By Most Reverend Shelton J. Fabre
Archbishop of Louisville

Although fathers do not physically carry their children from conception, fathers can still be overwhelmed by an unexpected pregnancy. We Christians must support men who, in following the example of St. Joseph, choose to embrace their role as a father in all circumstances, but especially in challenging situations. St. Joseph was unexpectedly called to fatherhood amid extremely confusing and difficult circumstances. However, despite many obstacles, St. Joseph chose to be faithful. St. Joseph chose life by listening to God’s will and consciously deciding to be a father to Jesus, the Son of God. Pope Saint John Paul II said that fathers are called to exhibit “generous responsibility for the life conceived under the heart of the mother” (Familiaris Consortio 25). Like St. Joseph, all fathers are uniquely entrusted with the protection and defense of both mother and child and, in this way, safeguard the sanctity of human life. But biological fathers, because they do not physically carry the child, sometimes fail to truly father their children.

Our society increasingly tells fathers that they should have no say in the lives of their unborn children, no opportunity to choose to father their children. Our society seems to restrict the decisions regarding an unborn child solely to the discretion of the mother. In the face of false messages about fatherhood, we must respond with the truth that the role of a father “is of unique and irreplaceable importance” (FC 25). We know that the assistance and support of the father of a child, or lack thereof, can often be a deciding factor in a woman’s decision to choose life. Tragically, there are men who sometimes pressure mothers to make the decision to abort the child, sinning grievously and making the cowardly choice. These men are not following the example of St. Joseph and are not exercising true, spiritual fatherhood.

In all circumstances, but especially in difficult circumstances, a father needs to be encouraged to faithfully accept the role entrusted to him by God and support the mother of his child. Through our prayers and through the intercession of St. Joseph, patron of fathers, may fathers come to know the irreplaceable role they hold in the lives of their children, and the responsibility they share in welcoming God’s gift of new life! 

Original article from:

fathers-irreplaceable-role.pdf

A study published online Oct. 30 in the journal JAMA Oncology found that hormonal contraception is an important risk factor for the development of breast cancer in younger women.

Researchers from the Department of Immunology, Genetics, and Pathology at the University of Uppsala, Sweden, followed more than 2 million adolescent and premenopausal women for about 13 years. The study design was a population-based cohort study conducted using the Swedish, national registers.

The goal of the study was to determine if breast cancer risk differs by the content of hormonal contraceptives. The authors of the study analyzed the use of hormonal contraceptives, categorized by hormone formulations and route of administration.

In the population of adolescents and women younger than 50 years studied, 16,385 breast cancer cases occurred. Ever use of any hormonal contraceptive was associated with an increased breast cancer risk 24%. Higher risk was associated with oral desogestrel-only contraceptives as well as implants containing etonogestrel and desogestrel. Medroxyprogesterone acetate injection, etonogestrel vaginal ring, or combined oral drospirenone, did not have a statistically significant increased risk.

The findings of this cohort study are significant, considering that breast cancer incidence is rising around the globe in premenopausal women.

The authors of the study concluded that “findings of this cohort study highlight that breast cancer risk varies substantially by progestin content in hormonal contraceptives”. The authors support informed consent in the prescription of contraception.  It is crucial to ensure that every woman is fully aware of the risks and benefits associated with the use of potent hormonal contraceptive methods.

Girls Just Want to Have Fun!

Today’s post is from Fr. Eric Nielsen, a priest in Wisconsin.

As a young man I went on a motorcycle trip through Corsica at the same time that the Italians were on their school break. The beautiful winding roads of this Mediterranean island were filled with young Italian men on motorcycles with their lovely Italian girlfriends gracefully sitting behind them. At night they would enjoy the night life of the island and in the morning I would see them at the campgrounds we shared.

It was not a pretty sight. While their boyfriends slept in I watched the girls coming out of their tents, hair in a mess, tight clothes that looked not quite put on right, and long faces as they prepared something for breakfast. I didn’t speak Italian, but the short words spoken back into the tent did not seem like gentle wake-up calls.

On the third morning of the trip I noticed a young woman in front of her tent looked different. Her hair was neatly combed and held back by a headband, she was comfortably dressed, and she looked happy as she started to collect the things necessary for breakfast. What made her so different, I wondered? Like the rest she had crawled out of the same little tent pitched next to a motorbike.

What made her so unusual, I noticed, was her wedding ring. Unlike the other girls who were traveling and sleeping with boys who had given them little commitment this young woman had a man who loved her enough to make a permanent commitment to her. It was a vivid visual symbol of the difference between a relationship built on pleasure and one built on a lifelong promise of love.

One of the results of a contraceptive society is that young people can easily pursue a sexual relationship without the responsibility of commitment. Rare is the young man or woman who does not desire a relationship with someone of the opposite sex, and what seems equally rare is the young person in such a relationship who is ready to be married.

This is a very bad mix for it leads to relationships built more on a selfish desire for instant physical and superficial emotional pleasures rather than on a wise and authentic pursuit for genuine and comprehensive marital love. With couples habitually forging their intimate relationships with such mutually selfish practices, it is no wonder so many marriages end in failure.

Furthermore, it is our fault that young people lead this type of destructive lifestyle because we do little to stop it. It seems we would rather see them graduate from college, pursue a good career, develop some wealth, and keep their options open, than mary too young and be “burdened” with children. Thus we condone things such as vacations together on un-chaperoned trips with the only stipulation that no one gets pregnant. And we give them such sage advice as, “don’t get married too early.”

Let’s be honest, very few people will have the skills and opportunity to find a great measure of satisfaction in their careers, while most people, by simply following God’s plan for them, can find great happiness in their marriages.

We need to rethink our principles. Open-ended youthful relationships may look intriguing, but in the end they mostly bring about misery. The sacrificial love of marriage is what brings true lasting joy, and only those serious about getting married have the necessary intentions and dispositions to form a serious dating relationship.

Our expectations for our children should be clear and firm. For their own long-term happiness we expect nothing short of complete chastity prior to marriage and long-term relationships only when the intention for marriage is clear and foreseen.

Breast cancer is the most prevalent cancer around the world. According to the WHO, 2.26 million new cases of breast cancer were reported in the year 2020. A combination of genetic, hormonal, and environmental factors likely causes breast cancer.

In this article, Dr Susan Caldwell explains the link between low progesterone, contraceptives, infertility and breast cancer and provides prevention tips.

How Charting Your Cycles Could Help Prevent Breast Cancer

• Dr. Susan Caldwell

During the month of October, we see an abundance of pink ribbons intended to make us more aware of the reality of breast cancer. Women are reminded to have their annual mammogram to detect cancer early so that it can be treated or even cured in the early stages. Breast cancer is very common. In fact, in America, it is the leading cause of cancer in women. One out of every eight women will be diagnosed with breast cancer. Our modern health care system focuses on the detection and treatment of breast cancer, but rarely do you hear about what women can do to prevent breast cancer. This is unfortunate because now we have much more understanding of the environmental factors that can increase a woman’s risk of being diagnosed with breast cancer. When women understand their own individual risks, they can work to lower their risk of breast cancer long before their first mammogram at age 40.

Continue reading Dr Caldwell article here

Marco Tejeda, marriage coach and father of six, joins the One More Soul podcast in the first of our Fivefold Fathers series to discuss his experiences as the father of many children with One More Soul Board Chair David Stiennon. In this series, we are interviewing fifty-five fathers of five or more children to share the joys and challenges of fatherhood from those who have chosen to welcome many children.

A recent study published in the journal Human Brain Mapping reported that the use of hormonal oral contraceptives may alter how the brain is functionally organized. 

According to the United Nations, oral contraceptive pills (OCPs) were used by approximately 150 million women in the year 2020. OCPs contain synthetic estrogen and synthetic progestins, hormones that impair the endogenous healthy progesterone and estradiol production. These potent steroids suppress the hypothalamic–pituitary axis from secreting luteinizing hormone (LH) and follicle-stimulating hormone (FSH), altering an ovulatory event. Also, OCPs affect the uterine cervix, thickening cervical mucus, and altering the uterine lining, impeding implantation.

Although OCPs are promoted as safe and effective birth control method, they negatively affect not only the reproductive system but every cell in the woman’s body.  Synthetic estrogen and progestins have effects in the brain. The brain is an endocrine organ, sensitive to the rhythmic changes in sex hormone production that occur in women after puberty. 

In clinical practice, the use of OCPs has been associated with emotional lability, irritability, or depressive symptoms, and research studies using neuroimaging studies have reported that oral contraceptive pills (OCPs) alter brain connectivity.

Researchers from the Department of Psychiatry and Biobehavioral Sciences from UCLA, and the University of Cambridge conducted a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled crossover trial to investigate the changes in brain network activity and mood  in OCPs users.

The researchers recruited 26 women from a community in Los Angeles, CA, between the ages of 20 and 33 who reported past negative effects with the use of OCPs. The participants were randomly assigned to the intervention groups, Group A (took oral contraceptive pills for 18–21 days) or Group B (took a placebo). The women rested for one cycle to eliminate the effects of OCPs. Each participant in the study was evaluated with functional MRI scans, mood-related questionnaires, and hormonal analyses. Functional connectome fingerprinting, a method to identify the individual brain connectivity pattern and determine individual uniqueness, was used.

The results reported that the use of OCPs suppressed the normal hormonal production of estrogen and progesterone and altered the brain connectivity in some areas of the brain, specifically the subcortical, executive, and somatomotor circuits. Interestingly, when using OCPs, functional MRI profiles became similar between participants of the study, reducing variability between the participants. The mood-related questionnaires revealed that the changes in functional connectivity were significantly associated with increases in negative effect in mood.

The authors of the study concluded that, “These findings suggest that OCPs induce widespread and individually meaningful alterations to brain network organization, which may underlie mood-related side effects and should be considered in future neuroimaging research involving hormonal contraceptive users.”

The study has some limitations due to the small sample size. Also, only one type of OCP was used during a short period of time. More research using a larger population is needed to determine the long-term effects of the use of OCPs on brain function.

Understanding the effects of OCPs on the brain is crucial in research and in clinical practice. Women need to know that OCPs not only prevent pregnancy but also alter brain function. This is important for informed consent.

According to the World Health Organization, 248 million women use hormonal contraception worldwide. In the United States, almost a million women use the vaginal ring and the contraceptive patch.

A recent study published in the BMJ analyzed the association between hormonal contraceptive use and the risk of myocardial infarction and stroke.

The authors included data from two million women aged 15 to 49 living in Denmark. They compared medical records of women who had been prescribed hormonal contraception, including combined oral contraceptives, progestogen-only pills, hormonal intrauterine devices, contraceptive implants, injections, patches, and vaginal rings with non-users of hormonal contraception

In the results, they reported 4730 ischemic strokes and 2072 myocardial infarctions that occurred between 1996 and 2021.

The users of combined oral contraceptive pills had a two-fold increased risk of heart attack and stroke compared to non-users. Users of progestin-only contraceptives such as the intrauterine device and implants had an increased risk but lower than the risk of users of combined hormonal contraceptive pills.

A higher risk of arterial thrombotic events was also observed with the use of the vaginal ring. Compared to non-users of contraception, vaginal ring users had a rate ratio of 2.4 for ischemic stroke and 3.8 for myocardial infarction. Additionally, the contraceptive patch, which contains synthetic estrogen and progestins, appeared to carry a 3.4-fold increased risk of stroke.

The use of the levonorgestrel-releasing intrauterine device was not associated with stroke or myocardial infarction.

The authors of the study concluded that users of hormonal contraception that contain synthetic estrogen-progestin and progestin-only contraceptives experienced an increased risk of ischemic stroke and, in some cases, myocardial infarction. The absolute risks were low but informed consent is necessary to alert women of these serious side effects that can result in increased mobility and mortality of women in reproductive age.

The potential risk of arterial thrombosis can be avoided by the screening of risk factors for cardiovascular disease and the use of natural family planning a non-hormonal method morally acceptable and healthier than hormonal contraception.

by Hanna Klaus, MD

Managing a couple’s fertility to regulate their family size does not require removing said fertility from the woman’s or the man’s body. This is not primarily a religious issue. Some years ago a psychologist from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) who had no religious affiliation came to me for instruction in the Billings Ovulation Method of natural family planning. She had already used mechanical and hormonal contraceptives, but, responding to a comment I had made at an NIH meeting, she decided to seek a natural method. After using the method for three months she told me, “This method is so different—now I can be all there, now I am not holding anything back.” The contrast between contraception and fertility acceptance methods has never been explained more simply.

