Body & State

The Future of Contraception in the Anti-Abortion Movement with Lila Rose


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During last year’s presidential campaign, President Trump said he did not support a ban on birth control. But since taking office, his administration has signaled a willingness to curtail information about and access to certain forms of contraception, purging birth control guidelines from government websites, freezing funds for some family planning clinics, and making plans to incinerate $9.7 million dollars worth of birth control pills, IUDs, and hormonal implants that were flagged as "abortifacients." 

 

Anti-abortion activists have said they believe many common forms of birth control are the same as abortion and that argument is at the heart of the strategy to outlaw certain contraceptives under state abortion bans.


Anti-abortion activist and founder of Live Action Lila Rose talks with Body & State host Sarah Varney. We have fact checked some of the assertions in this interview and included links in the episode notes.

 

Watch Lila Rose in our PBS NewsHour segment “After fall of Roe, anti-abortion activists take aim at birth control.”

https://www.pbs.org/newshour/show/after-fall-of-roe-pro-life-activists-take-aim-at-birth-control

Watch “Examining the facts about contraceptives as birth control misinformation spreads online.”

https://www.pbs.org/newshour/show/examining-the-facts-about-contraceptives-as-birth-control-as-misinformation-spreads-online

Link to The Lila Rose Podcast: Lila Rose - YouTube

Hormonal birth control does not lead to divorce: https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC4536625/ 

Hormonal birth control does not encourage sexual promiscuity: https://intranet.bixbycenter.ucsf.edu/publications/files/DoesECPromoteSexRiskTaking_2008.pdf + https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/24785603/ 

Hormonal contraception can cause mild side effects, and in rare cases, certain contraceptives that contain estrogen can increase the risk of things like high blood pressure, blood clots or stroke. But the medications and devices are safe and effective:

https://www.mayoclinic.org/tests-procedures/mirena/about/pac-20391354 

https://my.clevelandclinic.org/health/treatments/3977-birth-control-the-pill 

https://my.clevelandclinic.org/health/treatments/3977-birth-control-the-pill

https://www.mayoclinic.org/tests-procedures/mirena/about/pac-20391354

 

The pill has long been shown to reduce the risk of certain cancers, treat the symptoms of endometriosis and uterine fibroids, and prevent anemia:

https://my.clevelandclinic.org/health/treatments/3977-birth-control-the-pill

 

Percentage of women seeking abortion who reported using contraception: https://www.guttmacher.org/news-release/2018/about-half-us-abortion-patients-report-using-contraception-month-they-became

 

Listen to Sarah Varney on “Science Friday”in collaboration with KHN about why contraceptive failure rates matter in post-Roe America:

https://www.sciencefriday.com/segments/contraceptive-failure-rates-pregnancy/

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Body & StateBy Sarah Varney