The month of October has been designated as Breast Cancer Awareness Month. As such, I've been hearing a lot about breast cancer and finding a cure. I know a few people who are involved in raising awareness through programs like this and this. Even the NFL has gotten in on the action. Breast cancer is an insidious disease. It has touched my own life through family members. Raising awareness and finding a cure for breast cancer is certainly a worthy cause and I don't want to diminish the time, money, and effort Americans put into cancer awareness programs. But I do want to shift the focus.
October is also Respect Life Month. Begun by the Catholic bishops in America in 1972, the Respect Life program stresses the value and dignity of human life from the moment of conception until natural death. Each year, the Catholic Church in America seeks to bring attention to any number of issues affecting the dignity of and infringing upon the rights of people. Here, you can read the bishop's statement launching this year's Respect Life Month. Many of these life issues are somewhat controversial in the minds of the public, but also among many Christians, as well. I would like to talk about one of these controversial topics, contraception, not only because it affects the dignity of women, but also because it might be causing them cancer as well.
Breast cancer awareness has taken up a huge block of media this month. The Lifetime Channel is integrating the subject in several of their programs. Because of all this attention, I thought I might check out the facts and statistics for myself. All of it is very confusing, to say the least. I did find out a few things though. A total of 2.4 million Americans die each year. Of those, cancer claims the lives of 560,000 people. Statistically, that is pretty significant. 23% of American deaths can be attributed to cancer. From all the media attention, I imagined that breast cancer might account for a large number of these cases, but I was wrong. The actual number of women who die from breast cancer each year is about 40,000. In other words, less than 2% of deaths in America are breast cancer related. In fact, more people die each year from kidney disease than from breast cancer. But I did discover something rather alarming while wading through the quagmire of statistics and research—breast cancer among young women is on the rise. What was once an "old woman" disease is now the leading cause of death in women under 50. Why? What has changed so dramatically in our culture or among women to bring about this plight? Has breast cancer always silently inflicted young women? Is there anything we can do about it? What, if anything, does any of this have to do with respecting life or Christianity?
I'm not certain that anyone will ever be able to definitively determine what causes breast cancer. Over the years lots of organizations have pinpointed the culprits—electromagnetic fields, cow's milk, and plastic. Some ideas get dismissed as quickly as rowdy customers in Walmart. Others, like this one, seem to linger as long as there is an agenda to promote. However, researchers have known for decades that a woman's lifetime exposure to estrogen is associated with her risk of developing breast cancer. That seems pretty straightforward to me. Considering that men make up less than 1% of breast cancer cases, it's probably likely that estrogen plays a fairly significant role in the disease. Normally, women have little control over their estrogen levels. Most young girls are caught by surprise when they first begin menstruating. Older women go through years of waning cycles before menopause. Estrogen is unpredictable. It makes us irritable. It makes us feel euphoric. It makes us emotional. It makes us fat. It gives us the ability to bring new life into the world. And, yes, it leaves us susceptible to breast cancer. None of this has changed in the last 50 years. But something has. More than 85% of women have used some form of hormonal contraceptive during their reproductive years. There is no doubt that widespread use of hormonal contraceptives has changed women. But it may be killing them, as well.
I don't want to go into a long, drawn out discussion on the origins of the oral contraceptive pill. It would take up most of this space and a lot of time. But a quick look at the history of the birth control movement will lead anyone straight to Margaret Sanger, the founder of Planned Parenthood. Her motives for controlling the births of babies are no secret. For 4 decades, Margaret Sanger dreamed of a "magic pill" that would suppress a woman's fertility. Her vision became reality when, in 1951, she met scientists who were willing to help her. The process of providing a contraceptive pill to the public was long and arduous. Reluctantly, the FDA granted approval to market the drug for limited use in 1960. In May of that year, oral contraceptives became the only drug marketed not to treat a medical illness. The safety issues with hormonal contraceptives at the time were dismissed and continue to be misrepresented or ignored all together. Hormonal contraceptives, whether in the form of pills, patches, or injections, continue to be prescribed to healthy women for long term use for the sole purpose of addressing a social issue. The introduction of a contraceptive pill was the beginning of one of the greatest social experiments of our time using women as guinea pigs.
