirty Little Secret (14 May 2010)
http://all.org/newsroom_judieblog.php?id=3046 Mayo Clinic Proceedings: Oral Contraceptive Use as a Risk Factor for Premenopausal Breast Cancer:A Meta-analysis (October 2006)
http://mayoclinicproceedings.com/content/81/10/1290.full.pdf+html Polycarp Research Institute: Oral Contraceptive Use as a Risk Factor for Premenopausal Breast Cancer:A Meta-analysis (October 2006)
http://www.polycarp.org/
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