Continue reading here:

Fertility is Not a Disease | Church Life Journal | University of Notre Dame

Dr. Chris Kahlenborn sent a letter to the editor almost 15 years ago to raise awareness of an epidemic of breast cancer and a risk factor that is not emphasized in Breast Cancer Campaigns. His Mayo Clinic Proceedings peer-reviewed meta-analysis report had been buried since its publication.  He had been told to expect a LOT of calls from the media when his work came out.  Crickets!  NO ONE CALLED! Then came the 50^th anniversary of the Food and Drug Administration’s approval of the Pill, which prompted Dr. Kahlenborn to write his letter to the editor, and to beg for help in getting the word out. 

We believe that the time is NOW to step up and help Dr. Kahlenborn. Women deserve to know that contraceptive steroids (in pills, patches, vaginal rings, IUDs, or injectable forms) increase estrogen exposure and increase the risk of breast cancer. See current research: Contemporary Hormonal Contraception and the Risk of Breast Cancer – PubMed

Combined and progestagen-only hormonal contraceptives and breast cancer risk: A UK nested case–control study and meta-analysis | PLOS Medicine

Read Dr Kahlenborn’s original letter:

The Pill after 50 Years: That Dirty Little Secret

Last week was the 50th anniversary of the Food and Drug Administration’s approval of the birth control pill in the United States. Newspapers and magazines around the country ran stories on this, mostly extolling the social and medical benefits of the pill. This theme was bolstered by a recent communiqué from the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG) which noted: “The pill remains one of the safest and most popular forms of contraception in the U.S.” (Office of Communications, ACOG, May 6, 2010)

I find it disturbing that after nearly 50 years, both the media and the medical establishment have failed to give a true airing to one of the pill’s most dangerous side effects; namely, that “dirty little secret.” What’s that? One need only check the Mayo Clinic Proceedings-the major medical publication of the Mayo Clinic-to find our little-known study, which showed that the pill increases the risk of premenopausal breast cancer substantially when taken at a young age (see Mayo Clinic Proceedings: October, 2006: available to the public on line). In October, 2006, we reviewed the medical literature and combined data in an analysis (referred to as a meta-analysis): we found that 21 out of 23 studies showed that using oral contraceptives prior to a woman’s first birth resulted in a 44% increased risk in premenopausal breast cancer. Our meta-analysis remains the most recent study in this area and updates the previously analysis (the Oxford-analysis published in 1996) which relied on older data with older women (two-thirds of whom were over age 45); unfortunately, the Oxford study continues to be quoted by ACOG, textbooks, the National Cancer Institute, the American Cancer Society and most researchers and obstetricians, claiming that oral contraceptives carry little breast cancer risk especially ten years after last use.

I continue to be amazed at the discordance between the medical literature and public/medical awareness. To my dismay, after our meta-analysis was published, the Mayo Clinic sent out a press release to all major media in the country. The response?: ( ). The blank space between the parentheses is purposeful. Although our meta-analysis received scant internet coverage, almost no major media covered this study, which is shocking, given the fact that about 40,000 women in the U.S. get premenopausal breast cancer annually, oral contraceptives are an elective risk factor and our study is the most recent meta-analysis to date on the oral contraceptive-breast cancer link.

In addition to our meta-analysis, it’s important to note that the World Health Organization classified oral contraceptives as a Class I carcinogen in 2005 (ie, the most dangerous classification). Even more data has come forth recently in a paper by several researchers-one of whom is a major researcher of the National Cancer Institute-which not only cited our meta-analysis, but found that oral contraceptives increase the risk of triple-negative breast cancer in women under forty by 320 percent (triple-negative breast cancers are extremely aggressive) . (Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers & Prevention; April, 2009)

Few in the medical establishment or the public are aware of these data, or if they are, young women almost never hear about them. It’s been almost four years since the publication of our study in the Mayo Clinic Proceedings; I am beginning to think that our study has been effectively “buried.” Breast cancer and the pill-that dirty little secret? Some day perhaps someone in the media and/or medical establishment will dust a little dirt off those pink ribbons and let young women hear all the facts so they can finally make truly informed decisions.

Chris Kahlenborn, MD

Dr. Chris Kahlenborn is a medical doctor, specializing in internal medicine. Dr. Kahlenborn graduated from Penn State Medical University in 1988 and has been researching the effects of oral contraceptives on women’s health for well over twenty years. He is the author of our best-selling pamphlets, What a Woman Should Know about Birth Control, The Pill and Breast Cancer, and Breast Cancer Risk from Abortion

Dr. Kahlenborn is the lead author of the Mayo Clinic Proceeding’s article cited above. He testified before the FDA in June, 2000 regarding the link between oral contraceptives and breast cancer

The Polycarp Research Institute Box 105 Enola, PA 17025 717-732-4904 Drchrisk@polycarp.org

A recent study on dermatologic effects of the Levonorgestrel IUD was published online in the Journal of the American Academy of Dermatology.

Researchers from the Cleveland Clinic Lerner College of Medicine, Cleveland, Ohio, reviewed the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) Adverse Events Reporting System (FAERS) through December 2023 for dermatological adverse events associated with IUDs that release hormones.

They compared users of copper IUDs with users of levonorgestrel IUDs where IUDs were the only suspected cause of acne, alopecia, and hirsutism. The research included 139,348 reports related to Levonorgestrel IUDs (including Kyleena, Liletta, Mirena, and Skyla), and 50,450 reports of copper IUD users ( paragard).

Findings

• In general Levonorgestrel IUD users showed higher odds of reporting acne (odds ratio [OR], 3.21), alopecia (OR, 5.96), and hirsutism (OR, 15.48; all P < .0001) than copper IUD users.
• The Kyleena 19.5 mg levonorgestrel IUD was associated with the highest odds of acne reports (OR, 3.42), followed by the Mirena 52 mg (OR, 3.40) and Skyla 13.5 mg (OR, 2.30) levonorgestrel IUDs (all P < .0001).
• The Mirena IUD was associated with the highest odds of alopecia and hirsutism reports (OR, 6.62 and 17.43, respectively), followed by the Kyleena (ORs, 2.90 and 8.17, respectively) and Skyla (ORs, 2.69 and 1.48, respectively) IUDs (all P < .0001).

Levonorgestrel is a synthetic progestin with androgenic properties that stimulates male characteristics. The use of androgenic compounds increases the risk of acne or sexual hair growth in some women.

The authors of the study concluded “Overall, we identified significant associations between levonorgestrel IUDs and androgenic cutaneous adverse events,” They added, “Counseling before initiation of levonorgestrel IUDs should include information on possible cutaneous adverse effects including acne, alopecia, and hirsutism to guide contraceptive shared decision making.”

A recent study investigated the association between the use of Hormonal Contraception (HC) and inflammatory responses to an ecological stressor (namely, public speaking). The article was published in the Journal of Brain, Behavior, and Immunity and coauthored by Sarah E. Hill, author of the book This Is Your Brain on birth control. 

The participants of the study were 153 young women. Among the participants, 75 women reported being non-users of contraception for more than a year, and 78 women reported using at least three months (first, second, or third generation combined oral contraceptive pills). The women participated in the luteal phase of the cycle because past research demonstrated a difference between the stress response of naturally cycling women and women using birth control. The women were given 5 minutes to give a speech about their dream job in front of a researcher. The participants provided saliva samples to measure cortisol and cytokines (proteins that regulate inflammation) before and after the test and a subjective assessment of their mood and stress levels. 

The authors of the study reported that women on birth control had higher cortisol levels in response to acute stress compared to the response to the same stressor of naturally cycling women. Also, increases in cortisol levels following the stressful situation were associated with more negative moods for HC users. In contrast, women not using contraception reported a better mood. Thus, HC users reported higher stress levels than NC women. 

Women using HC experienced an increase in cytokines, suggesting more inflammation compared to naturally cycling women.  Women using HCs exhibited a significant decrease in IL-1β levels and an increase in TNF-α (tumor necrosis factor that induces inflammation). Non-contraceptive women experience the opposite. The authors reported that “these differences could be explained by the androgenic effects of HCs on the inflammatory response, with HC users having an inflammatory stress response that is biased toward a more male-typical response.” Consistent with this interpretation, research finds that women generally exhibit a larger but more delayed IL-6 response and a smaller TNF-α response to stress than men. 

The results of this study suggest that hormonal contraception use impacts corticoid, inflammatory, and psychological responses to psychosocial stress. 

The authors mentioned that HC users are at elevated risk of developing some autoimmune disorders when compared to NC women. This increased risk may be mediated through the increase in inflammatory cytokines such as TNF-α. in response to stress. 

Future research is needed to examine this possibility and to better understand the mechanisms by which HC use impacts women’s inflammatory reactivity to stress and women’s mental and physical health.

Hormonal birth control methods have multiple mechanisms for preventing pregnancy.

According to The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists:

• The mucus in the cervix thickens, making it difficult for sperm to enter the uterus and fertilize an egg.
• Progestin stops ovulation, but it does not do so consistently. About 4 in 10 women who use progestin-only pills will continue to ovulate.
• Progestin thins the lining of the uterus.

Hormonal birth control pill that contains progestin also works to thin the endometrium, making it more difficult for a new conceived human being to implant into the uterus.

Informative video about the truth About Oral Contraceptives. As the author concludes “it’s not just the millions of women who are on contraceptives or HRT who are at risk. Today, an ever-growing number of young boys who feel like girls are also being placed on estrogen therapy under the guise of “gender-affirming care.” The future of these boys may be grimmer than we dare conceive at the moment”.

A recent study published in the British Medical Journal found that prolonged use of hormones used in some contraceptives may be associated to the increased risk intracranial meningioma. Meningiomas are tumors that grow from the membranes that surround the brain and the spinal cord. They are slow-growing and mostly benign, but it can cause symptoms requiring surgery. The median age of diagnosis of meningiomas is 65 years.

The authors of the paper conducted a national case-control study involving 108,366 women in France. The purpose of the study was to examine the risk for a common brain tumor with use of progestogens. Women who had intracranial surgery were include in the cases and matched with five controls by age.

The researchers found that the use for one year or more of 150 mg medroxyprogesterone acetate was associated with a 5.6-fold increased risk of intracranial meningioma requiring surgery. The use of cyproterone acetate, medrogestone, and promegestone was also associated with an excess risk of meningioma.

Medroxyprogesterone acetate known as Depo Provera, is used for contraception approximately by 74 million women worldwide. The authors of the study reported that 3 out of 9 meningiomas diagnosed in women who used medroxyprogesterone were younger than 45 and one was observed before the age of 35. The number of attributable meningiomas in young women who use Depro provera may potentially be high.

The researchers reported that “no excess risk of meningioma was associated with the use of progesterone, dydrogesterone, or spironolactone, or the hormonal intrauterine systems”.

“Further studies are also needed to assess the meningioma risk with the use of medroxyprogesterone acetate, which, in this study, was considered at a dose of 150 mg and corresponded to a second line injectable contraceptive that is rarely used in France. Studies from countries with a broader use of this product, which, furthermore, is often administered to vulnerable populations, are urgently needed to gain a better understanding of its dose-response association.”

According to the American Cancer Society, each year about 13,000 new cases of invasive cervical cancer are diagnosed and more than 4,000 women will die from cervical cancer.

Cervical cancer originates in the lower part of the uterus, the cervix, and can cause abnormal vaginal discharge, pelvic pain, vaginal bleeding, and painful sex.

The World Health Organization states that 99% of cervical cancers are linked to infection with HPV, (human papillomavirus) transmitted through sexual contact. Other risk factors for cervical cancer include smoking, immunodeficiency, and hormonal contraception.

A recent study published in the International Journal of Cancer analyzed the connection between the use of hormonal contraception and the diagnosis of cervical cancer. The cohort study included >20 million person-years, and 3643 incident cervical cancers that occurred in women aged 15 to 49 living in Denmark from 1995 to 2014.

The authors of the study found that the relative risk of ever-users of hormonal birth control was 1.19 compared to women who did not use contraception. Cervical cancer was diagnosed about 19% more often in women who had used birth control at any point compared to women who had never used birth control. In the women who were current or recent users of any hormonal the risk increased to 30%. Longer duration of use was associated with an increased risk of cervical cancer and the risk declined after stopping the use of the artificial hormones.

The use of combined contraceptives (artificial estrogen and progestins) increased the risk of cervical cancer by 40%. Recent use of progestin-only contraceptives was not associated with an increase in cervical cancer.

The authors of the study concluded that their “results indicate that currently available combined contraceptives continue to be positively associated with the risk of cervical cancer, at least among women not vaccinated against HPV. Women wishing to use this method of contraception need to be informed of this risk and encouraged to participate in a cervical screening program, if available. They should also be alert to any symptom’s indicative of cervical cancer and report these promptly to their health care provider. Our findings also reinforce the urgent public health need for global interventions to prevent cervical cancer.”