Currently, there are 6 types of hormonal contraceptives available to women in the U.S. Those hormones are either synthetic estrogen or progestin or a combination thereof. Most, if not all, of those hormones are listed in the 11th Report on Carcinogens, a report issued periodically by the Department of Health and Human Services. This report identifies substances that are known to or are reasonably assumed to cause some form of cancer. It has been known for some time that estrogen causes blood clots, which increases the risk of stroke. There continues to be debate regarding birth control pills and heart disease. And new research continues to surface regarding synthetic progestin and breast cancer. There are also studies linking hormonal contraceptives to liver disease, migraine headaches, and a host of psychological issues. It has also been suggested that the use of hormonal contraceptives has a significant impact on women's partner selection. It seems that infertile women prefer boyish faces to chiseled profiles. It also seems that men actually find fertile women to be more attractive. Based on this information alone, I wonder how anyone could argue that the benefits of hormonal birth control outweigh the risk. And then it occurred to me. Our society, including Christians, is willing to overlook this evil in the name of practicality or pragmatism.
It's certainly reasonable to assume that controlling one's fertility has given women, and men for that matter, a considerable amount of freedom. Because they don't have to worry about pregnancy, women have much more power in their sexual relationships. They are able to satisfy their sexual needs without giving much consideration to their partners. Men and women are able to postpone marriage while enjoying an active sex life. Many couples choose to live together in "trial" marriages without making long term commitments. Couples who do marry are free to focus indefinitely on their emotional and financial needs without having children. Women are able to concentrate on their careers by remaining in the workforce for much longer periods of time. Because of this financial security, women are able to leave marriages where they are unhappy or uncomfortable. Yet this freedom women enjoy comes at a price. Men are able to delay their own adolescence because there is no real expectation that they will become fathers. Men are able to reduce women to sexual objects, a means to satisfy their own sexual desires, while disregarding her physical and emotional needs. Men no longer have to be committed in their sexual relationship, therefore leaving women feeling confused and vulnerable. Any pregnancy that results through contraception is, by nature, unintended by one person or the other. According to the Guttmacher Institute, nearly half of all pregnancies in the U.S. are unintended. In their report, 54% of women who had abortions were using some form of contraception. Surprisingly, a large number of these women are Christians. Many women who embrace their unintended pregnancy often find themselves raising children alone. The social ramifications of all these situations are only beginning to be understood.
Even though these social problems are only now coming to light, they were foreseen long ago when oral contraceptives were first made available to the public. In 1968, Pope Paul VI, almost prophetically, addressed these very issues in his Encyclical Letter, Humanae Vitae (On Human Life). He recognized the increasing demands society was placing on families, especially larger ones. He also recognized the changing of women's roles in that society. But in his wisdom, guided by the Holy Spirit, he also understood the intrinsic evil associated with the direct and deliberate practice of contraception. Although Pope Paul VI couldn't possibly have realized the medical difficulties women might face, he certainly was able to predict the breakdown of marriage, the loss of respect for women, and the general lowering of moral standards in our society. In spite of his words, Christians rejected the notion that ultimately God is in charge of the number of children they have. They instead eagerly embraced what has proven to be evil in order to accomplish what they viewed as a greater good. They dismissed the idea that men and women are called by God to gain mastery over their desires and emotions. They overlooked God's design of a loving marriage, two spouses responsible for each other's physical and emotional well-being. They pushed aside the realization that marriage requires commitment, responsibility, and sacrifice. And they ultimately rejected the understanding that life is a precious gift, given only by God, not left to the arbitrary emotions of mankind.
Prayer for Reverence of Life
All mighty God, giver of all that is good, we thank you for the precious gift of human life.
For life in the womb, coming from your creative power.
For the life of children, making us glad with their freshness and promise.
For the life of young people, hoping for a better world.
For the life of the handicapped and disabled, teaching us humility.
For the life of the elderly, witnessing the ageless values of patience and wisdom.
Like the Blessed Virgin Mary, may we always say yes to your gift. May we defend it and promote it from conception to it's natural end and bring us at last, O Father, to eternal life, in Jesus Christ our Lord.
Amen.
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