Birth Control

Birth Control and Pap Smears: Why Do They Go Together?

January 26, 2011 By Kimberly 67 Comments

It is not medically necessary to have a pap and pelvic exam to get a prescription for birth control. The only medically necessary procedure is a blood pressure test. Yet in the US, women are routinely forced to endure a yearly pap and pelvic exam in order to renew the prescription. A recent study shows that 33% of doctors always require the exam and 44% regularly require the exam (from Time article).

In my personal experience, I was literally shouted at over the phone by a nurse practitioner when I requested a month extension on my prescription because I had to change my exam appointment. The woman told me that I had already waited too long to see the doctor and absolutely refused to provide the one month extension (it has been about fourteen months since my previous exam, completely within medical guidelines for the pill). When I shared my experience with the doctor, she sounded surprised and said I should have been given the prescription, but she was not overly concerned about the incident and had no interest in further investigation or remedy.

The proponents of requiring pap and pelvic exams for birth control prescriptions argue that while it may not be medically necessary, these exams are important and women should have them done. In essence, requiring women to have a pap and pelvic exam in order to get a birth control requires testing that should be optional– it is a way to force women to have exams that they otherwise might elect to forgo. [Read more...]

Filed Under: Birth Control Tagged With: birth control, guidelines, medically necessary, pap smear, STD testing, three years, UK, US

Where is the Male Birth Control Pill?

December 7, 2010 By Janice 22 Comments

The 50^th Anniversary of the female birth control pill was celebrated in May, with fanfare appropriate for a nearly microscopic product that effectively liberated women like nothing that had come before it. It also forced many, such as myself, to beg the question: how long will it be until we are celebrating the first anniversary of the male birth control pill? And where is all the demand for the FDA to approve such a medication?

There are actually many male contraceptives awaiting FDA approval. Successful trials have been completed on a daily pill, a gel applied to the skin, a patch, an injection given every three months, and an implant placed under skin and replaced every year. Sound familiar ladies?

The media would have the American public believe that the male birth control pill is merely in development, but the truth is that it has been successfully tested in other countries, such as Australia, for many years. [Read more...]

Filed Under: Birth Control Tagged With: Australia male birth control, birth control, birth control methods, birth control pill, male birth control, male birth control pill, where is the male birth control pill?

Birth Control? There’s an App for That

December 1, 2010 By Jodi 5 Comments

It was research. That’s my story, and I’m sticking to it. It’s not like I really believed there was a pregnancy test for smart phones. Not one that had women peeing onto a chip that put the ugh in plug-in. I just couldn’t disbelieve without first investigating for myself.

At least I wasn’t the only gullible soul to discover that the iPeed Home Pregnancy Test iPhone App was an April Fool’s Day joke from Red Tricycle. For the foreseeable future, women will still have to detect pregnancy the old fashioned way, with a trek to the drug store or the doctor.

But there are a number of apps that can help women trying to get pregnant—and many to help women who would rather not. [Read more...]

Filed Under: Birth Control Tagged With: birth control, FemiCycle, iChartMe, iPeed Home Pregnancy Test iPhone App, iPill, ipod, iPod apps, iPod birth control, iPod birth control apps, smart phones

Hypocrisy at its Best: B-Palin PSA on Abstinence

November 24, 2010 By Kimberly 3 Comments

Bristol Palin teams with reality TV star and sex crazed “the Situation“ for a public service announcement and the two have an incredibly fake conversation in support of abstinence. The Situation is a ridiculous choice for the PSA as he stars in the reality TV show Jersey Shore which revolves around going clubbing and finding chicks that are RTF (ready to fuck). And the Situation’s reason for supporting abstinence–because it has the word “abs” in it. If this alone isn’t enough to convince teenagers to be abstinent, B-Palin drives the point home with “trust me, I am not getting myself into another situation.” Does anything ring more disingenuous than a new teenage mom giving advice on abstinence? Apparently not.

Bristol Palin could have done a great PSA that talked about her experience as a teen mom and shared her life lessoned learned, why she thinks abstinence is the best choice for teens and encouraged safe sex practices for those who choose to have sex. That just might be a great PSA, regardless of what you think of B-Palin or her family. Instead, this completely contrived B-Palin/the Situation PSA comes across as a farce–a skit from SNL or the like, rendering its message meaningless.

With the realities of life that Sarah Palin has had to face (disabled child, grandmother to her teen daughter’s child) I don’t understand why the Palin family doesn’t share open and honestly about their lives (since they have chosen to be very public figures anyway). Certainly having a child with down syndrome is challenging for any parent, but Sarah Palin completely downplays the gravity and responsibility of having a child with disabilities. I know several people that have a disabled child, and while everyone I know truly loves and cherishes their child, having a child with disabilities takes it toll. Choosing to give birth to a child that doctors have determined will have a disability is devastating for any parent, and the choice to have that child or not should only be made by the parents. To pretend that the decision is not difficult or has heavy emotional and financial ramifications is to deny the realities of the situation. [Read more...]

Filed Under: Birth Control, Sex Education Tagged With: abstinence-only education, Bristol Palin, Bristol Palin Abstinence PSA, Bristol Palin PSA, Palin PSA, Palin/The Situation PSA, sarah palin, The Situation, The Situation PSA

Plan B–Change the FDA

November 17, 2010 By Jodi 3 Comments

It’s been years. Literally.

After two change elections, why is the FDA playing the same old games with women’s health?

On March 23, 2009, a federal court ordered the FDA to make the emergency contraception drug Plan B available to women 17 and older without a prescription. It is ludicrous—if not criminal, for the FDA to have ignored this order.