Complete article Contemporary hormonal contraception and cervical cancer in women of reproductive age – Iversen – 2021 – International Journal of Cancer – Wiley Online Library

Iversen L, Fielding S, Lidegaard Ø, Hannaford PC. Contemporary hormonal contraception and cervical cancer in women of reproductive age. Int J Cancer. 2021 Apr 5. doi: 10.1002/ijc.33585. Epub ahead of print. PMID: 33818778.

A recent study published in the journal Frontiers in Endocrinology studied the effect of the use of hormonal oral contraceptives and fear responses in the brain.

Deborah Pirchner, from Frontiers wrote:

“Fluctuations in sex hormones influence brain activity of the fear circuitry. A team of researchers in Canada has now examined the effects of oral contraceptive (OC) use on women’s brains. Their findings showed that ventromedial prefrontal cortex (vmPFC) thickness of women who were using OCs was reduced compared to men, suggesting a mechanism on how OC use could impair emotion regulation in women. Based on this study, this effect appears to be reversible after discontinuing use. More studies on impact and reversibility are needed, the researchers cautioned.“

More than 150 million women worldwide use oral contraceptives. Combined OCs (COCs), made up of synthetic hormones, are the most common type. Sex hormones are known to modulate the brain network involved in fear processes.

Now a team of researchers in Canada has investigated current and lasting effects of COC use, as well as the role of body-produced and synthetic sex hormones on fear-related brain regions, the neural circuitry via which fear is processed in the brain.

“In our study, we show that healthy women currently using COCs had a thinner ventromedial prefrontal cortex than men,” said Alexandra Brouillard, a researcher at Université du Québec à Montréal and first author of the study published in Frontiers in Endocrinology. “This part of the prefrontal cortex is thought to sustain emotion regulation, such as decreasing fear signals in the context of a safe situation. Our result may represent a mechanism by which COCs could impair emotion regulation in women.”

Emotion regulation and contraceptives

“When prescribed COCs, girls and women are informed of various physical side effects, for example that the hormones they will be taking will abolish their menstrual cycle and prevent ovulation,” Brouillard explained. However, the effects of sex hormones on brain development, which continues into early adulthood, are rarely addressed. Considering how widespread COC use is, it is important to better understand its current and long-term effects on brain anatomy and emotional regulation, the researchers said.

The team recruited women who were currently using COCs; women who used COCs previously but did not at the time of the study; women who never used any form of hormonal contraception; and men. Comparing these groups allowed the researchers to see if COC use was associate with current or long-term morphologic alterations as well as to detect sex differences, since it is established that women are more susceptible to experience anxiety and stress-related disorders than men.

“As we report reduced cortical thickness of the ventromedial prefrontal cortex in COC users compared to men, our result suggests that COCs may confer a risk factor for emotion regulation deficits during their current use,” Brouillard said.

The impacts of COC use, however, may be reversible once intake is discontinued, the researchers said. Given that the vmPFC effect found in current users was not observed in past users, the findings did not support lasting anatomical effects of COC use. This, the researchers wrote, will need to be confirmed in further studies.

Read original article

Download original article (pdf)

Much to learn

There is still much to learn when it comes to women’s brains and how they are impacted by COC use. For example, Brouillard and team are currently investigating the impact of age of onset and duration of use to delve further into the potential lasting effects of COCs. Given that many teenage girls start using COCs during adolescence, a sensitive period in brain development, user age might also impact reversibility.

Pointing to limitations in their study, the scientists said that no causal relationship can be implied between COC use and brain morphology and that generalization of their results to a general population may be limited. The researchers also cautioned that drawing conclusion from anatomical findings to behavioral and psychological impact is not possible at this point.  

“The objective of our work is not to counter the use of COCs, but it is important to be aware that the pill can have an effect on the brain. Our aim is to increase scientific interest in women’s health and raise awareness about early prescription of COCs and brain development, a highly unknown topic,” concluded Brouillard.

Taken from: Contraceptive pills might impair fear-regulating regions in women’s brains – Science & research news | Frontiers (frontiersin.org)

The following excerpt is from Fr. Lovasik book “Clean love and Courtship”. Every Catholic young lady and young man should read in their formative years.

THE SIXTH AND NINTH COMMANDMENTS

Soul-death

True happiness comes from God. It fills your heart if you live according to God’s plan and His commandments. Unhappiness comes from breaking those commandments by sin. Disobedience is the spirit of Lucifer: “I will not serve”;

“God can’t tell me what to do.”

Since mortal sin is a grievous offense against the law of God, it is the greatest tragedy in the world. The emphasis is on God.

You were made His child and friend in baptism. He gives you His life, the supernatural life through the sacraments, and then in a moment of selfishness you turn your back on Him.

Do not try to make yourself believe that hurting those around you is the only possible evil. God does not agree with that view. When you break God’s law, you hurt God—and yourself!

Sin is called mortal because it causes death to your soul. It is a complete turning from God. If you do not want God in your heart, He will get out. He will not force Himself on you.

And if He leaves you, He takes with Him the supernatural life—which means spiritual death for you, because without God there can be no spiritual life, no happiness either.

The apostle says: “The wages of sin is death.” (Rom.6, 23.) Breaking God’s law by impurity in company-keeping spells death: death of the soul through the loss of sanctifying grace; death of the peace of conscience through the crushing remorse for sin; death of the delightful consciousness of the possession of unsoiled purity; death of high ideals; death of the lofty esteem and sacred reverence two people formerly had for one another.

Spiritual death of mortal sin brings misery and unhappiness in this world and eternal damnation in the next. Sin and damnation seem to be out of tune with the spirit of our time.

Just because people have stopped talking about sin, do not let yourself be fooled into thinking it must not be so bad. Sin is just as nasty and just as harmful today as it ever was.

Do not excuse your shortcomings on the plea that everybody is doing it. Evil may never be done even if everybody is doing it. Because it is too much trouble to behave yourself, you cannot say it is all right to misbehave.

It is God, not people, who declares what is right and what is wrong; and He is right, and His Church with Him, even though the whole world may call Him wrong.

The misery of the world is due to that selfishness which puts our own pleasure ahead of God’s will.

It is important to remember that three things are necessary for a sin to be mortal:

I. The thing must be very bad, e.g. any deliberate thought, word or deed against the sixth and ninth commandments.

II. It must be done with the full knowledge that it is against God. You must KNOW what you are doing.

III. The wrong must have the full consent of our will. You must really WANT to do it. When one of these three conditions is missing, there is no mortal sin.

The Sixth Commandment

The sixth commandment is: “Thou shalt not commit adultery.” It forbids not only adultery, but also all actions which are contrary to the orderly propagation of the human race.

The faculty of sex has been bestowed upon man primarily for the propagation of the race. It is to be used only in the family and not for the benefit of the individual; otherwise it is a grievous crime against nature and a violation of God’s law.

General Principle

 All sexual pleasure outside marriage, alone or with others, that is directly willed or desired, intentionally procured or permitted, is a MORTAL SIN.

Therefore, it is grievously sinful in the unmarried to think, say or do anything with the intention of arousing even the smallest degree of  sensual pleasure.

If, however, this pleasure has arisen and (a) there was no intention of arousing it, (b) and no danger of consenting to it when aroused, it is a VENIAL SIN only if there was at least semi-deliberate consent, otherwise there is NO SIN at all.

MORTAL SIN:

 All impure actions that are directly willed, procured or permitted. (Sexual intercourse, intimate, passionate kissing and embracing which form the natural preliminary to intercourse; unnatural acts, such as self-abuse or sexual intimacies with a person of the same sex.)

All other actions performed for the purpose of arousing sexual pleasure. (To kiss improperly or to read a book, to look at pictures, to attend plays or see movies in order to arouse passion.)

All actions which are a near danger of performing an impure action or of consenting to illicit pleasure. (Kissing, reading of a particular type of magazine which generally leads you to lose control of yourself.)

In performing these actions you are practically certain to sin. If you knowingly court such a danger, you are already showing a will to sin. Ordinarily you are obliged under pain of serious sin to avoid such occasions.

If the occasion cannot be avoided, then you must find some means which will strengthen you against the danger.

Some things are practically always near occasions of sin; e.g., the modern burlesque show, obscene literature that portrays adultery or fornication in an attractive manner.

VENIAL SIN:

 Impure actions performed without a good and sufficient reason. (Curious and imprudent looks and reading; pondering on dangerous thoughts through idle curiosity unduly prolonged; repeated kisses by lovers, even though they intend no passion; kissing from frivolous motives.)

No SIN:

 Sexual actions performed with a good and sufficient reason. Your thoughts and actions are sinless when you have a good reason for them; you may ignore the sexual stimulation that may accidentally result. (Medical examination, dancing, slightly suggestive motion pictures, generally decent picture magazines, personal cleanliness.)

But sometimes sexual disturbances arising from physical causes, such as fatigue, from some local irritation, from nervousness, are apt to be pro longed and to be a source of very severe temptation.

They become mortally sinful only when you make them perfectly voluntary by deliberately promoting, approving of and enjoying them.

They are not sinful at all if you do what you reasonably can to yourself of any temptation involved in them.

This can be done by a brief, calm act of the will, “I don’t want it”; by saying a little aspiration for grace of a “Hail Mary”; by trying to divert the mind to something else that is interesting or humorous; by making a brief change in external occupation.

IN REGARD TO OTHERS:

 In regard to others, you must always remember the great law of charity by which you are bound not to induce others to sin or to help them to sin, and you must also take reasonable means to prevent their sinning when you can do so.

In such things as kissing, conversation, and choice of entertainment, you cannot simply settle the matter by saying: “It doesn’t bother me; therefore it’s all right.”

For instance, in kissing, a girl should keep in mind that a boy is more responsive physically than she; but if there is some good reason for a decent manifestation of affection, she may presume that he has the proper control of himself, unless he attempts or suggests immodesty.

The Ninth Commandment

The ninth commandment is: “Thou shalt not covet thy neighbor’s wife.” It forbids all lustful thoughts and desires.

MORTAL SIN:

 To entertain a bad thought willfully for the purpose of enjoying it or to entertain it willfully so that it becomes a near occasion of performing an unchaste action.

VENIAL SIN:

 To think about sexually-stimulating things without a sufficient reason.

No SIN:

 To think about sexually-stimulating things with a sufficient reason. He who wishes to keep his body clean must begin by keeping his mind clean. Indulging in morbid erotic thoughts will lead to evil deeds, and may also cause mental disturbances.

Temptation is Not a Sin

Temptation is not a sin; it is an invitation to sin. It is a fight between your duty to obey God’s law and your evil desires. As soon as you decide to give in to your evil desires and you want to disobey God’s commandment, the temptation is over and you have committed a sin. You must know what you are doing and you must want to break a serious commandment of God before a mortal sin can be committed.

The most violent emotional desires and the most pursuing evil imaginations do not constitute sin until your will gives consent. No temptation can harm you as long as you are sincerely seeking to retain the friendship and the love of God.

By turning your will resolutely to God and prudently avoiding occasions of sin, you can enjoy a good conscience peace of mind even in time of temptation.

If doubts should come as to whether you have consented to a temptation or not, remember that if you have the habitual will and determination to resist evil thoughts and if you have prayed, you may elude that deliberate consent was lacking.

Allay scruple or doubt to keep you from receiving Holy Communion.

Abstain only when you can put your hand on the Bible and swear that you are absolutely certain you are guilty of deliberate mortal sin.

Dependent upon the nature of the temptation, your disposition, and the circumstances, all temptation against purity in thought, desire, or act, must be met decisively either by directly opposing them or directly ignoring them. Be prepared to meet temptation:

I. By regular confession and frequent Holy Communion

II. By prayer

III. By self-denial, so that when temptation comes, your will may be strong enough to want good instead of evil

IV. By turning your mind away from bad thoughts becoming busy with other things; By avoiding whatever may lead you into temptation (the suggestive story, the smutty joke, the lewd picture, the suggestive movie or novel, bad companions, questionable places)

V. By fighting against temptations from the very first moment they come up

VI. By loving Jesus and the Blessed Virgin sincerely

Source The Sixth and Ninth Commandments ~ Fr. Lovasik – Catholic Finer Femininity (finerfeminity.com)

Whether married, single, religious, or priests, all Saints Day feast reminds us that we are all called to be saints.

1. Bl. Luigi Beltrame Quattrochi and Maria Corsini Quattrochi (d. 1951 and 1965, Italy)

Luigi was a banker, and she was a homemaker, speaker, and writer.

They raised four children, volunteered generously in their community for Catholic and social causes, and lived their faith fervently.

In discernment with guidance from a spiritual director, they decided to take a special vow of abstinence from marital relations after 20 years of marriage. Still, they remained emotionally close, loving, and affectionate to one another.

