Pregnancy is Not a Disease

You may have heard at this point that health insurance in the U.S. is now going to be required to include contraceptives with no co-pay.  This is seriously alarming, particularly for Catholics and other Christians who recognize the harm that contraceptives do to women, marriages and newly conceived children (as contraceptives can also work as abortifacients).  If you would like to see some reasons why contraceptives are harmful you can see Marcel's list here.

In reading about this turn of events I was shocked (sort of) by the statements that were being made regarding this new mandate and the use of contraceptives.  For example, Kathleen Sebelius reportedly said the following:

Not doing it [providing contraceptive coverage] would be like not covering flu shots.

How did this disordered thought process of thinking that a human life is like a virus creep into our mentality?  As Cardinal DiNardo said in his statement:

Pregnancy is not a disease, and fertility is not a pathological condition to be suppressed by any means technically possible....I can only conclude that there is an ideology at work in these recommendations that goes beyond any objective assessment of the health needs of women and children.

Cynthia Pearson of the National Women's Health Network, which is apparently quite happy about free contraception, had this to say:

Over a span of generations from grandmothers to granddaughters, we have come from birth control being a hope and a wish — and almost luck — to being recognized as a part of health care that improves women's health.

Improves women's health?  In fact, particularly if we're talking about the pill, contraceptives may endanger women's health. The Mayo Clinic says the following:

Side effects of combination birth control pills may include:
An increased risk of deep vein thrombosis, pulmonary embolism, heart attack, stroke and cervical cancer
Elevated blood pressure
Nausea
Bloating
Breast tenderness
Mood changes
Headaches

Etcetera.  Dr. Rebecca Peck of Physicians for Life recently wrote an article titled: "Significant Risks of Oral Contraceptives (OCPs): Why This Drug Class Should NOT Be Included In a Preventative Care Mandate" which you can read here. Not only may it cause both major and minor health risks but contraceptives have undeniably led to a tremendous increase in women being treated as objects, as well as an increase in abortion rates (which may be linked to breast cancer increases), all of which may also lead to a decrease in emotional and mental health.  Then of course there are the abortifacient properties of oral contraceptives:  the pill works in three ways - 1) it suppresses ovulation; 2) it thins the cervical mucus making sperm migration more difficult 3) it thins the lining of the uterine wall thereby causing difficulty for a newly fertilized egg (ie. a new human life) to implant in the womb. Now I'm not a doctor, so I'm not saying that there are absolutely no health benefits whatsoever, but after examining the evidence I certainly would not classify contraceptives as "improving women's health".

I echo Cardinal DiNardo's comments:

The IOM [Institute of Medicine] missed an opportunity to promote better health care for women that is life-affirming and truly compassionate.  I once again urge the Department of Health and Human Services to focus on the need of all Americans, including immigrants and the poor, for basic life-saving health coverage – not on mandating controversial elective practices in ways that undermine the good of women and children, the consciences of employers, employees and health plan providers, and the common good.

Speaking of consciences, the mandate obviously violates the conscience rights of American citizens.  It seems there is some kind of religious exemption, but there are serious problems with it.  Cardinal DiNardo:

Although this new rule gives the agency the discretion to authorize a ‘religious’ exemption, it is so narrow as to exclude most Catholic social service agencies and healthcare providers....For example, under the new rule our institutions would be free to act in accord with Catholic teaching on life and procreation only if they were to stop hiring and serving non-Catholics...Could the federal government possibly intend to pressure Catholic institutions to cease providing health care, education and charitable services to the general public? Health care reform should expand access to basic health care for all, not undermine that goal.

Thankfully there is a bill being co-sponsored by Reps. Jeff Fortenberry (who by the way, is a fellow Franciscan University of Steubenville alum and who gave the most recent Graduate Commencement address at the University which you can watch below) and Dan Boren called the "Respect for Rights of Conscience Act" which you can read and see who else is signing on to the bill here.  Cardinal DiNardo said of the Respect for Rights of Conscience Act:

It’s now more vital than ever that Congress pass the Respect for Rights of Conscience Act to close the gaps in conscience protection in the new health care reform act, so employers and employees alike will have the freedom to choose health plans in accordance with their deeply held moral and religious beliefs.

So this is all to say: 1) pray for a renewed and right understanding of human sexuality and who we are made to be; 2) contact your representative and let them know that you do not want this contraceptive mandate and urge them to pass the Respect for Rights of Conscience Act of 2011.  At this time, according to the Act's bill summary it looks like it has 36 co-sponsors with only one rep. from Missouri and one rep. from Illinois (the two states from which most of you reading this are probably from).  So to make it easy for you all you have to do is click here to find out who your rep. is and contact them at the address or phone number that comes up.

To wrap it up, I think Cardinal DiNardo says it best:

HHS says the intent of its ‘preventive services’ mandate is to help ‘stop health problems before they start, but pregnancy is not a disease, and children are not a ‘health problem’ – they are the next generation of Americans.

Wow, that was a long post - and we didn't even get into the philosophical or theological problems with contraceptive use.  Maybe we'll do that in another post. :)

In the meantime, enjoy Rep. Fortenberry's commencement address - don't forget that amidst all the turmoil, hope is always present: