( - promoted by bridgetdooley)
When something reactionary is posted on Illinois Review, I usually ignore it. Actually, I always ignore it. The website and its viewpoints can usually be counted on for a good laugh, but there is no point in arguing with a tiny blip in the radar with whom I will always fundamentally disagree.
Until today. That's when I saw an article which actively spread misinformation about medical issues, where the author equates the hormonal birth control pill with illegal use of performance-enhancing steroids. So let's put aside this awesome primary chatter, because I'm sure we're all a little bit tired of talking about Wisconsin, and look at something just a little bit different crazier. |
Yesterday, George Kocan, a pro-family activist from the Chicago suburbs published an editorial on the conservative blog demanding that girls and women be subject to state-initiated investigations for steroid abuse, much like professional athletes have been investigated for illegal use of performance-enhancing drugs, for taking contraceptives prescribed by a doctor. In response to the Mitchell Report, which he deplores for solely targeting men, Kocan demands investigation into the "female half of the equation":
Young women use steroids, too, but no one lifts an eyebrow. They use powerful steroids in combination, estrogen and progesterone.
Like the androgens that athletes abuse, the female steroids do not fix anything that has gone wrong. Rather, they use these sex hormones to impair something that is functioning properly. Both classes of steroids should more properly be classified as recreational drugs. Certainly, their use facilitates recreational sexual activity.
Girls, as young as 14, can start on the pill and continue for the next 20-30 years. Strong evidence exists that these steroids cause breast cancer. Certainly, physicians have sounded the alarm regarding breast cancer in women who rely on hormonal replacement therapy to help them through menopause.
So, where are all the editorials demanding investigations into steroid abuse among women? Where is the public outcry? Don't they care about our young women?
No, I'm not making this up. Unfortunately, there are people out there who rely on media outlets like Illinois Review as a source of news and information. Obviously, no female takes hormonal birth control as a recreational drug, and even further, it does not pose a health threat even comparable to those of performance-enhancing steroids. But the level of misinformation presented in this article is so great, I didn't even know where to begin.
So I asked John D. Buek M.D., a non-partisan Assistant Professor in the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology at Georgetown University Hospital, whether hormonal birth control can be viewed as a "recreational drug". Here's what he had to say:
"The use of oral contraceptive pills, contrary the editorial in Illinois Review, is not a recreational drug nor can one extrapolate safety concerns from hormone replacement data from the Women's Health Initiative." Although the FDA regulates all prescribed medications in the U.S. for both safety and efficacy and incorporates an intensive process of review including independent advice from outside experts, Dr. Buek maintains that the "use of oral contraceptive pills has been extensively vetted over the years and no concerns have been raised regarding the use in a 'recreational manor'".
Alright, so we now understand that no person uses hormonal birth control recreationally. But what about the connection to cancer that Kocan outlined? Are the other suggestions put forth in his article completely fabricated as well? It sure seems like it. The Women's CARE study, a large U.S. population-based case-control study conducted by the National Institutes of Health, found no increased risk of breast cancer with current or past oral contraceptive use compared with never using oral contraceptives. To the contrary, it has been confirmed by an independent University of Oxford study that use of oral contraceptives decreases the risk of ovarian cancer by more than half.
I hate when people blatantly lie in an attempt to rally their base. And I hate it even more when it comes from Illinois residents like Kocan, who is also the editor and director of communications for TAPROOT Republicans of Illinois, an action group dedicated to restoring traditional conservative values. While I'm confident that no Republican or Democratic lawmaker from Illinois would ever consider enacting the type of legislation Kocan is suggesting, birth control access in this state and across the country is a hot topic, and we shouldn't take any baseless accusations lightly.
Hopefully, this pundit will eventually stop spreading misinformation about serious medical decisions for his own personal and political gain. Until then, we can only hope that no one takes him seriously and work to encourage rational dialogue on our local political blogosphere. |