“they made their family an authentic domestic church, open to life, prayer, witness of the Gospel, the social apostolate, solidarity with the poor, and friendship… Intimately united in love and Christian ideals, they walked together on the path of holiness.”

Cardinal Martin

2. Sts. Louis and Zelie Martin

This quiet watchmaker and energetic lacemaker raised St. Therese of Lisieux and her four other sisters who lived to adulthood (including Servant of God Leonie Martin). Four other children, two sons and two daughters, died in early childhood or infancy.

Guidance from their confessor convinced them to give up the idea of an abstinent, Josephite marriage that Louis had convinced Zelie to adopt for the first nine months of their marriage.

Their devotion to their faith and prayer life, to their family, and to charitable outreach in various forms did not take away from their tenderness and care for each other. 

3.Servants of God Cyprien and Daphrose Rugamba (d. 1994, Rwanda)

Daphrose’s prayers for her unfaithful husband’s conversion bore amazing fruit.

As he was healed from a mysterious, life-threatening disease, her composer and government officer husband received the gift of faith. He turned wholeheartedly back to his wife, asking her forgiveness.

They lived the remaining years of their life together in great affection, serving together in evangelization and charity, until dying along with most of their children on the first night of the Rwandan genocide. 

Source: Nathan and Sarah headsteward@canafeast.com

A group of researchers from Oxford University confirmed that progestin-only birth control, which is promoted as a “safer” and “lower-risk” alternative to combined hormonal contraception, is associated with an increased risk of breast cancer.

More than nine thousand premenopausal women with incident invasive breast cancer diagnosed were compared with eighteen thousand healthy controls.  The study aimed to assess the relationship between a woman’s recent use of hormonal contraceptives and her subsequent risk of breast cancer.

The authors of the study reported a relative increase of around 20% to 30% in breast cancer risk associated with the current or recent use of either combined oral or progestagen-only contraceptives.

It is important to note that 44% of women with breast cancer and 39% of women without breast cancer had a prescription for a hormonal contraceptive an average of three years before diagnosis. Half of the hormonal contraceptive prescriptions were for progestagen-only contraceptives.

The researchers found that the increased risk of breast cancer was similar regardless of whether the preparation last used was oral combined, oral progestagen-only, injectable progestagen, progestagen implant, or progestagen intrauterine device.

The researchers examined if the increased breast cancer risk remained elevated for women even after they stopped using birth control. They compared results from previous studies including women in a wider age range. They found that in young women aged 16-20, the 15-year absolute excess risk of breast cancer associated with the use of oral contraceptives was 8 per 100,000 users. In older women, from age 35 to 39, the risk was 265 per 100,000 users.

The authors concluded that the current or recent use of progestagen-only contraceptives is associated with a slight increase in breast cancer risk, similar to the risk associated with the use of combined hormonal contraceptives. The risk is estimated to be smaller in women who use it at younger age rather than at older ages.

The first OTC contraceptive, Opill, is on the way to shelves near you without age restrictions.

On July 13, 2023, the Federal Drug Administration approved the first over-the-counter hormonal birth control. The decision will allow American women and girls to obtain potent hormonal contraceptives/abortifacients as quickly as they buy vitamins and aspirin.

Here’s why it matters:

Opill also known as the “mini-pill” is manufactured by the Irish company Perrigo.

The mini-pill contains a synthetic form of the hormone progesterone called progestin. According to the prescription label, progestin-only oral contraceptives such as Opill tablets, prevent conception by various mechanisms of action. The mini-pill may suppress ovulation in approximately half of the cycles. Some users may experience thickening of the cervical mucus to inhibit sperm penetration. Also, the mini-pill lowers the midcycle LH and FSH peaks, slowing the movement of the ovum through the fallopian tubes, and altering the endometrium. If fertilization occurs and an egg is fertilized, the mini-pill will prevent the newly conceived human being from implanting within the endometrium.

“Opill over the counter may prevent conception or implantation.”

Opill use can be associated with ectopic pregnancy. “The incidence of ectopic pregnancies for progestin-only oral contraceptive users is 5 per 1000 woman-years. Up to 10% of pregnancies reported in clinical studies of progestin-only oral contraceptive users are extrauterine.”

The FDA emphasizes that Opill contains a single synthetic hormone and generally carries fewer side effects than combination hormone pills that contain progestin and synthetic estrogen. What women probably do not know is that the mini-pill still comes with many side effects, including headache, dizziness, nausea, increased appetite, abdominal pain, cramps and bloating, fatigue, vaginal discharge, dysmenorrhea (painful menstruation), nervousness, backache, breast discomfort, and acne. The use of progestin has been associated with an increased risk of depression, breast cancer, cervical cancer, and brain cancer.

Making Opill over the counter put women at unnecessary health risks. Opill causes changes in menstrual bleeding, including bleeding and spotting between menstrual periods, and ovarian cysts. Sometimes surgery is needed to remove a cyst on the ovary. Opill also contains FD&C Yellow No. 5 (tartrazine) which may cause allergic reactions (including bronchial asthma). Although the overall incidence of FD&C Yellow No. 5 (tartrazine) sensitivity in the general population is low, it is frequently seen in patients who also have aspirin sensitivity.

The label of Opill states, “These are not all the possible side effects of Opill. Call your doctor for medical advice about side effects.” Women deserve better than easy access to a potent steroid with many dangerous side effects. Women need more education and guidance from doctors, NP, nurses, and health advocates no less.

It is interesting that the manufacturer Perrigo says Opill could be an “important new option for the estimated 15 million U.S. women who currently use no birth control or less effective methods, such as condoms. They are a fifth of women who are child-bearing age.” A big lucrative business!

What can you do?

1. Pray the Novena of Healing from Contraception with us from March 17 to March 25.
2. Order some materials to help us educate women about the effects of hormonal contraception and the safe, healthy, and morally acceptable alternatives.
3. Donate to our ministry to help our mission of fostering God’s plan of love, chastity, marriage, and children.

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A recent study published in the Journal for Divorce and Remarriage examined the connection between the use of birth control and marriage dissolution. Also, the authors of the study analyzed the influence of the use of methods of Natural Family Planning on divorce. The sample size was a total of 5,403 ever-married women from the National Survey of Family Growth in the years 2015 to 2019. Statistic analysis of divorce was calculated for the family planning variables (ever-use vs. never-use). The study also examined the influence of family planning methods relative to other known factors involved with divorce such as income, education level, etc.

The results of the study indicated that the use of contraception was associated with increased odds of divorce, from 30% to 200%, whereas ever-use of NFP was associated with a 31% lower probability. Users of hormonal oral contraceptives (the combined pill or mini pill) divorced at a rate 54% above the study average. Sterilization was the birth control method that had the highest probability of divorce. Women who had a tubal ligation divorced at a rate 78% above the study average and the probability of divorce doubled in men with vasectomies. Condom use was associated with 67% above the average divorce rate. 

In contrast, users of methods of Natural Family Planning were 31% less likely to divorce than the study average. Other risk factors such as poverty level and education levels did not meaningfully influence the probability of divorce.

The authors of the study concluded that “ever-married women who have ever used NFP have lower odds of divorce, whereas those who have ever used most the common contraceptives have higher odds of divorce. More research is needed to understand how and why choices in family planning affect the stability of marriage.”

According to the World Health Organization birth control is used by more than 800 million women around the globe. Beyond contraception, hormonal birth control is used for the treatment of many gynecological and medical conditions. The Guttmacher Institute reports that the average U.S. woman uses contraceptives for 30 years to attain her family planning goal of two children. But what happens when a couple starts efforts to have children or expand their family? Does birth control affect the women’s body’s ability to conceive and carry to full term? 

The World Health Organization (WHO) recently reported that about one in six persons in adulthood has experienced infertility at least once in their life. Infertility is defined as the inability to conceive within one year, or not being able to carry a pregnancy to term. Infertility may occur in a couple’s first attempts to bring a child into the world, or as secondary infertility when they have successfully given birth before, but are not able to carry to term again.

Does the use of hormonal contraception contribute to the burden of infertility? Popular sources throughout the internet give assurance that most birth control does not affect future fertility. However, sources have indicated otherwise. Why do some couples struggle to get pregnant after stopping birth control? We have more questions than answers.

Pregnancy depends on many factors. A hormonal balance of estrogen and progesterone are among the most important factors. Oral contraceptive pills are a combination of synthetic estrogen or progestin. In a woman using hormonal contraception, her pituitary gland is unable to release follicle-stimulating hormone and luteinizing hormone affecting the development of the uterine lining, cervical mucus production, and the development of healthy eggs. Prolonged use of birth control pills is associated with temporary impairment to the ovulatory event. This negative impact on hormonal balance could prevent future pregnancies. It will take time to heal. Once a woman stops taking the pill, regularizing the menstrual cycle may take almost three to six months, depending on the age and the woman’s individual response to artificial hormones. 

Some negative effects of the use of hormonal birth control are related to menstrual bleeding. After a woman stops the pill she can experience extremely heavy blood flow, significantly less blood flow, or no flow at all. This irregularity of the menstrual cycle can cause temporary difficulty in conception. One explanation for menstrual irregularity is the fact that long-term use of combined oral contraceptive pills is associated with adverse endometrial growth. Embryo implantation depends on endometrial thickness. A thinner endometrium after using the pill for more than five years can make it difficult to achieve and carry a pregnancy to term. 

The use of oral contraceptives also impairs the production of cervical mucus. The presence of cervical mucus is essential to achieve pregnancy, indeed pregnancy cannot occur without the presence of healthy cervical mucus. A study published in the Journal of Women’s Health reported that the women who had recently stopped oral contraceptives had lower mucus quality for the first two cycles.

Another issue after stopping birth control is the nutritional deficiencies caused by artificial hormones.  Birth control causes nutritional deficiencies due to its impact on liver function. The low nutrient status after contraception has been associated not only with fertility problems but also with low nutrient status in the fetus. The pill has been associated with a number of nutrient deficiencies including vitamin B6, magnesium, vitamin b12, folic acid, vitamin C, and zinc. After stopping the use of hormonal birth control the level of vitamin D drops.  Also, a recent review reported that birth control pills may exacerbate Insulin Resistance. This condition increases inflammation and contributes to infertility experienced by women, especially if they suffer from PCOS. Insulin resistance can lead to pregnancy loss due to inadequate nutrition and support of the growing embryo.

In sporadic cases, infertility is permanent which may be due to some pre-existing conditions as well. Therefore, women who stop using contraception need to give time to the body to heal and get adequate nutrition. A consultation with health care provider is recommended to evaluate the status of the hormonal imbalance, nutritional deficiencies, and restoration of the fertility cycle.

References

Effect of long-term combined oral contraceptive pill use on endometrial thickness – PubMed (nih.gov)

Characteristics of the menstrual cycle after discontinuation of oral contraceptives

The Impact of Combined Hormonal Birth Control on Insulin Sensitivity and Inflammation – FACTS (factsaboutfertility.org)

The Unintended Consequences of Contraception (catholicnewsagency.com)

By Eric Pavlat    

Pop culture, schools, and the media all tell you that artificial birth control is a wonderful development of modernity. Explaining why they’re wrong and the official Church teaching is correct can be a painful matter. The teaching itself is a difficult one, but if you support contraception, I invite you to rethink your position.

Some find Church arguments against contraception confusing. Simply put, artificial birth control separates two aspects of sex that God wished never to be separated: the unitive, which brings two people together; and the procreative, which brings new life into the world (see Pope Paul VI’s encyclical Humanae Vitae).

Of course, that won’t satisfy those of a less philosophical and more pragmatic bent. Happily, there are plenty of practical reasons why the Church’s teaching is preferable.

First, some studies suggest that couples who choose natural methods of spacing births (natural family planning, or NFP) instead of artificial means experience a divorce rate as low as 2 percent, compared to 50 percent for the general population. NFP, in which husband and wife cooperate, actually has the effect of strengthening the marital bond.

Additionally, sexual intimacy within the sacrament of marriage is improved with NFP. Devices such as condoms block that perfect union between a husband and wife, while the pill actually changes the wife’s body chemistry and can reduce her desire for sexual intimacy. Neither of these outcomes falls within God’s plan for husband and wife.

Pontiffs throughout the 20th century have endorsed NFP as a moral method of spacing births. The Couple to Couple League is a wonderful place to start for those preparing for marriage, or for those who may want to “start over” and need guidance on the method.

Of course, the real problems with artificial birth control are hidden and emerge from a single fact: Contraceptives eliminate from sex the “risk” of pregnancy. This is a dramatic technological shift, and it has had terrible consequences for our society.