That’s why the Center for Reproductive Rights has filed a motion of contempt against the Food and Drug Administration. Maybe the FDA can be shamed into obeying the law.

Maybe the FDA can be shamed into following its own experts’ advice. Remember, when President Obama came into office, he promised his administration would “ make scientific decisions based on facts, not ideology.”

Well, “all of the scientific facts are there and FDA experts agree—emergency contraception has proven safe and effective to be sold over-the-counter to all ages,” according to Suzanne Novak, lead counsel in the case. [Read more...]

Filed Under: Birth Control Tagged With: EC, emergency contraception, FDA, FDA approval, reproductive health, reproductive health care

Condoms: What are they good for?

October 14, 2010 By Jodi 3 Comments

Used to be I could joke that the only people even talking about condoms were the teens on Daytime TV. Maybe it was all the celebrity babies, or the “bump” watches. But it didn’t seem like too many grown-ups were using them. (Or any other form of birth control, for that matter.)

Times have changed. Condoms are making a comeback. Thrusting their way into the media spotlight, so to speak.

First Nicholas Kristof wrote a column on contraception that practically put the condom out to pasture. His rosy prediction:

The next generation of family planning products will be cheaper, more effective and easier to use — they could be to today’s condoms and diaphragms what a smartphone is to the bricklike cellphones of 20 years ago. (Kristof, “Birth Control Over Baldness,” NYT, 9/26/10)

Condoms made the news again a few days later in the coverage of a new study on American sexual behavior published by The Journal of Sexual Medicine. The chief talking point? Sexually active teens are using condoms on a more regular basis than their Baby Boomer parents (and grandparents). Even when the parent or grandparent is having sex with a stranger.

The stories themselves are a mixed bag. If Kristof is right about the future of reproductive technology, it would not only be good news for women looking for effective forms of birth control—it could very well be the key to our survival as a species, given the threat of overpopulation. And if teenagers are using condoms more than boomers, well, that’s fewer unplanned pregnancies and sexually transmitted diseases among teens. And for their elders? A lot of tough questions. [Read more...]

Filed Under: Birth Control, Safe Sex Tagged With: AIDS, birth control, boomers, condoms, feminism, Pregnancy, reproductive health, safe sex, sex study, teens

Quick Hit: birth control in a down economy

October 12, 2010 By Janice Leave a Comment

It is no secret that the current economic crisis in this country is causing an enormous strain on many families.

While some families may be willing, the last thing they need is to have another child in this economic climate. As this article shows, there are other, more practical options for birth control than the pill or condoms. While the pill may not be a large expense each month, the cost of an unplanned pregnancy due to failed birth control is very costly. This article has wonderful information for families who are struggling:

Birth Control Doesn’t Have to Mean the Pill

Filed Under: Birth Control Tagged With: affordable birth control, birth control, birth control pill, convenient birth control, economic downturn, economy, IUD, prevening unplanned pregnancies, the pill

Margaret Sanger Slept Here

September 14, 2010 By Janice 1 Comment

In the early 1900s, New York City served as the perfect stomping grounds for revolutionaries who required ready access to the rest of the world in order to spread their ideas and work. Margaret Sanger took full advantage of the Big Apple to gain acceptance for her mission of making birth control accessible to all women. There are many sites throughout the city that Margaret Sanger used to establish the importance of contraceptives and women’s rights. I have had the pleasure recently of visiting many of them recently and for the occasion of her birthday want to share some information I have learned with our fabulous readers. Enjoy!

46 Amboy St., First U.S. birth control clinic
Opened in 1916, the Brownsville clinic became the country’s first birth control clinic. Sanger and her sister Ethel, who simply distributed information about contraception, staffed the clinic. Although it was shut down by police under the Comstock Laws after only nine days, the immediate success of the clinic proved to Sanger and other activists how vital such services were to their community. In nine days the clinic served roughly 500 people. [Read more...]

Filed Under: Birth Control, History Tagged With: birth control movement, Margaret Sanger, Margaret Sanger Papers Project

Dear Margaret Sanger

September 14, 2010 By Manda 1 Comment

Dear Margaret Sanger,

Happy birthday! Have I told you lately how awesome you were, how much I appreciate the work you dedicated your life to?

I have two children Ms. Sanger, and while I love them I also know I’m not mentally capable of having any more. Because of you, I can grab a box of condoms while I’m doing the regular grocery shopping (they’re one aisle over from the toothpaste), no fuss, no questions, no disapproving looks.

Happy Birthday, Margaret Sanger!

September 14, 2010 By Sarah 2 Comments

When I was twenty-three, I spent a month on a tiny island off the coast of South Carolina. This was the first trip I had planned in what would be about seven weeks of travel before I began graduate school, and I couldn’t wait for unstructured days full of writing, photography, and running around on the beach in the chill winter breeze. What I had not planned was hauling out the phone book my third morning on the island and looking up the information for the closest Planned Parenthood.

I had volunteered at Planned Parenthood when I was in college, but that was in a liberal Northern town. I was ill-prepared for the sight of an armed security guard sitting at the front desk, and my fear at facing an unplanned pregnancy was momentarily subsumed by my fear of guns. I fumbled through my wallet, finally finding my driver’s license, and didn’t move a muscle as he wrote down my information and pressed the buzzer to open the heavy metal door behind him.
[Read more...]

Filed Under: Birth Control Tagged With: charleston, Margaret Sanger, Planned Parenthood, Pregnancy, security, south carolina