The Big Birth Control Question

 mother's day

By Molly Cromer | Guest Blogger

I am seventeen and I have met many sweet girls who live under the strict regime of the birth control pill. They stress over a missed dose. They need a daily reminder alarm on their phone. Our culture has convinced them that their bodies are naturally insufficient, something in need of suppression, and that they need the pill to be happy and to succeed in life. Girls wrapped up in our contraception-obsessed culture are literally slaves to the pill. Though the pill gives girls and women a false sense of control over their bodies, the truth is the pill is controlling them.

The physically and morally harmful effects of contraceptives have been discussed in my home for as long as I can remember and I am thankful that my family and my faith have formed my conscience and my values. This made me different from most other girls my age who were being formed and influenced by our manipulative culture. I am the odd one who has never been kissed, never had a boyfriend, and never taken the pill. And as shocking as this may seem for many of my peers, I never let it discourage me.

The natural design of the female is not flawed. Artificially altering it for convenience is unhealthy, regardless of whether you are single or married. Puberty and fertility are not diseases, and the pill is not a “cure-all” for the symptoms of adolescence; nor is it necessary for a happy marriage. A natural, healthy lifestyle is the best alternative to dealing with discomfort – not bombarding your system with artificial hormones that can have significantly dangerous side effects. Moreover, many confuse the treatment of symptoms with the curing of the ailment itself; one should ponder the overall harmfulness of the pill before turning to it as a remedy. The pill hijacks the body, robbing it of the natural patterns and rhythms of feminine fertility.

Lately, the media has been all about encouraging a healthy body image for girls, urging them to accept their body type no matter what shape it may be (i.e. Dove marketing commercials and public criticism of unrealistic fashion models). This is great, but what about the other kind of body image? Girls don’t realize what our culture is telling them – it is saying, “Your body is beautiful on the outside,” but at the same time, it is conveying to them that something is very wrong on the inside – that their fertility is a disease and that it needs to be fixed by taking the pill.

The way the female body is made is not a mistake. The way it works is part of a plan – God’s plan and nature’s plan – and it is all healthy and perfectly normal.

P.S. You are enough.

This blog post was originally published by the Edith Stein Foundation. The Edith Stein Foundation seeks to expose the profound and tragic effects that contraception has had on women and therefore on society as a whole. They desire to heal the individual and collective wounds through our educational efforts, and inspire a new generation of women to know, love and live the gorgeous dignity that is womanhood in the spirit of Edith Stein, German philosopher, feminist and canonized Saint. They hope for nothing less than the renewal of culture through woman, family and society.

 

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