Perhaps the most obvious effect has been an increase in promiscuity. Adults and teenagers, freed from the “consequences” of sex, began having casual sexual encounters in numbers unseen before. Once sex was detached from pregnancy, it moved into the realm of a leisure activity, a cultural pastime to enjoy whether married or not.

Not only that, but contraceptives put pregnancy in the same category as a disease to be prevented (as recently noted by Sen. Barack Obama). Within a few years, this view became so prevalent that when women were “stricken” with pregnancy, they needed a cure. Welcome to 1973 and abortion on demand, thanks to Roe v. Wade.

The social connection between public acceptance of birth control and public acceptance of abortion is inescapable; it’s virtually impossible to find a group that supports abortion that doesn’t also support artificial birth control. If birth control is an issue of privacy, so is abortion; if birth control is a way for the poor to have fewer children, so is abortion. Abortion advocates use the same arguments to favor abortion as they do for contraceptives. That alone should give pause.

But there’s another grave side-effect of the contraception revolution: Since pregnancy was considered a “disease,” and children were the result of pregnancy, they came to be seen considered undesirable and inconvenient — an impediment to life’s goals. After all, if children were so wonderful, why were so many people going out of their way to avoid having them? While life goals used to center around raising a family, the introduction of artificial birth control shifted the focus to the career as the summit of satisfaction. Money, material goods, and comfort became more important than the family. (On a purely pragmatic level, one can see this mentality’s economic fruit — or, rather, lack of fruit — in Japan and other industrialized nations.)

And so, the divorce rate rose. The argument that one can have actions without consequences — that careers and personal satisfaction came before families — led to such legislation as “no-fault” divorce, first signed into law in the mid-1970s.

The Church has herself paid the price for contraception, as a final and often neglected result of the decline of families has been the parallel collapse in religious vocations. Once people started having fewer children, it became more important for each child to marry and produce grandchildren. As this went on, of course, fewer families encouraged religious vocations, and fewer children felt called to them. Thus, America encounters a tragic shortage of priests, sisters, and brothers at a time when we need them most.

Promiscuity, abortion, the destruction of the family, the decline in religious vocations — these are the rotten fruits of artificial contraception. If one supports contraception, these are the effects he or she is promoting, whether intentionally or not.

——————————————————————————–

Eric Pavlat is a board member of Democrats for Life of Maryland, Inc., and a columnist and blogger for InsideCatholic.com.

Printed with permission from Inside Catholic.

A recent Swedish study shows that teens and young adults with ADHD (attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder) may have an even higher risk of developing depression when using hormonal contraception. The study was published in the Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry and used a large-scale population record. It compared 29,767 girls and young women with ADHD aged 15 to 24 years and 763,146 peers without an ADHD diagnosis. The authors of the study determined if those women used hormonal birth control (HBC). 

The results reported by the authors of the study showed that women with ADHD who used HBC had a 5 times higher risk of depression compared with non-ADHD women who were not using birth control. Also, it is significant that the risk was 6 times higher risk in comparison with non-ADHD women who were on oral combined HBC. The risk of developing depression when using non-oral HC was similarly moderately increased in both groups.

More research is needed to determine the exact mechanism behind the increased risk of depression in HBC users with a diagnosis of ADHD. The authors suggest that “hypothetically, the increased sensitivity to oral HBC in women with ADHD may be due to fluctuating hormonal levels following oral intake or during the pill-free interval. There is a considerable lack of studies on how women with ADHD respond to hormonal fluctuations, but there are several reports on how progesterone (or synthetic progestogen) fluctuations affect mood in women.”

The authors of the study concluded that “information on risks with HCs as well as potential benefits with user-independent long-acting reversible contraception needs to be an integrated part of the shared decision making and contraception counseling for young women with ADHD”. A large prospective cohort study already demonstrated that adolescent users of LARC such as the patch and the levonorgestrel intrauterine system had a higher risk of subsequent use of antidepressants and a first diagnosis of depression.

Young ladies deserve better and safer alternatives to hormonal birth control and LARCs. The fertility cycle is part of a young lady’s development and should not be suppressed by dangerous artificial hormones. Teaching adolescents and young ladies to chart their cycles can protect them not only from depression but also from a host of side effects. Fertility education gives young women tools to learn more about their developing bodies, and monitor symptoms to look for real solutions in health care. Fertility education programs that foster chastity and purity can prevent many unwanted pregnancies.

Matt Fradd is the creator and host of the Pints With Aquinas. He talks with Jason Evers about potentially underselling the difficulty of Natural Family Planning in Marriage, and the clear difference between NFP and Contraceptives, in principle and intent.

A paper published in the journal ESC Heart Failure reported that obese women who use combined oral contraceptives have a 24-fold increased risk of venous thromboembolism (VTE) compared to non-obese women who do not use the drugs.

The authors of the study reported in the abstract of the paper: “Obesity and estrogen-containing contraceptive products are well-known independent cardiovascular risk factors. However, a significant number of obese women continue to receive prescriptions of hormonal products that contain estrogens for their contraception.”

Obese women already had an increased risk of VTE compared to non-obese women. Using combined hormonal contraception presents a greater risk (between 12 and 24 times) to develop VTE. VTE is defined as a blood clot in a vein. There are two potentially fatal conditions: deep venous thrombosis and pulmonary embolism.

The author of the study Professor Giuseppe Rosano concluded, “Obese women taking contraceptives should be viewed as an ‘at risk’ population, and as such, they should receive advice to change their lifestyle, avoiding other cardiovascular risk factors, as a form of primary prevention. This indication should be extended to young women, as data show that combined oral contraceptives should be avoided in obese women of any age”.

The postpartum or postnatal period, by definition, begins immediately after the birth of a baby. During this time, the mother’s body, including hormone levels and uterus size, returns to a non-pregnant state. It is exciting but at the same time challenging for couples to navigate this period with new responsibilities, little spleep, and fertility uncertainty. Couples need to be aware of some facts about the postpartum period regarding the return of fertility. The first ovulation postpartum varies from woman to woman and even from one postpartum experience to another for the same woman. Ovulation can resume as early as 4 weeks postpartum or even years after the baby’s birth. Ovulation always precedes menstruation in a postpartum mother.

Natural family planning is a good option for couples. The specific method depends on the possibility to breastfeed the baby, experience with NFP before pregnancy, and professional support to navigate the challenges.

The following article was published by FACTS, a group of health care professionals educating on fertility awareness. The author, Johanna Longrenn, presents an interview with a fellow midwife to explore the role of midwives in educating women and couples about the option of fertility awareness-based methods (FABMs) throughout a woman’s reproductive lifetime, especially during the postpartum period. 

Fertility Awareness-Based Methods During the Postpartum Period – FACTS (factsaboutfertility.org)

Following the supreme court’s decision, overthrowing of Roe v. Wade and Planned Parenthood v. Casey, more men are taking charge of their reproductive health, to permanent ends. “There is a definitive uptick in men exploring vasectomies,” reported Dr Alex Shteynshlyuger, a New York City urologist. 

“The supreme court decision has prompted a lot of conversation about contraception in general, as well as raising the awareness about vasectomy as an effective, low cost, safe, and permanent method of contraception that gives men control over their procreation.” 

Jonathon Van Maren, public speaker, writer, and pro-life activist said “The assumption here, keep in mind, is that those men made use of legal abortion to terminate any children resulting from coital encounters they intended to be strictly casual. It’s no surprise that many men are upset by Roe’s overturn—in front of the U.S. Supreme Court this weekend, I saw men holding signs reading: “Men for Choice!” and one fellow with a sign that stated: “I will aid and abet abortion!” These men need abortion access because it gives them access to women’s bodies without commitment to any children they might conceive. 

What is male sterilization?

Male sterilization is any procedure or treatment that intends to make it impossible for a man to fertilize a woman’s egg (ovum). Men can be sterilized by removal of the testicles, by treatment with chemicals that shut down the activity of the testicles, or by a vasectomy. Vasectomy is a surgical procedure to block sperm transport from the testicles to the male urethra/penis. Vasectomy usually involves the removal of a small piece of each vas deferens.

How is vasectomy performed?

To perform a vasectomy requires three steps. First, the vas deferens is found by a single or double incision in the scrotum (skin that surrounds the testicles) with a scalpel, or without scalpel using special instruments. Second, the vas deferens on each side is disrupted by cutting, burning, or clipping, with the edges sewn or not. Finally, the scrotal tissue is closed.3

Is vasectomy 100% effective in
preventing pregnancies?

Recent research indicates that one or two women per 1,000 per year become pregnant when using vasectomy as a means of birth control.4 Pregnancy may result from natural healing, or failure in the surgical procedure.

Are there short-term complications?

Vasectomy causes damage to a healthy part of the body. As a consequence, males can suffer anatomical, hormonal, immunological, psychological, and social changes that are undesirable. Early complications include local hematoma, bleeding, swelling of the scrotum (range 2-29% of cases), and infection of the skin, urinary tract, testicles, or epididimus (range 12-38% of cases).5 Inflammation of the testicles and epididymus may require antibiotics and anti-inflammatories to resolve.

An additional potential early complication is the formation of a sperm granuloma. After vasectomy sperm production continues at the same rate as before since the testes do not “know” that the outlet system has been obstructed. Pressure builds in the entire tubular network proximal to the vasectomy and the testes eventually respond to this feedback by slowing production and shutting down entire areas of sperm production. In the meantime, however, the pressure may cause sperm to leak out the end of the obstructed vas. Because sperm contain only half the chromosomes of the body’s cells the immune system thinks they are foreign invaders and quickly walls them off, creating a firm nodule of tissue at the end of the vas. This so-called sperm granuloma may become quite tender to the touch and require removal for resolution of the pain.

Are there long-term complications?

Because vasectomy blocks the natural way to evacuate sperm, a buildup in pressure breaks down the natural barrier that exists between the teticles and blood, enabling sperm to enter the blood.This is important because sperm contain antigens (substances that can trigger the body’s immune system). About sixty percent of males who elect to have vasectomies develop anti-sperm antibodies.6 These can cause a number of local and full body reactions. Although no final conclusion has been reached about the cause-and-effect relationship between vasectomy and long-term disease, principally due to lack of long- term medical studies, many diseases have been reported in males post-vasectomy. In the book, Is Vasectomy Worth the Risks? the author states that in his medical practice he has encountered many young males who had undergone a vasectomy, and have diseases with unexplained causes. The following diseases have been reported in men after vasectomy: atherosclerosis, psychogenic impotence, rheumatoid arthritis, multiple sclerosis, migraine, hypoglycemia, narcolepsy, thromboflebitis, pulmonary embolism, infection, allergic reactions, kidney stones, and angina pectoris.7

What is Post-vasectomy Pain Syndrome (PVPS)?

PVPS is another complication after vasectomy. It can occur up to ten years after the procedure.8 Some males suffering from PVPS report a sharp testicular pain during certain activities such as sitting, sexual intercourse, or during exercise. Others report dull, constant pain or pain radiating to the scrotal area or the back. Unfortunately, many cases of PVPS are misdiagnosed due to lack of association of their symptoms with vasectomy. The incidence rate for this condition is 1:10 9. Although the cause for the pain is still the object of research, it is believed that distention of the tissues due to pressure, inflammation, sperm granulomas, fibrosis and nerve entrapment may explain the pain. Removal of granulomas, vasectomy reversal 10, and removal of nerves, and in extremes cases, removal of the testicles, are treatment options for PVPS.

Is vasectomy associated with cancer?

According to the American Cancer Society, prostate cancer is the most common cancer for males in America. In the year 2011, 238,467 new cases of prostate cancer were identified and more than 33,000 men died from prostate cancer or its complications.11 Although mortality rates from prostate cancer have decreased, more than two million men are living with this disease.

Risk factors for prostate cancer include non-modifiable risk factors such as family history of prostate cancer and ethnicity (African-American males have a high incidence of prostate cancer), and modifiable risk factors such as diet, alcohol consumption, and smoking. Even though medical and government organizations do not regard vasectomy as a risk factor for prostate cancer,12 several studies have noted that men who undergo a vasectomy have a higher incidence of developing prostate cancer, especially 15-20 years after their vasectomy. 13,14,15 A large study looking for a link between prostate cancer and vasectomy was done in the 1990’s. The author of this study found a significant increase in the risk of cancer in males who had undergone vasectomy at a young age (less than 35 years).16 After the publication of these studies, the National Cancer Institute and other organizations sponsored a conference in 1993 to debate the association between prostate cancer and vasectomy. Experts concluded that the risk was very small and just due to chance. However statistical analysis of recent studies claiming no link indicates a significant link between vasectomy and prostate cancer.17,18 Also, research has demonstrated that hormonal alterations due to vasectomy (such as high testosterone levels) could coincide with increases in prostate cancer.19,20

Is vasectomy associated with psychiatric problems?

