By TLB Contributor: Leslie Carol Botha
Holy Hormones Journal: Well, it has been another week in the assault on women’s bodies. CNN reported on a story that was circulating last year about the birth
control method, NuvaRing. I also wrote about this insidious form of birth control on my blog – noting that the manufacturer, paying out over $100 million in settlements is none other than Merck & Co – the same pharmaceutical company that brought us another insidious drug, the HPV vaccine, Gardasil – that has killed and maimed tens if not hundreds of thousands of young girls and now boys in this country. And now it is a year later…. and the issue is not resolved. NuvaRing is still on the market and being prescribed to unsuspecting women. The birth control method has been linked to pulmonary embolisms causing deaths and other close calls for many other women. And if women do not drop dead… what are the long term side effects?
What are we doing? Synthetic hormone birth control had a place in time – saved lives and women from having unwanted pregnancies. But the times have changed and so has the effect of synthetic hormones on our bodies. We do not know the long terms affects from synthetic hormones and yet, we have been using them for generations now. The synthetics are passed in-utero to the next generation – who are experiencing hormone imbalance issues at an earlier and earlier age.
And yet, the medical establishment recommends putting girls on synthetic hormones at the age of 10 – before their endocrine system even has a chance to mature.
Another important point is our environment. We are exposed to so many toxins on a daily basis – over 200 in the makeup we where… and that is even before we leave the house in the morning. Many of these toxins are known endocrine disruptors.
And another important point is nutrition. Synthetic hormones – just like any other drug deplete vital nutrients out of the body. Hell, just getting out of bed and walking to the bathroom depletes nutrients. Micronutrients are the fuel you body needs to function optimally. PERIOD. Unfortunately, too many of us except that chronic illness is the norm – and for many it is. 54% of our children are chronically ill. 1 in 68 is on the autism spectrum – that number will be 1 in 2 by the year 2025.
Is anybody listening?
Not too long ago, I posted a blog about a possible link between synthetic hormones and autism. The premise was made by a graduate student who noted the rise in BC use with the rise in autism. There are many who solely blame vaccines on autism… but there are many more who are looking what sets the stage for autism. And that has to do with maternal health. Vaccines – yes, they are the tipping point. But the real issue is why some and not all.
Now let’s through in the abortion issue. This is another issue that started as a right to choose pregnancy when all else fails and in case of rape and incest. And yes, I was among those feminists who fought for the right to choose. And I still stand by that.
However, I watched in horror as this right has turned into an insidious industry – that not only maims the fetus – but causes mental and emotional trauma to women.
On the other hand, David Grimes, author of Abortion Denied: Consequences for Mother and Child.
Grimes asks the question:
Abortion solves a problem. When this solution is denied or inaccessible, the unwanted, dangerous, or abnormal pregnancy persists. What happens thereafter to the woman and her child?
The answers – will not shock you… a woman is thrown into poverty and her children at higher risk for delinquency. Studies have shown maternal rejection has been linked with juvenile crime.
Women’s eNews came out with a great article this week about reclaiming our bodies in the name of “Reproductive Sovereignty.”
Author Carol Downer states:
Our reproductive anatomy can only be sovereign if we have no interference from the state.
Great statement – but I do not even think a woman president will change that fact that women’s bodies are indeed the property of the state. And that has been the cornerstone of the patriarchy for years.
Ms. Downer goes on to write that women do not have sovereignty over the birthing process either. And I will add nor do we have sovereignty over any aspect of our reproductive life. In fact, many women bring children into this world – only to lose them in wars or in divorce cases where custody is challenged most often by an abusive father. Unbeknownst to most women there is a federal Fatherhood Initiative that protects and provides custody for fathers if they demand custodial rights.
Women’s eNews shared a video on a WHO protocol where women can ‘safely’ abort – but with great risk. Yes, I did mean to write that confusing sentence.
“Dear Stacy” animation from the documentary “Vessel”
I shuddered when I saw this video. Taking sovereignty over our bodies – has such dire consequences… in a patriarchy. If a woman experienced side effects from this protocol – what would the legal ramifications be? I just posted about one woman doing jail time for trying to abort herself an discarding the fetus.
Reproductive sovereignty – is it too late?
No. But we do need to have some paramount shifts. And in order to do that, men need to participate. Women need to be honored and respected. The very first step is women honoring and respecting themselves. And learn the difference between trust and control.
I want to close with one of my favorite writings from feminist author Judy Grahn.
From Sacred Blood to the Curse & Beyond
Because a group of people once gave me two apple trees for my yard, I arrived at my own definition of the difference between power and control.
This happened to me as a result of understanding the nature of apples, how they come about.
An apple is something real, which is created; this is power. Only an apple tree can make an apple, no one else can. The wealthiest magnate on earth cannot make an apple no matter how he might stand in the sun, or squat or contort his flesh. He does not have the power of an apple tree to make apples and neither does anyone else. He can own them. He can fence them, transport them, plant and prune them; he can bulldoze them, line them up in military formation, poison them, grind them up, bore them to death, set fire to them, graft them and use them B and this is control. He can never from the substance of his own body, make an apple as an apple tree can; this is power.
Sources:
Families, lawsuits, raise questions about NuvaRing
It’s Time to Reclaim Our Reproductive Sovereignty
Abortion Denied: Consequences for Mother and Child
Politics of Women’s Spirituality
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About the Author
Leslie Carol Botha: Author, publisher, radio talk show host and internationally recognized expert on women’s hormone cycles. Social/political activist on Gardasil the HPV vaccine for adolescent girls. Co-author of “Understanding Your Mood, Mind and Hormone Cycle.” Honorary advisory board member for the Foundation for the Study of Cycles and member of the Society for Menstrual Cycle Research.
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TLB recommends you visit Leslie at Holy Hormones Honey for more pertinent articles and information.
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