Millennials are rejecting the pill

Natural family planning is in Vogue.

Shannon Roberts | Nov 6 2017 | comment

In April last year I wrote about the rise of natural family planning in the West, and its application to family planning aid in developing countries. It is not the unreliable method many people assume, but in fact encompasses a range of highly researched methods, many with their own apps and devices which are making them increasingly user friendly.

It is interesting to note that this month Vogue magazine, an icon of fashion since 1892, seems to have picked up on the trend with an article in its November 2017 edition entitled “Why Millennial Women Are Rejecting The Pill”:

Some half a century after its launch, cracks are beginning to appear in the image of the contraceptive pill. But why are more and more women turning away from it? Lottie Winter finds out in this piece first published in Vogue's November 2017 issue.

Ms Winter writes:

In fact, younger women are turning away from the pill in droves - an NHS study found that the number of women in contact with sexual and reproductive health services who used user-dependent contraception, including the pill, had dropped by more than 13 per cent between 2005 and 2015. It's hardly surprising: a quick Google search chums up some alarming reports, from articles on possible links between the pill and cancer to claims that are outright bizarre, such as "contraceptive pills flushed down the toilet are turning fish transgender".
And that's not even to mention the everyday side effects that many women reportedly experience: mood swings, bloating and weight gain top a long list. In an age where we're all obsessed with health and wellbeing, young women simply don't want to settle for so many symptoms. "I decided to go vegan a few years ago as I found myself increasingly aware of what I was putting in my body," says Abbie, a 26-year-old radio presenter. "At the same time, I was still taking the pill and it started to feel incongruent with my new lifestyle. It was only apt that I started looking for an alternative method of contraception." Small wonder so many women are rejecting the pill in an emerging cultural backlash against hormonal contraceptives in general to try to reclaim autonomy over their bodies.

The article goes on to cite studies linking the pill and depression and doctors that have an attitude of contraception ‘at all costs’, despite the side effects patients cite:

"The reality of modern medicine is that pharmaceutical companies have to have an economic incentive to research new products," says Dr Jane Dickson, vice-president of the faculty of sexual and reproductive healthcare at the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists. "Bio-identical hormones are far, far more expensive than synthetic versions and, unlike during the menopause, when only a small amount is needed to replace the body's natural levels, contraception requires much higher doses to effectively put the reproductive organs to sleep."
A grassroots movement, therefore, seemed inevitable; as at so many points in history, if women want change, they're not going to get help from the top.

An opinion piece in The Guardian today also picks up on the increasing fertility app trend, albeit in a more tongue in cheek way, and comments that using natural family planning as an alternative to the pill facilitates more intimate conversations about women’s health “and the assumption of more collective responsibility for the nature and timing of sexual intimacy”.

Natural family planning has increased in popularity in part also because it is so helpful to women wanting to get pregnant because they can know with great accuracy when they are most fertile.

It seems the popularity of natural family planning only continues to increase for women in the West. Therefore, we should increase our respect for the rights of women in developing countries to also choose more natural, cheaper, drug free alternative to pills - and realise that in fact many already successfully do.

November 10, 2017

The mass shooting in Texas last Sunday has inevitably stoked the gun debate. Although the aftermath of such terrible events is witnessed worldwide, it is difficult for people outside the United States to understand the attachment of Americans to private gun ownership. However, our associate editor Zac Alstin has thought hard about this question and has come to a startling conclusion -- that America may need more guns, not fewer. Sheila Liaugminas for her part is grieved that a common expression of sympathy has been politicised.

For another perspective on untimely deaths check out the story we ran on Wednesday on opioids, which are now the top cause of accidental death for all Americans under 50, outstripping car crashes, HIV and guns. How does a boy grow into a young man who destroys himself, or other people? We have to answer that question, as well as control the drugs and guns.

And for inspiration, see Michael Cook's note about the deaths of two young boys in Sydney as a result of a driver losing control of her car -- and the marvellous forgiving attititude of a Muslim family who lost a child.

Among other articles: Shannon Roberts highlights how an Orthodox Patriarch inspired a baby boom; Peter Kopa writes passionately from Prague about the need to finally free ourselves from Marxism; and Jennifer Lahl gives a thorough run-down on the sordid truth about surrogacy contracts. Is the new Murder on the Orient Express is worth seeing? this review might help.