Contra-Contraception

[9th Engineer]

Well, she put me off fairly early on with phrases like the one I quoted. While it may not seem like that big off a deal it hinged on a gut reaction I picked up from my parents. Both my parents work(ed) in emergency medicine, so they had to learn to 'read through' patients to get as much information as they could. The ER does bad things to people, the doctors see people at their worst when they are under huge stresses, and as a result patients tend to lie, tell half-truths, and be extremely vauge. I've grown up hearing all the stories of this and now when I hear one I'm very skeptical of everything else you say. "My body decided it was fed up", is one of these, it gives no infomation but the patient will of course expect the doctor to know what in hell they're talking about. I'm not a doctor (I pray I'll never have to do clinical practice) so I'm not claiming this based on first person experience, but I grew up around it. I did say I have sympathy for the woman after re-reading it once or twice, but I stand by my statement that she forces the reader to fill in a lot of gaps. Depo (short for Depo-Provera, manufactured by Pfizer), for example, is certainly NOT something I would expect someone with a history of problems stemming from hormonal birthcontrol to switch to. Her acute attack makes sense because Depo is a higher hormonal 'hit', only with progesterone instead of estrogen.
Plus there are serious problems with it, I'm copying this list off Wikipedia for convenience:

severe headaches, constant bleeding (metrorrhagia), weight gain, panic attacks, muscle pain, heart palpitations, pain during sex, acne, irregular menstrual bleeding, abdominal cramps, dizziness, weakness or fatigue, leg cramps, nausea, vaginal discharge or irritation, breast swelling and tenderness, bloating, swelling of the hands or feet, backache, depression,insomnia, pelvic pain, no hair growth or excessive hair loss, rash, hot flashes,joint pain, convulsions, jaundice, urinary tract infections, allergic reactions, fainting, paralysis, deep vein thrombosis, and pulmonary embolus

So basically it was the combination of a long-time trigger and the presence of serious holes in her logic and story. Plus, look at the title of her blog "Den of the Biting Beaver : Gnawing away at sexism and misogyny, one patriarchal asshole at a time!", not great for the credibility.

EDIT: spacing

[9th Engineer]

Ya, definately over-read this issue

[Happy Monkey]

Originally Posted by 9th Engineer

"My body decided it was fed up", is one of these, it gives no infomation but the patient will of course expect the doctor to know what in hell they're talking about.

That's why it was only the first half of the sentence. The second half and the following sentence gave you the more explicit description of the problem.

Plus there are serious problems with it, I'm copying this list off Wikipedia for convenience:

severe headaches, constant bleeding (metrorrhagia), weight gain, panic attacks, muscle pain, heart palpitations, pain during sex, acne, irregular menstrual bleeding, abdominal cramps, dizziness, weakness or fatigue, leg cramps, nausea, vaginal discharge or irritation, breast swelling and tenderness, bloating, swelling of the hands or feet, backache, depression,insomnia, pelvic pain, no hair growth or excessive hair loss, rash, hot flashes,joint pain, convulsions, jaundice, urinary tract infections, allergic reactions, fainting, paralysis, deep vein thrombosis, and pulmonary embolus

Bleeding and fainting. As she said.

So her story holds up. She can't use the pill, so she relied on condoms. Condoms are well over 90% effective, but she got burned, so she needed emergency contraception.

[Elspode]

I'd still like to know why it would be any of anyone else's business why this woman wanted or needed emergency contraception. Even if she'd chosen to have unprotected sex and conceived, it is *still legal* in this country for her to unpregnify herself...for a little while longer, anyway. Therefore, it is within her rights to utilize any legally available method to end her condition.

I think we'd all be better off if we worried as much about the erosion of our civil rights as we do about zygotes. A woman owns her body last time I checked.

And, before anyone asks, I would not personally be party to an abortion if I had a say in the matter. I am against it for me (not that I'm likely to have any further need for this position in my lifetime), but I am vehemently for women to continue to be allowed to make their own choices in the matter of reproduction. If God (tm) doesn't like it, I'm pretty sure he'll let the unfortunate ex-mother know, right? Isn't that how it works?

[Shawnee123]

Originally Posted by 9th Engineer

While it may not seem like that big off a deal it hinged on a gut reaction I picked up from my parents. Both my parents work(ed) in emergency medicine, so they had to learn to 'read through' patients to get as much information as they could. The ER does bad things to people, the doctors see people at their worst when they are under huge stresses, and as a result patients tend to lie, tell half-truths, and be extremely vauge. I've grown up hearing all the stories of this and now when I hear one I'm very skeptical of everything else you say. "My body decided it was fed up", is one of these, it gives no infomation but the patient will of course expect the doctor to know what in hell they're talking about. I'm not a doctor (I pray I'll never have to do clinical practice) so I'm not claiming this based on first person experience, but I grew up around it.

I'm still trying to figure out why having PARENTS working in emergency medicine (Doctors? Nurses? Janitors? Insurance Agents? Attorneys? What?) makes you qualified to have any reaction, let alone a judgmental one. Your expertise in the area sounds purely anectodotal. My father drove heavy construction equipment, but I'm not jumping on a giant steam shovel anytime soon.

Oh, and dismissing a woman's assertations of negative effects of hormonal based medication, something you know nothing about and never will, sounds to me like part of the intricate roots from where misogyny continues to grow.

[Elspode]

Typical hysterical female reaction... Get them shoes off and those legs open, woman!

[Trilby]

Originally Posted by Elspode

... Get them shoes off and those legs open, woman!

Well...okay. but it better be worth it.