Researchers from Northwestern University in Illinois published a study that looked into one patient’s belief that his dementia resulted from his vasectomy.21 His was not a common dementia; it was a relatively new kind of dementia called Primary Progressive Aphasia (PPA). Its onset is characterized by language impairment (aphasia) rather than the forgetfulness characteristic of Alzheimer’s Disease. Another reason for the study was the interesting fact that the testicles and the brain have similar molecular substances. Vasectomy may have a role in the development of PPA based on the immune reactions to sperm after vasectomy and on the similarity of brain and sperm proteins. New antibodies produced after vasectomy may attack brain cells and cause PPA. The authors found that 40% of the men in their study who suffered from PPA also had undergone vasectomies. The study involved a control group of males who did not have PPA, and 16% of that group had vasectomies. The study revealed that PPA subjects had their vasectomy at a younger age—36 years old on average. In contrast, the control group had their vasectomies performed at an average age of 44 years. It appears that longer exposure to this sort of immune attack increases the probability of developing PPA. A recent case report analyzed whether or not the use of steroids (drugs that inhibit the immune system) could modify the symptoms of PPA. The authors of this study found improvement in one patient suffering from PPA after the steroid treatment. Although more research with large populations is needed, the improvement in this particular case supports the hypothesis that PPA in men may be a treatable autoimmune disease related to vasectomy.22

Are there emotional disorders related to vasectomy?

Emotional disorders such as anxiety, depression and changes in personality have been reported after vasectomy.23 Men who had undergone vasectomy have reported regret, resentment, and feelings that their masculine image has been threatened.

Are there social consequences
associated with vasectomy?

More research is needed to determine the social consequences from sterilization. It has been suggested that vasectomy can open the door to infidelity and marital instability. Looking to the divorce rate in the USA and other developed countries where vasectomy is a widely used method of birth control, we come to the hypothesis that vasectomy may have contributed to the increase in divorce rates.

Many authors tried to warn about the powerful negative social consequences that would result from the widespread use and acceptance of artificial methods of birth control and voluntary sterilization-such as the potential for abuse by governments which might institute programs of forced abortion and sterilization for population control.24 We can now verify the accuracy of those predictions and see that the voluntary use of artificial methods of birth control and sterilization did indeed open the door to forced abortions and forced sterilizations for population control.

Are there alternatives to vasectomy?

Natural Family Planning (NFP) is a safe, healthy, and effective alternative to sterilization. NFP is morally acceptable. Studies have demonstrated that couples who use NFP are more satisfied with their marriage, and these couples have lower divorce rates compared to couples who use contraception or sterilization.25 For males who have undergone vasectomy, the reversal procedure is an alternative to alleviate some secondary effects and to restore fertility. The reversal procedure is not 100% effective in restoring fertility. Microsurgery is highly recommended. Our web site, www.OneMoreSoul.com includes a list of NFP-only physicians (some offer sterilization reversal in the United States), NFP teachers, and NFP Centers.

Note: Natural Family Planning Awareness Week is a national educational campaign. This year is celebrated July 24-30. The following testimony was originally published by the Natural Family Planning Program of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops at usccb.org.

Michael and Alysha Chambers

Many will tell you that the responsibility of being permanently faithful to one person
is too great and that being open to life is too much of a burden. They say contraception
brings with it freedom and life; however, we have found that it is in openness to God, to
each other, and to new life that true freedom is obtained. This is what living Natural
Family Planning (NFP) can help couples to experience.

Alysha was in college when she first heard NFP mentioned. All she knew then was
that it existed and the Catholic Church considered it a good thing. Michael, a convert to
Catholicism, grew up believing that contraception was good and that all couples should
use it. Our first real understanding of what NFP is, and what the Church teaches came
during our marriage preparation program. We learned that NFP at its core is simply
knowledge of the physical changes one can observe in the woman’s fertility cycle. It
gives couples a way to measure and chart their fertility signs. We also learned how
responsible parenthood is and the virtuous application of this fertility knowledge.

One unexpected aspect of NFP that impressed us was how it fosters communication
between spouses. Couples practicing NFP discuss the future of their family with every
cycle. Knowing how to discuss such important matters has proven a great blessing to
many marriages. Michael decided that blessing, by itself, was enough of a reason to learn
NFP.

Another theme we discussed in marriage preparation was the Theology of the Body.
It helped us understand who we are and how God created us. It is through our bodies that
we express who we are spiritually. Also, because we were made in the image and
likeness of God, our bodies are supposed to reflect who God is which means we are to act
as He acts. How does God act? He loves. God’s love is a total gift of self. God’s love is
life-giving. As husband and wife one way we love like God is through our sexuality. If
NFP is studied in this context, our appreciation of each other as man and woman
increases because the uniqueness and dignity that God has imprinted in our bodies is
revealed. It was at this point that Michael realized NFP was not moral birth control;
rather, it is a complete way of life honoring one’s spouse’s sexuality and fertility. It is
loving naturally – the way God designed it.

In studying NFP in the context of the Theology of the Body, both of us have become
more open to each other, to God, and to children. We truly believe that “children are the
crown of marriage” and we pray that God will bless us with children someday. Until
then, we will “make our plans but hold them lightly.” For us, that means planning to use
NFP both when we are attempting or delaying pregnancy, all the while striving to hear
and do God’s will!

Michael and Alysha Chambers, Diocese of Arlington, Va., were married on September 24, 2005. This article first appeared in the Couple to Couple League’s Family Foundations (Jan/Feb. 2006). It has been edited to fit this publication and is printed with permission. Microsoft Word – Witness-Chambers.doc (usccb.org)

By: Archbishop Fulton J. Sheen

The two words most often abused today are “freedom” and “sex.” Freedom is often used to mean absence of law, and sex is used to justify absence from restraint. Sometimes the two words fuse into the one, “license.” Reason, which should be used to justify God’s law, is thus invoked to justify human lawlessness and carnality with two spurious arguments. The first is that every person must be self-expressive, that purity is self-negation; therefore, it is destructive of freedom and personality.

The second argument is that nature has given to every person certain impulses and instincts, and that principal among them is sex. Therefore, one ought to follow these instincts without the taboos and restrictions which religion and custom impose. Consequently, purity is looked upon as negative and cold, or as a remnant of Puritanism, monasticism, and Victorian strait-lacedness, despite the fact that the Lord of the Universe in the first of the Beatitudes said: “Blessed are the clean of heart; they shall see God.” (Matt. 5:8)

Purity is as self-expressive as impurity, though in a different way. There are two ways in which a locomotive can be self-expressive: either by keeping its pressure within the limits imposed by the designer and the engineer, or by blowing up and jumping the tracks. The first self-expression is the perfection of the locomotive; the second is its destruction. In like manner, a person may be self-expressive either by obeying the laws of his nature, or by rebelling against them, which rebellion ends in slavery and frustration. Suppose the same argument of self-expression were used in war as is used to justify carnal license. In that case, a soldier at the front who, on hearing screaming shells, dropped his gun and ran to the rear line, would be greeted by a captain full of modern self-expression and told: “I commend you for throwing off Victorian convention and moral scruples. The trouble with the rest of the army is that they are not self-expressive; they overcome their fear and fight. I shall recommend a medal of honor for asserting your personality.”

There is no quarreling with those who say, “Be yourself.” The point is, which is your true self: is it to be a beast, or to be a child of God? Those who get over the wickedness of licentiousness say: “Thank God, I am myself again.” This is real self-expression.

Taken from Three to Get Married, Chapter 8

This common medical practice can interfere with normal hormones and lead to side effects

BY JENNIFER MARGULIS

Young Girls Are Over-Prescribed Birth Control Pills (theepochtimes.com)

Some 14 percent of women between the ages of 15 and 49 are currently taking hormonal birth control pills in America, according to government data. That’s more than 10 million people, about the equivalent of the entire population of Portugal.

According to a 2019 United Nations report, about 151 million women take the pill worldwide.

Kristin, a mom of two, was one of them. She was prescribed birth control pills when she was still in high school. While her doctor told her the pills would help with her headaches and irregular and heavy periods, no one talked to her about the risks associated with taking them.

However, when she was 20 years old, she had an elective surgery. Although Kristin had no complications from the surgery itself, a few days later, she was unable to take a full deep breath and she felt a pain in her arm. She knew something was seriously wrong, but she had no idea that she was having a pulmonary embolism.

A pulmonary embolism, which can be lethal, happens when a blood clot gets logged in an artery in the lungs.

This medical crisis, which kept her hospitalized for six days and on medication for six months afterward, was from taking hormonal birth control pills as a teen, Kristin told me.

“Everyone has been in agreement that it was from the birth control,” said Kristin, who asked not to use her last name because she’s currently part of a class-action lawsuit.

Oral Contraceptives Increase Risk of Death

Indeed, in 2018 a team of researchers, led by Dr. Lynn Keenan, M.D., at the University of California–San Francisco’s Fresno campus, found that women who use oral contraceptive are between three and nine times more likely to have of blood clots in the lungs, legs, and brain than women who don’t take oral contraceptives.

They also face a much higher risk of death because of blood clots. The same study found that between 300 and 400 healthy young women die unnecessarily every year due to hormonal birth control.

“Women should be informed of these risks,” the researchers concluded.

Pill Linked to Depression, Bloating

Taking hormonal birth control is also associated with a host of other negative health outcomes.

For example, a 2016 study of a million women in Denmark found that taking hormonal contraception was associated with depression, especially in teenagers.

Oral contraceptives have also been linked to lower levels of the steroid hormone DHEA in the blood and a decreased ability to gain muscle during exercise, according to a 2009 study.

Another older study, from 2008, found that these pills can cause bloating, while an earlier study found that oral contraceptives lead to women having more subcutaneous fat and other changes in the way the body stores fat.

Though many women report gaining weight while taking the pill, the peer-reviewed literature on this seems to be inconclusive, according to a 2014 Cochrane review.

It’s clear from the scientific literature, however, that oral birth control use also increases a woman’s risk of developing breast cancer and cervical cancer.

Routinely Prescribed, Not for Birth Control

“Neither of my daughters can menstruate on their own,” a mom of two young adults, ages 21 and 23, told me recently. “They’ve both been on the pill since they were teens.”

While girls in the United States usually begin menstruating around age 11 or 12, the onset of menses is widely variable and precocious puberty (before age 8) is becoming more common. Recent research from Italy has found that precocious puberty has increased during COVID-19. One team of researchers hypothesized that this may be due to stress, lack of sunlight, lack of exercise, and exposure to a higher number of environmental toxins, especially endocrine disruptors.

Doctors routinely prescribe birth control pills to tweens, teens, and young adults who are menstruating but not sexually active to treat the following conditions:

• Acne
• Amenorrhea (lack of menstruation)
• Cramps and other menstrual pain
• Endometriosis
• Heavy periods
• Headaches
• Migraines
• PMS and mood swings

I found this out when my oldest daughter, who is 22 now, was still in middle school.

“Mom,” she said to me one day, “I think I should take the pill to help me with my acne. That’s what my friends are doing and they say it works.”

Harms of Hormonal Birth Control Pills

Birth control pills disrupt the endocrine system, essentially fooling the body into believing it is pregnant, in order to stop ovulation.

We know we should try to avoid disrupting children’s hormones. As Joseph Braun, Ph.D., an associate professor of epidemiology at Brown University, explained in a 2017 peer-reviewed article, endocrine-disrupting chemicals increase the risk of childhood diseases “by disrupting hormonally mediated processes critical for growth and development,” and may be contributing to obesity and neurodevelopmental problems.

“In residency, you learn to use birth control like you learn to wash your hands,” said Nathan Riley, M.D., who is unabashedly critical of the practice of prescribing contraceptives to young woman to treat menstrual problems.

“You bring it out anytime that anyone has an issue,” Riley said. “We use it for everything. You’ve got a quote ‘lady problem’? Let’s put you on birth control.”

Then, he said, if the birth control pills themselves cause side effects, doctors add more prescription medications to the mix.

“Synthetic hormones lead to mood disorders, depression, anxiety, and sleep disorders, among other things, all of this is well documented,” Riley said. “Women have complained about everything under the sun. But their doctors say it’s not the birth control. And instead of stopping the medication that started the problem, their doctor gives them an antidepressant.”

He believes this is harmful, arguing that the practice of rushing patients through appointments and writing prescriptions for the pill makes the pharmaceutical industry richer, while making female patients sicker.

Hormonal birth control alleviates symptoms without treating the underlying problems, he said. The key, he insisted when we spoke, is to treat the root cause of the menstrual irregularities.

For instance, a woman’s periods may be irregular because she’s severely anemic, either because she is not eating iron-rich foods or suffering from malabsorption.

