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Why I find newspapers depressing

February 6, 2008 by Brigitte Pellerin Leave a Comment

I’m the kind of gal who thinks educated, confident young women ought to be in control of their lives. And I hate it when I read stories that prove me wrong. Like this one, in the Daily Telegraph, about a new British government plan that will tell doctors “to advise young women they should not automatically opt for oral contraceptives and instead think about using newer methods that last between three months and five years.” I don’t have strong opinions about which particular contraceptive method(s) should be used, other than to say I would personally choose the least invasive kind. But what to make of this:

At present, most women who ask their GPs for contraception are prescribed the Pill. Only about 14 per cent use a long-acting method such as the injection or implant, whereas 35 per cent – more than three million – use the Pill.

But more then three quarters forget to take their Pill on two or more consecutive days each month, meaning they risk falling pregnant.

Forgetting to take it is the most common reason for unwanted pregnancy cited by women seeking abortions.

I don’t mean to sound like a crusty old goat (no more than usual, I mean). But if you’re on the pill, and it’s your main method of contraception, and you’re, shall we say, “active”, the least you can do is remember to take the blasted thing every day. And if you forget? Wait until the next cycle to resume your, er, activities. It’s not that difficult, you know.

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Andrea adds: Many reasons to find newspapers depressing, but to the topic at hand: Waiting til the next cycle to “resume activities” requires speaking to your partner about why those “activities” have been unceremoniously halted. And The Pill is, I’m convinced, specially designed to ensure lower communication levels: More time “being active” and less time on pesky distractions, like talking. “A little less conversation, a little more action“–Some day a pharmaceutical company will use Elvis to advertise.

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Rebecca adds: A doctor once told me why she’s in favour of Depo, despite its significant health risks, for teenagers. Young women in her experience were too irresponsible, and their schedules were too erratic, to use the birth control pill properly. Their mothers, on the other hand, could be trusted to get them to the doctor every three months for a shot. The complete parental surrender implicit in this, not to mention the question-begging as to whether facilitating sexual activity for people too young and irresponsible to use the pill, is staggering. I guess today is my day to be a crusty old goat, too.

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Patricia adds: I’ll see your “crusty old goat” and raise you a “cynical witch”.

Let’s face it. The Pill is about consequence-free sex. So why should you even have to talk to your partner about pregnancy? I mean, you just want to have sex; what has one got to do with the other?

It seems to me that teenagers are especially susceptible to this way of thinking. You see it in other areas of their lives. For example, most teenagers can look forward to long lives, and as a result, they think that and behave as if they are immortal. With respect to sex, everywhere teens turn in our culture, they see it portrayed as some high-level recreational activity which may or may not have some emotional content, but certainly no real consequences. (Juno and Knocked up being the exception – sufficiently exceptional to be talked about as some kind of countercultural phenomena.)

I’m convinced that, as a result, teenagers (and not just teenagers) think at some level that sex really is consequence free. And all this despite the “blah, blah, blah” from counsellors and public health educators way off in the background (like Charlie Brown’s teacher) about STD’s, safe sex, using condoms, etc.

The result is that you end up with people thinking in some haphazard way that they can have sex and still somehow shouldn’t get pregnant, even if they haven’t taken their pills “properly”.

Suddenly, a pregnant women is victim of fate, not because of poverty or abuse or any number of the various terrible things that can happen to people, but just by virtue of being pregnant. Why else would a person feel that their lives have been “stolen” from them, just because they got pregnant after they had sex?

And I think this view of themselves as victims may be why women see themselves as entitled to do this otherwise awful thing to themselves and to their unborn child, to “get back their lives”, to paraphrase the abortionist in yesterday’s Post.

Filed Under: All Posts Tagged With: Britain, jab, pill

One daddy and two mommies, the scientific way

February 5, 2008 by Brigitte Pellerin Leave a Comment

Is it me, or is this creepy?

Scientists in Britain are claiming a medical first, creating human embryos with the genetic material of three people: one man and two women.

Yes, I know. These experiments are done by people who are trying to save mankind from terrible diseases. I’m not completely against science. But there are (or should be) limits to how much we try to remake humans.  

