Author’s note: This is the second in our series of interviews on Heroes for Life — Catholics who are doing extraordinary things for the pro-life movement. I have included the scientific citation links in the text of the interview so you can read more on the published research on this compelling topic which has far-reaching implications for our society. — Lillian Quinones, senior, St. Ambrose Academy, Madison
Following is an interview with Vicki Thorn, founder of Project Rachel and the executive director of the National Office of Post-Abortion Reconciliation and Healing located in Milwaukee.
She is an international speaker/author on the topic on post-abortion healing. She has done extensive research on the biology of bonding/attachment and on the biochemistry of attraction which relates to the Theology of the Body.
How does the birth control pill relate to your research on attraction?
We humans don’t like to acknowledge that we live in bodies. The first piece that is not understood is how pheromones play a role in how men and women are attracted to one another.
Pheromones are scent molecules of affiliation perceived by our brain that cause sexual attraction between a man and woman and that communicate information about relationships, for example, a mother can identify her new baby by scent.
God beautifully designed women that they would instinctively be attracted to someone whose immune system is a complement to theirs. Pheromones are part of that selection process.
The birth control pill interferes with God’s design for fertility by masking each individual’s unique pheromone attraction. For instance, if a woman is on the Pill, she will be attracted to a man whose immune system is very similar to hers (which also is an immune system similar to her father or brother). When the male’s immune system is too similar to the female’s, infertility and miscarriages are more likely. (http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/08/080812213824.htm)
Research conducted by Dr. Ellen Grant of London shows that the Pill is closely associated with the rise in childhood allergies and asthma. Could it be that these poor mate choices may be a factor in what is causing the rise in allergies and asthma? (http://nah.sagepub.com/content/ 2/1/33.full.pdf).
Another thought-provoking finding was published in a Scientific American article, where women who are using the Pill, show a very different pattern of brain growth than the non-contracepting women. Scientists have recognized this significant difference, but do not know what to make of this finding. The steroidal hormones of the Pill are having a clear impact on the brain,with significant consequences. (http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=womens-brains-on-steroids)
Tragic side effects of the Pill: STDs, osteoporosis, blood clots
There are many terrible side affects of the pill that threaten a woman’s health. The mucus in a woman’s body is designed as a defense against contracting sexually transmitted diseases, but if she’s on the Pill, her mucus changes and she is more likely to contract an STD. (No More Periods? The Risks of Menstrual Suppression and Other Cutting Edge Issues about Hormones and Women’s Health by Susan Rako, MD).
If a woman receives a depo-provera shot (a 99 percent effective contraceptive shot, administered every 12 weeks), as a young woman, her bones will demineralize by seven percent a year. Researchers are predicting a possible epidemic of osteoporosis. (http://www.nih.gov/news/pr/sep2002/nichd-06.htm) The Pill demineralizes the bones also, but not as much (http://www.news-medical.net/news/20110720/Birth-control-pills-may-reduce-womans-bone-density.aspx).
One of my daughter’s best friends, a senior in college, collapsed on campus three years ago. They took her to the hospital and her body was filled with blood clots. She had been on the Pill for health reasons but had never been told of the risk factors. The doctors tried to save her by removing the blood clots from her heart and lungs, but they were in too many organs — they couldn’t save her life.
Doctors should insist that women requesting the Pill be tested for the clotting factor before prescribing (http://scien cenordic.com/new-contraceptive-pills-dou ble-risk-blood-clots).
We know that the Pill pollutes the water system because of the excess estrogen that is excreted in urine. Today we have a high level of infertility in women and in every country where the Pill has been introduced male fertility has dropped and women are at a higher risk of getting breast cancer because too much estrogen is linked to cancer (http://www.livescience.com/20532-birth-control-water-pollution.html).
The anthropologist Lionel Tiger tested the effects of the Pill on a colony of monkeys. When he put all the females on chemical contraceptives, the male’s sperm count dropped radically, and rather than having regular intercourse with the females, instead he raped them violently. Once Tiger took the females off contraceptives, the monkey’s sperm count came back, the rape disappeared, and the male went back to the females he was faithful to initially (The Decline of Males by Lionel Tiger).
God created us pro-life
We have to remember that we are embodied people, bodies, souls, spirit, brain. I think that God is saying, “You live in this body; it’s important that you respect the body that you have been given. It is a gift with this unique method of attraction that is designed to protect your fertility.”
In Scripture, God says, “Two shall become one.” This truth is validated scientifically. Research shows that I carry the cells of my children and the DNA for my husband the rest of my life.
That’s really awesome and scary. If I had multiple abortions and partners, I am carrying the cells of different men and passing them on to subsequent children (http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=your-cells-are-my-cells).
What can I do?
We have lost appreciation for the gift of our fertility. Fertility is an incredible blessing and we have a duty to share this information. As young people share it with your friends. The youth are going to do whatever society is saying the loudest, for example, “Oh yeah, sex outside of marriage is fine.”
We have to speak up so they can hear the truth. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve given talks on campuses and later run into someone who says, “Do you know, that talk you gave, it changed my life.”
Let me challenge you: Share this knowledge with your friends and daughters so you can help turn around the disastrous trend of losing our marriages and the violent culture towards women.