Thyroid malfunction can also be at the root of menstrual irregularities, Riley said. As can poor liver function and disrupted gut health.

All of these health problems are treatable, he said. While prescription medications can help for the short-term, the goal is to get the body back in balance. To do so, he talks to his patients about making lifestyle changes, including dietary improvements, engaging in daily movement and exercise, getting adequate and high quality hydration, improving sleep, limiting exposure to electromagnetic fields, learning to do breathwork, and improving both your attitude and your emotional intelligence.

“Sometimes you do need a temporizing measure like birth control,” Riley said. “But it shouldn’t be used for long.”

Marie (her middle name) is a 32-year-old lawyer based on the East Coast. She was first prescribed birth control pills for endometriosis when she was 15, and it seemed to help.

Besides, she really liked taking the pill: It made her breasts bigger and cleared up her acne. So when her periods suddenly became more painful, even on the pill, and her doctor told her to start taking it continuously (so she would not menstruate at all), she didn’t think to question it.

Her doctors said taking the pill would help her avoid surgery for endometriosis. But she ended up having surgery anyway, in 2018, to cauterize tissue in her pelvic cavity.

It wasn’t until Marie had a miscarriage at age 27 and it took 15 months to get pregnant again—and only with the help of fertility drugs—that she started to regret taking hormonal birth control for so many years.

The science is inconclusive about whether the pill negatively affects fertility. In fact, some studies, such as one published in 2002 in Human Reproduction, show it may increase the odds of getting pregnant after quitting the pill.

But when I interviewed the late science writer Barbara Seaman, who had written several books about women and hormones, several years ago, she insisted that hormonal birth control is a causative factor in infertility and that it can take women as long as 12 to 24 months after taking the pill to become pregnant without assistance.

Marie, like many other women, is convinced her long-term use of birth control for endometriosis contributed to some of her continuing health challenges, including fertility issues.

“I was just not healthy as a teenager,” she confessed.

For Kristin, the decision to go on birth control as a teenager and subsequent pulmonary embolism made her two pregnancies more dangerous. She was considered high-risk and had to inject herself with anticoagulants during the pregnancy and for one month afterward.

“I will never be on any hormones ever again,” Kristin told me. “I really wish I knew of alternate, more natural ways to have treated my adolescent issues. The psychological damage it’s caused is irreversible. I hate how doctors are so quick to take out that pen and pad and throw meds at teenagers.”

Reprinted with permission from The Epoch Times (www.theepochtimes.com)

Why Do Few Women Know the Dangers of the Pill? (theepochtimes.com)

BY MARTHA ROSENBERG

Mike Gaskins is a women’s health advocate, independent researcher, and author who spent much of the past decade exploring the dubious history and science of birth control. In a recent interview, Epoch Times contributor Martha Rosenberg asked him about his 2019 book, “In the Name of the Pill,” the culmination of his investigation, which was recently updated in its audiobook release.

Dr. Kahlenborn discusses current controversies regarding Plan B, including its’ overrated efficacy, its’ possible link to breast cancer and its’ controversial mechanism of action.

By Save The 1 |

(Save The 1) “Is Kristi pregnant?” That was never a question I expected my pastor and friend to ever ask me over the phone on a Sunday afternoon after we arrived home from church the morning of April 22nd, 2018. I thought, if my 18 year old daughter was pregnant, he would have heard it from me, or from us, right?

I answered with a slow, “No… Ah… I don’t know… Let me call you back.” It seemed my words sounded as if they were purposely edited as special sound effects for a film. I felt as if my head for the first time completely emptied itself. The only thought or sound left was like a very far off siren that rang “Kristi’s pregnant, Kristi’s pregnant, Kristi’s pregnant.” How could that be? And suddenly, I knew she was.

It was one more crisis to deal with. My mother had just died of cancer a month earlier. A few months before that, my father fell down some icy steps walking outside a restaurant in Munich, breaking up the right side of his body: shoulder, arm, hip, knee and leg. After he got out of the hospital, I went to Munich to help take care of him for a few months.

Prior to that, we’d had a busy year, having just premiered our first full-length feature film in our local town. We produced, wrote, directed and acted in it —  a true story about our personal testimonies surrendering our lives to the Lord. It was 15 years ago that I learned I had a 3-year-old daughter named Kristi and was struck with awesome joy, even though I knew nothing about her, her mother, or even if she really was my daughter until DNA testing was complete. We spent a year non-stop making that film and had a crew of about 40 people using our house as a full-time production office.

The day following our premiere, we were given notice we would have to move from our rented rural Montana house where I’d lived for 19 years. I loved that house — a 4-acre property by the edge of the woods and near the river, 6 miles out of town. As a single parent, I raised Kristi there most of her life. The property was old and going to be torn down to be commercially redeveloped.

Within 12 hours of completing the move into our new house, I lit a fire in the fireplace, and after I fell asleep, the rafters in the attic caught on fire. Everything was ruined and uninhabitable, but thank God Kristi was away at a dance that evening. The Fire Captain told me the smoke detector saved my life.

Whatever we had left was moved into storage and during the next few months, we moved in and out of several motels, various friends’ houses and eventually a small camp trailer with a door which wouldn’t completely shut.

With all of that going on, it’s no wonder I didn’t know Kristi was pregnant. She was very small and didn’t show for the first 6 ½ months, especially through her winter clothes.

After the call from my pastor, I hung up the phone, waited a moment, took a deep breath, looked up at God saying in my heart, “I need you again please” and walked into Kristi’s room. Immediately, I was emotionally struck and began hugging her telling her how much I love her and how proud I am of her. Even though I didn’t mention anything else, nor did I know any of the details, she instantly realized I knew she was pregnant and we both started crying together. For me, it became tears of joy.

We cried and talked for a long while as I learned she was almost 7 months into her pregnancy. I spoke to my grandchild in the womb, introducing myself as Papa. Kristi hadn’t filled me in yet about having been raped, and was vague in talking much about the father. I do remember having felt something wasn’t right about it, but didn’t want to spoil the moment. I happily knew Kristi would keep her baby, no matter what.

I learned later that she wanted to tell me all along about the pregnancy, but with so much tumult going on in our lives, she didn’t want to just blurt it out. Kristi still had high school graduation ahead and couldn’t seem to find the right time to tell me. She was one of the top students in her school, but the only known girl in that small Christian school ever to graduate pregnant. Still, they supported and loved her through it all.

But most significantly, she was pregnant by rape — a young man who was someone we knew, whose family attended our small church. Of course, no one else knew Kristi had been raped or that she was pregnant. Kristi was afraid to share the details out of fear I would do something bad to this young man and get myself in trouble, and perhaps she was right. As you can imagine, there were in fact bad thoughts going on in my head once I learned what he’d done to my daughter.

In time, my daughter explained how at 17, she had been forced to have sex while locked in this 19-year-old’s car. Kristi had been afraid to go to the police due to being young and under peer pressure, which I understood. This young man supposedly was well-liked and popular, and we were living in a very small mountain town community.

I brought the matter up with the pastors of our church. The rapist, both of his parents, two of the pastors, Kristi and myself had a meeting at the church office one evening where the young man willingly admitted what he had done. While I appreciated his truth-telling and hoped I could find it within me to extend forgiveness, there was no true sign of any remorse on his part.

What really surprised me was that one of the pastors (not the one who had called me) recommended that Kristi and her rapist try marriage counseling “just to see if they could become compatible to raise a baby together!” Of course, Kristi said no, and I wholeheartedly agreed, but then we were told that if she wouldn’t follow the recommendations of the church leaders, she was being selfish and would no longer be welcomed in their church.

At first, we were devastated. We had been attending, serving and being served in that church for over 12 years. It was my first church ever. It had been our extended family. We loved everybody and were loved, until that time. We were there every time the doors were open and involved with several of its ministries. I even headed a couple of ministries and had started a prison ministry there.

But now they wanted us to conceal a crime which had been committed — a crime against my daughter which would change her life forever! So, we left.

On July 27^th, 2018, I got to witness Adeline Marie Kollar being born early in the morning at 6:31a.m.. I was the first person she opened her eyes to and smiled at having recognized my voice. I fell in love in one second! It was my gift from God having not known about and missed the first three years of Kristi’s life.

The rapist refused to sign Adeline’s birth certificate, so she was thankfully given our last name; however, his parents tried to start a custody case, while I finally convinced Kristi to file for child support. After our attorney listened to Kristi’s story, he strongly recommended she meet with Victim’s Services. The nice young counselor there convinced Kristi that she really should report the crime to the police — even though it had been 10 months — just so the police would have the young man on their radar, against other possible assaults.

At the police station, I too was interviewed by a young female detective who seemed like she wanted to charge the young man after learning about the story, but that would now depend upon the State. Meanwhile, the detective went to interview the pastors of our former church, the young man, and his parents. She later contacted us and said everyone denied that the young man had made that confession back at the church office meeting….

Continue reading story in full at Save The 1.

BIO: Robert Kollar is a single father, grandfather, post-abortive, and pro-life speaker / blogger for Save The 1. He is also a filmmaker, writer, prison minister, and fatherhood speaker. For more info on his film projects, go to mwmcornerstone.com

Editor’s Note: This article was published at Save The 1 and is reprinted in part here with permission.

Fr. Frank Pavone
National Director PRist For Life

A Surprising Image

If you are involved in the pro-life movement for any length of time, you will encounter the image of Our Lady of Guadalupe. There are many connections between this particular image of Our Lady and the pro-life cause.

On December 12, 1531, the Blessed Virgin Mary appeared to an Indian named Juan Diego and requested that a shrine be built and dedicated to her on the Hill of Tepeyac. Juan Diego, upon reporting this event to the bishop, was disappointed because the bishop didn’t seem to believe him. Juan returned to the place of the apparition where Our Lady again appeared. She told him to return the next morning when she would give him a sign that would convince the bishop of the truth of her appearance and her request.

The following morning Our Lady told Juan to go to the top of the hill and gather Castilian roses that he would find there. Although he knew that only cactus grew there, he obeyed, and his simple faith was rewarded by the sight of beautiful roses growing where she had told him they would be. He gathered them and showed them to Our Lady who rearranged them for him. Juan returned to the bishop. As he opened his tilma (a type of pancho), the roses fell to the floor. All who were present were startled to see an image of Our Lady on the tilma. Today this image is still preserved on Juan Diego’s tilma, which hangs over the main altar in the basilica at the foot of Tepeyac Hill just outside of Mexico City. In the image, Our Lady is pregnant, carrying the Son of God in her womb. Her head is bowed in homage, indicating that she is not the Goddess, but rather the one who bears and at the same time worships the one true God. Many articles have been written on dozens of other theological lessons drawn from the details of the image.

When asked who the lady was, Juan replied in his Aztec dialect, “Te Coatlaxopeuh,” which means “she who crush the stone serpent.” His answer recalls Gen. 3:15 and the depictions of Mary as the Immaculate Conception, her heel on the serpent’s head. The devil exalts himself above God and above God’s law (see Isaiah 14:12-15), whereas Mary submits to God (see Luke 1:38). Some promote abortion as a “choice.” Self-will is exalted. We reject abortion because we, like Mary, submit all our choices to God. That spirit of obedience crushes evil and sin. Our Lady’s image reminds us to live in that obedience each day.

Human Sacrifice Then and Now

Some nine million Aztecs were converted to Christ by the power of the image of Our Lady of Guadalupe. At that time, the Aztec peoples were practicing human sacrifice. As a result of the image’s presence among the people, their hearts were converted to the true God and the practice of human sacrifice was abolished. A key theological dynamic operating here is that Our Lady turned the Aztecs from a worldview of despair to one of hope, from a conviction that the gods were against them to a conviction that God was so much for them that He became one of them.

We can listen to stories of Aztecs cutting out their victims’ hearts or placing their heads on poles and say, “Oh, how terrible that was!” But America is not doing any better, as the hearts and heads of innocent babies are destroyed by abortion! The image is therefore being used again to change the hearts of our people.

A Theology of Despair

The Aztects had a complicated mythology-theology. The universe for them was essentially unstable, and in that universe humans played a very small role. This view led to pessimism, and a fear that they needed to always appease the deities. Their view was that the present world was the “Fifth world,” made by the “Feathered Serpent.” The previous four worlds had been destroyed by gods who turned people into monkeys or dogs. The present world, they thought, would be destroyed by an earthquake, as a result of which skeleton creatures would come out of the ground to destroy the surviving inhabitants of earth.

This is a theology of despair. Whatever moral aversion they may have had to human sacrifice, their despair made them feel they had no choice but to practice it.