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Andrea adds: Brigitte, it’s not you. It is creepy. But more than that, and perhaps more importantly, I’d argue it’s wrong, whether creepy or not. 

Filed Under: All Posts Tagged With: mitochondrial DNA

The Tommy Schnurmacher Show – Part 3

February 4, 2008 by Brigitte Pellerin Leave a Comment

[podcast]https://www.prowomanprolife.org/media/CJAD080204-3.mp3[/podcast]

Filed Under: All Posts

The Tommy Schnurmacher Show – Part 2

February 4, 2008 by Brigitte Pellerin Leave a Comment

[podcast]https://www.prowomanprolife.org/media/CJAD080204-2.mp3[/podcast]

Filed Under: All Posts

It’s not every day

February 4, 2008 by Brigitte Pellerin Leave a Comment

… that a pregnancy saves the mother’s life. But this one did.

Miracle Astra Alice Alfreda Follett was born prematurely during the 35th week of Roxanne’s pregnancy on Jan. 24 at the University Hospital. In a rare double operation the baby was delivered by Caesarian section moments before doctors started open-heart surgery on her mother.

[…]

Dr. [Billy] Wong said Roxanne Follett would likely not be alive today if she hadn’t been pregnant because a tear in her aorta would probably not have been discovered otherwise. Within 24 to 48 hours of an aortic tear, 40% of patients die without surgery, Dr. [Rod] MacArthur added.

Filed Under: All Posts Tagged With: Roxanne Follett

This is so, like, revolutionary

February 3, 2008 by Brigitte Pellerin Leave a Comment

There’s quite a row, as they say over there, in the UK these days over plans to overhaul the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Bill. Of particular interest in this debate is whether or not to lower the 24-week limit for abortions, which was set in 1990 and is considered one of the most liberal in Europe. Now new figures show survival rates of very premature babies have increased dramatically over the last decade and a half, giving ammunition to those who would want the limit lowered.

I find this debate fascinating. Especially this bit:

The Government said all these were matters for Parliament to debate and decide on a free vote.

Imagine that. Parliamentarians debating and voting on important issues. How weird.

Filed Under: All Posts Tagged With: premature babies, UK

Brigitte on Aphrodite Salas

February 2, 2008 by Brigitte Pellerin Leave a Comment

[podcast]https://www.prowomanprolife.org/media/940MONTREAL080128.mp3[/podcast]

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It beats the barely-there kind

January 30, 2008 by Brigitte Pellerin Leave a Comment

Elizabethan brides 

Forgive me for wallowing in the shallow end of the pool, but it is bridal season and besides, I have good news. It appears Elizabethan is back in style, at least when it comes to bridal gowns. I think it’s cool. (Way better than news that Posh Spice posed naked for a skin-cancer campaign – isn’t posing naked terminally passé?) Anyway. I am terribly pleased to see modesty and elegance back in fashion, even though (as Andrea knows) I am no fan of poofy sleeves. Excellent news for my favourite designer, who does elegance like nobody else.

Justina McCaffrey Haute Couture - Classics

Filed Under: All Posts Tagged With: bridal fashion, Justina McCaffrey

The Aphrodite Salas show

January 28, 2008 by Brigitte Pellerin Leave a Comment

I am supposed to be on the Aphrodite Salas show, on AM 940 in Montreal, at 12:30 p.m. (EST) today. Listen live at www.940montreal.com.

Filed Under: All Posts Tagged With: Aphrodite Salas

I’d hate to see what a real taboo looks like

January 28, 2008 by Brigitte Pellerin Leave a Comment

The Ottawa Citizen has a news story on Henry Morgentaler that is not particularly remarkable except for this magnificent little pearl:

No longer a taboo, abortion services are openly listed on the Internet.

While getting an abortion carries less stigma today, none of the women who spoke about undergoing the procedure wanted their names published in this story.

So who exactly thinks abortion is not taboo anymore? Pro-abortion activists, middle-aged male reporters, or those women who’ve actually had one?

Filed Under: All Posts Tagged With: Morgentaler

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