October 10, 2006

A Question About "The Pill"

I am going to begin this by noting that I am not trying to start a fight. I understand that there are a range of opinions of people on this blog. I'm not trying to get anyone to call anyone else a name or make a biting remark or any of that garbage. But this has been sort of bothering me, and I want to know what you (as educated and intelligent adults) think about this. I am not writing this to convince anybody to change his or her mind about abortion or hormonal contraception. The real question I have is whether you think that pharma companies and/or the medical industry are being dishonest by not discussing this more clearly. Obviously they have business interests in keeping sales up, but it seems medical ethics should require full disclosure. Even more importantly, I am not trying to "call anybody out." What you do with your personal life is up to you, I'm not trying to point a finger, just eliciting opinion about this possible controversy.

Read this article.

1) Those of you with a scientific, medical, pharmacological, or practical experience in this area- what do you think? Are his conclusions sound? I found various sources saying more or less the same thing. All the sources that discussed this issue in detail were so-called "pro-life" sources, which obviously can indicate ulterior motives. However, aside from groups with a Catholic affiliation, I can't see why a pro life but contraception neutral group would care unless it believed the substance of the article. A few sources which held themselves out as neutral and objective noted the anti-implantation effects of the pill, but didn't discuss any moral complications. Wikipedia, my favorite made-up source, alludes to potential moral controversy but does not discuss it significantly.

2) Whether you are pro-life or pro-choice, pro or anti contraception in general, do you think that this information is the sort of thing that should be discussed more openly? I know that there is a difference between being pro-choice and being pro-abortion (ie people who are pro-choice do not rejoice at the thought of an abortion- they simply hold the value of reproductive choice over the issue of potential life). I can't imagine that honest pro-choice people want to "trick" pro-life people, so I discount the likelihood of some sinister conspiracy. When it comes down to it, I can think of only two options. First, the pharma/medical industries are trying to keep this quiet OR people don't want to face this issue so they ignore it. Are either of these things justified? Is there another possibility?