The dynamics behind abortion are essentially the same. While there may not be a mythology of feathered serpents and skeletons, there is real despair. People do not get abortions because of “freedom of choice”; they get them because they feel they have no freedom and no choice. They feel trapped, abandoned, desperate, and afraid. The thousands of case-studies that Priests for Life has collected from post-abortive women are permeated by the theme expressed by the woman who said, “My friends told me I had no other option. The clinic did not offer me any alternative, and I was almost crying out for one.” As author Frederica Mathewes-Green has said, a woman does not choose an abortion like she chooses a Porsche or an ice-cream — rather, she chooses it like an animal caught in a trap chooses to gnaw off its own leg. Her experience is that she either chooses to end the life of this baby, or her own life will end. “I cannot handle it, I can’t do it, nobody will support me, it’s impossible.”

The rationalizations offered for abortion are also full of despair for the child. “Why bring a child into this world, into these circumstances, where he/she will have to suffer so much?”

From Despair to Hope

How does the image of Our Lady of Guadalupe answer the theology of despair, both for the Aztecs and for the Americas?

Our Lady is carrying God within her womb. The God of the Universe has now become a human being. No longer is there any question as to whether God is on our side. He is not a God who will destroy us; He is a God who has become our brother. He is not a God far away who waits to be appeased by blood. He is a God who shares our own flesh and blood, and is as close to the human family as an unborn child to his mother.

In this framework, human beings no longer play a small part in the universe. On the contrary, as the Second Vatican Council proclaimed, “By his incarnation the Son of God has united himself in some fashion with every human being” (Pastoral Constitution on the Church in the Modern World Gaudium et Spes, 22). The result of that is the promise of Revelation 3:21, “I will give the victor the right to sit with me on my throne.”

The universe into which Our Lady of Guadalupe invites us is no longer an unstable universe. God clearly reveals Himself as the only God, who is and shares both love and life. This truth brings hope. There is no longer need for human sacrifice, whether on pagan altars or in abortion clinics, because both the present and the future are in the hands of a God who is “God with us.”

The Image and the Pro-life Movement

The image of Our Lady of Guadalupe which converted the Aztecs has been replicated and travels the United States on an explicit mission to end abortion. It is carried into Churches and it is brought in front of abortion clinics nationwide. I have been with the image many times in these settings. In one instance in Florida, a Catholic girl who was already in the clinic’s waiting room looked outside and saw us praying, and decided to cancel her abortion. She came out to talk to us. We arranged for all the assistance she needed, and later that year I had the joy of baptizing her baby, whom she named “Guadalupe.”

The image speaks to these girls a message of hope. It also speaks to the pro-life people a message about the task before us. We who fight abortion do not see abortion walking down the street. Instead, we see a girl, frightened and in the grip of despair. We, the Church, are to reach out to her in what is the most critical pastoral mission of our day.

That mission is illustrated by the Annunciation and the Visitation. When Mary is told she will be the Mother of Christ, she does not get wrapped up in herself, thinking about what has just been said and isolating herself from others in order to absorb some unique spiritual experience. Rather, she seems to pay more attention to what Gabriel said about Elisabeth, Mary’s cousin, that about Mary! She runs in haste into the hill country and tends to Elisabeth’s needs during her pregnancy. The message for us is that authentic religious experience and true worship never turn us in on ourselves. Rather, the more real our encounter is with God, the more attentive and responsive we are to the needs of our brothers and sisters.

Our Lady of Guadalupe has been declared the “Patroness of the Unborn.” They will be saved by the message of hope she brings, and by the message of concrete charity with which she challenges the Church. Among the many and varied groups that carry out this pro-life mission, one of special note in this context is “Indians for Life.” The outreach department of the National Right to Life Committee, as well as Priests for Life, have fostered and encouraged the growth of this yet small organization, coordinated by Clementine “Little Hawk” Hernandez. Archbishop Charles Chaput, OFM Cap., has been among the strong supporters of this effort, which gives concrete expression to the reverence of Native Americans for the gift of life.

Conclusion: For the little ones, for us

When Our Lady appeared to Juan Diego, she addressed him as “Juanito” (signifying the weakest or smallest member of the family), and as “Son”, and spoke of herself as both his “Mother” and the “Mother of the One, True living God.” All of this indicates another reason why Our Lady of Guadalupe should be entrusted with the unborn.

Today she addresses to us who defend life the same words she addressed to Juan Diego:

“Hear and let it penetrate your hearts, my dear little ones. Let nothing discourage you, nothing depress you; let nothing alter your heart or your countenance. Do not fear vexation, anxiety or pain. Am I not here, your Mother? Are you not in the folds of my mantle, in the crossing of my arms? Is there anything else that you need?”

Jonathan Abbamonte | Nov 2 2017 |

As reported earlier this year, the United Nations Human Rights Committee has been attempting to redefine an important international human rights treaty by claiming that the “right to life” means that states should legalize abortion under expansive terms.

This past July, the committee released a document called General Comment No. 36 which seeks to reinterpret the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) to say that states “must” provide access to abortion, and permit states to legalize assisted suicide and euthanasia.

However, the ICCPR never mentions abortion or euthanasia. On contrary, the treaty explicitly recognizes that “Every human being has the inherent right to life.”^[1]

In response, the Population Research Institute (PRI), in concert with other pro-life organizations and academics around the world, has called upon the Human Rights Committee to protect the right to life at all stages of development.

We made clear to the committee that neither the ICCPR nor the customary norms of international law obligate any state to legalize abortion. We further endeavoured to debunk some widely held myths pro-abortion advocates commonly use in justifying an invention of a “right” to abortion. My full written comment on behalf of PRI to the Human Rights Committee can be viewed here.

Several countries have also responded to General Comment No. 36, condemning the committee’s pro-abortion activism.

While the Human Rights Committee has gained a reputation for routinely subjecting countries to rebuke for their pro-life laws, General Comment No. 36 would permit the committee to place considerably more pressure on states to legalize abortion.

The quasi-official document states that countries “must provide” access to abortion in cases of health, rape, incest, fetal disability and “in situations in which carrying a pregnancy to term would cause the woman substantial pain or suffering.”^[2]

The same document also calls on independent states to remove criminal sanctions for abortionists that break the law, and to repeal laws which place “humiliating or unreasonably burdensome requirements on women seeking to undergo abortion.”^[3]

There would be much at stake if the comment is adopted.

The ICCPR is one of the oldest, most revered and widely adopted United Nations human rights treaties. States that have adopted the ICCPR (i.e. “state parties”) are bound by international law to faithfully observe the treaty’s terms. The United States, as a state party to the ICCPR, is bound by the U.S. Constitution to abide by the treaty.

General comments are essentially official statements by the committee on how they interpret the treaty.

And while their legal status is subject to much debate among international law scholars, most observers agree that general comments are highly esteemed, authoritative, quasi-juridical statements that play an ever increasingly important role in the development of “soft” law.^[4] They have been invoked by various international courts including the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) and the Inter-American Court of Human Rights, and have, on occasion, even been cited in decisions by domestic courts, including a federal district court in the United States.^[5],[6]

While states are free to ignore the parts of general comments that do not accord with their obligations under the ICCPR, they are widely recognized as authoritative and can place increased pressure on state parties to comply.

The Human Right Committee is tasked with monitoring the implementation of the ICCPR, with writing general comments, and with offering non-binding recommendations to state parties on fulfilling their obligations under the treaty.

But, as we were keen to point out, the committee has no authority to create new obligations or to reinterpret the treaty in manner contrary to the text of the ICCPR.

According to the Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties (VCLT), treaties must be interpreted “in good faith” and according to “the ordinary meaning” of the text in its “context and in light of its object and purpose.”^[7] Many of the framers of the ICCPR understood this well and carefully crafted the language of the treaty under the assumption that the treaty would “not admit of progressive implementation of its provisions.”^[8]

As mentioned already, article 6(1) of the ICCPR explicitly recognizes the right to life of “every human being” and that this right should be “protected by law.”^[9] Article 2 of the covenant declares that this right should respected “without distinction of any kind” including by “birth or other status.”^[10] Article 7 further prohibits anyone to be subjected to “torture or to cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment.” Abortion procedures crush, poison, or dismember the unborn child, many of whom are able to feel pain, and clearly constitute the most cruel, inhumane, and degrading treatment imaginable.

Article 6(5) even specifically recognizes the right to life of the unborn child as distinct from the life of its mother. Article 6(5) prohibits the death penalty to be carried out on a pregnant woman:

“Sentence of death shall not be imposed for crimes committed by persons below eighteen years of age and shall not be carried out on pregnant women.”^[11]

During the drafting process for the ICCPR, state parties made it clear that article 6(5) was included in the treaty precisely to protect the life of the unborn child. The Official Record of the proceedings of the 819^thmeeting of the Third Committee summarized the comments of the Israeli delegation as follows:

“…the authors of the original text had specified that sentence of death should not be carried out on a pregnant woman principally in order to save the life of an innocent unborn child.”^[12]

The Japanese delegation echoed this sentiment at the following meeting, saying to the effect, “the main reason for inserting the provision concerning pregnant women was to avoid involving in the death penalty a person who was not connected with the crime.”^[13] It is thus impossible to read any “right” to abortion into the ICCPR.

Moreover, international law does not create any obligation on states to legalize abortion. The U.N. Charter seeks to promote “respect for human rights and for fundamental freedoms for all without distinction.”^[14]The Convention on the Rights of the Child recognizes that “every child has the inherent right to life”^[15] and that the “child, by reason of his physical and mental immaturity, needs special safeguards and care, including appropriate legal protection, before as well as after birth.”^[16] The Universal Declaration of Human Rights, while not in and of itself constituting a customary norm in whole or in part, is nevertheless highly esteemed and provided the inspiration for the ICCPR. Article 3 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights proclaims without qualification that “everyone has the right to life.”^[17]

It is impossible for the Human Rights Committee to claim that states are obligated to legalize abortion under customary international law. A significant number of countries protect the right to life for the unborn child by law, several of them from the moment of conception. In fact, a majority of U.N.-recognized states (56%) have not legalized abortion under even the minimum cases the committee is now demanding that they be provided.^[18]

It is clear that no so-called “right” to abortion exists in either the ICCPR or in states’ obligations under international law. On the contrary, the ICCPR recognizes the right to life for “every human being,” including the unborn child, the sick, the elderly, and the disabled.

The Human Rights Committee must abide by its mandate and must cease its attempts to reinterpret the covenant in a manner never intended by state parties.

Jonathan Abbamonte is a research analyst at the Population Research Institute. 

By Hannah Brockhaus

Vatican City, Apr 17, 2017 / 05:30 am (CNA/EWTN News).- On Easter Monday, Pope Francis stressed that Christ’s resurrection calls each of us to bring the message of Easter – a message of hope and life – to the world.

“There is life!” the Pope said April 17. Now, following the Resurrection, “we will be resurrection men and women, men and women of life.”

We are called to show solidarity, welcoming, and peace to people “in the midst of events that afflict the world – there are many today – in the midst of worldliness that is distant from God,” he said.

These are only human signs that we can give, he continued, but “inspired and sustained by faith in the Risen Lord,” we can gain effectiveness “well beyond our capacity.”

Pope Francis gave his message Easter Monday before leading pilgrims in the Regina Coeli prayer from a window overlooking St. Peter’s square.

It is customary for the Pope to lead this traditional Marian prayer on the Monday following Easter Sunday, also sometimes called the “Monday of the Angel” for the angel which announced Christ’s resurrection to the women at the tomb.

During the fifty days of Easter, the Regina Coeli will replace the usual recitation of the Angelus on Sundays.

In the message of the Angel to the women on Easter morning, “Go quickly and tell his disciples: ‘He has risen from the dead,’” we hear our directions as well, Pope Francis said. The angel invites us as well to “act quickly” and to go “proclaim to the men and women of our time this message of joy and hope.”

This message is hopeful because on the dawn of the third day, Jesus was risen from the dead, therefore “the last word is not death, but life! And this is our certainty. The last word is not the grave, is not death, it is life!”

And our Mother Mary can help us to live this out, Francis said.

“The Virgin Mary, silent witness of the death and resurrection of her son Jesus, helps us to be clear signs of the risen Christ among the events of the world.”

“Those who are in distress and difficulties,” he explained, can “find in us so many brothers and sisters who offer them support and consolation.”

“And this is so because Christ is alive and active in history through his Holy Spirit, redeems our miseries, reaches every human heart and gives hope to anyone who is oppressed and suffering,” he said.

“Our Mother, help us to believe strongly in the resurrection of Jesus: Jesus is risen, he is alive here, among us, and this is a wonderful mystery of salvation with the ability to transform hearts and lives,” he prayed.

“And intercede in a particular way for the Christian communities persecuted and oppressed as they are today, in many parts of the world, called to a difficult and courageous witness.”