One of the Great Injustices Against Women
One day history will show that one of the great injustices against women in our time is birth control. There are a plethora of reasons why this is the case. But there is another dimension that is often overlooked. Birth control has led to a woefully inadequate focus in the medical field on women’s health. Ask any woman who deals with debilitating hormone issues that exacerbate other health issues and you will find countless stories of women who were told the Pill was the only answer.
I am one of those women.
I’ve written in the past about my four miscarriages and low hormones that have been a chronic problem for me. Natural Procreative Technologies (NaPro) helped for a while, but eventually I developed severe side effects from my hormone treatments. This led me to have to end the shots that were helping treat my low estrogen and progesterone. The only solution left to me by my doctor was to go on the Pill.
I briefly considered it for medical reasons, which the Church allows, but discovered, after doing research, that I possess a genetic mutation that makes me much more likely to get a life-threatening blood clot if I were to take birth control. I decided to bear with the difficult symptoms and unite them to Christ on the Cross for His greater glory and for those He has specifically asked me to suffer for. That doesn’t mean this path has been easy. The Cross is never easy, but it is the path to love and joy.
As I’ve gotten older, my hormone issues have gotten worse and aggravated other chronic health issues that developed after my gallbladder removal. I am getting sicker as I get older. I currently can’t eat most foods, especially when my hormones drop and inflammation rises precipitously, rendering me ill for a week or two each month.
This is not to complain about my plight. Suffering is redemptive, and a means of sanctification that must be embraced, despite the moments of affliction. This is to point out that the medical community has failed women like me.
Read the rest over at Catholic Exchange.
Swimming the Depths 