{"id":6898,"date":"2012-02-12T19:29:46","date_gmt":"2012-02-12T19:29:46","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/secularright.org\/SR\/wordpress\/?p=6898"},"modified":"2012-02-12T19:29:46","modified_gmt":"2012-02-12T19:29:46","slug":"take-your-pick","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/secularright.org\/SR\/wordpress\/take-your-pick\/","title":{"rendered":"Take Your Pick"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>The New York<\/a> Times<\/em>: <\/p>\n

During his lecture, Archbishop Dolan criticized people who postponed conception with \u201cchemicals and latex,\u201d calling them part of the \u201cculture of death.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

The Economist<\/a><\/em>:<\/p>\n

There is a large body of evidence that shows contraception use has helped women avoid unintended pregnancies, which in turn has led to lower abortion rates, healthier babies, stronger marriages and improved social and economic conditions for women.For example, Charles Westoff of Princeton University found that as central Asian and eastern European countries embraced the use of modern contraception their abortion rates substantially declined. Closer to home, a study by a group of doctors published in the American Journal of Public Health found that the decline in pregnancy rates amongst American teens “appears to be following the patterns observed in other developed countries, where improved contraceptive use has been the primary determinant of declining rates.” (Teen pregnancy is now at a 30-year low, thanks in large part to increased contraception use. Studies have also shown that greater availability of contraception doesn’t lead to an increase in sexual activity.) Another study in California found that the state’s family-planning programme, which provided contraception to nearly 1m women in 2007, averted about 300,000 unintended pregnancies, over 100,000 abortions, and 38,000 miscarriages.<\/p>\n

Other studies show that proper birth spacing, for which contraception is an effective tool, leads to better perinatal outcomes. You probably don’t need a study to tell you that unintended pregnancies put a strain on parental relationships, but there is one. Apart from contraception’s value in family planning, it also offers direct benefits for women’s health. Studies have shown that hormonal methods of contraception are useful in the treatment of menstrual disorders, while oral contraceptives reduce a woman’s risk of developing certain forms of cancer.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Yes, yes, I know the current controversy is not (strictly speaking) about the rights and wrongs of contraception per se, but it\u2019s handy to have such a succinct reminder of where the Dolans of this world stand on this issue. One wonders whether the 99<\/a> percent of American women who have at some time relied upon contraception agree that they are indeed part of the culture of death.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The New York Times: During his lecture, Archbishop Dolan criticized people who postponed conception with \u201cchemicals and latex,\u201d calling them part of the \u201cculture of death.\u201d The Economist: There is a large body of evidence that shows contraception use has … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":64,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mi_skip_tracking":false},"categories":[746,9],"tags":[79,16],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/secularright.org\/SR\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6898"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/secularright.org\/SR\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/secularright.org\/SR\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/secularright.org\/SR\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/64"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/secularright.org\/SR\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6898"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"https:\/\/secularright.org\/SR\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6898\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":6921,"href":"https:\/\/secularright.org\/SR\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6898\/revisions\/6921"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/secularright.org\/SR\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6898"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/secularright.org\/SR\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6898"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/secularright.org\/SR\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6898"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}