Pro-life protesters

[Lace Neil Singer]

Why could we not have BOTH use a birth control pill?

I somehow don't see that working; the hormones in each pill could cancel each other out.

[Greenday]

I somehow don't see that working; the hormones in each pill could cancel each other out.

How do you figure? The female birth control pill just prevents women from having the egg attach to the wall. The male birth control pill prevents sperm from being produced. Unless you are taking both pills, I'm unsure how me taking a male birth control pill would affect a woman taking a female birth control pill. It's not like the hormones from mine would just spill all over into the female.

[IDrinkaRum]

And besides, there are women out there who tell their man that they are taking birth control pills and a few months later: "Ooops! I forgot to take them. I'm now pregnant! What are you gonna do?"

Besides, tell all those "pro-life" nutcases about the case of Shanon and Brian Gore in Gloucester, Virginia. (WARNING: Will cause you to see blood-red, blood pressure will go through roof, and extreme violence towards the Gores will be felt).

The Gores hooked up when Shannon was 17 and Brian was 22. Had daughter and then approximately 3(?) years later had son. They never told anyone about the 2 children as Shannon was underage and she was "protecting" Brian from statutory rape charge(!?). Son mysteriously dies, parents - especially mother - becomes depressed. They keep daughter inside, confined to one room. Basically they were starving their 5 or 6 year old (born at home, no birth certificate) daughter to death. Then they get married. They have a 3rd kid, whom the parents are excited about, announce the pregnancy, name this boy after the 1st boy, and show this kid off all over the neighborhood. Daughter meanwhile is holed up under a crib with boxes on top so she can't escape. The mother suspected the daughter has cerebral palsy and down syndrome. But because the girl has never been to a doctor, authorities are not sure if this is true.

Where are the pro-lifers when this happens?

[Andara Bledin]

They're honestly not pro life. They're pro birth. They want births to happen. After you're in the world, you become someone else's problem. Hell, many of them also support the death penalty.

^-.-^

[blas87]

I would prefer if they had a shot for the males. The Depo Provera shot for females has gotten quite a bad rep, which is why I quit taking that and went to the Pill, but I will never trust the Pill 100%. I'm willing to bet they could come up with an injection for males that would have a lot less side effects.

[Ginger Tea]

I'm willing to bet they could come up with an injection for males that would have a lot less side effects.

Damn right, with added Viagra or some such no doubt

[Nyoibo]

I don't see why a contraceptive shot for males would have any less side effect for males than one for females has.

[Dreamstalker]

I think the problem is that it would have to be essentially a spermicide (or block sperm production at the source), and I'm not sure how safe that would be if injected.

I see ads around here for a condition called "low-t" and am not sure if that also affects fertility. Even if it does, the shot would need to destroy sperm without any of the other side effects that less testosterone could have...although I'm sure society as a whole wouldn't mind a lessening of testosterone-fueled road rage and 'macho' stupidities.

[blas87]

Estrogen pills and progesterone injections seem to wreak havoc on a lot of women. I won't even go into detail about side effects because they are pretty well known and a mile long list.

I would imagine that rendering a male's sperm useless would be safer than shutting down ovaries and keeping the uterine lining always too thick.

[Boozy]

I'm assuming that hormonal birth control for men has worse side effects than those for women.

Given the number of men that have had or plan to have a vasectomy, there's obviously a large market for birth control for men. The fact that there isn't a non-surgical option available to them would indicate that the pharmaceutical companies haven't been able to develop a safe and effective drug yet.

[blas87]

I highly doubt men would be subject to premature bone thinning/loss, heart attack/stroke, migranes, weight gain, or loss of sex drive due to medication.

Hair loss, well, that's common for almost all men.

[Boozy]

I highly doubt men would be subject to premature bone thinning/loss, heart attack/stroke, migranes, weight gain, or loss of sex drive due to medication.

Those are all symptoms of low testosterone. Especially the heart disease.

[blas87]

I don't think men have to worry about weight gain the way women do. We have more fat than men, and we carry excess weight in places that they don't. Men only have to worry about getting moobs and a gut, not thunder thighs and saddlebags and a giant ass, not to mention we even store excess fat in our arms and our necks and ankles.

[the_std]

I highly doubt men would be subject to premature bone thinning/loss, heart attack/stroke, migranes, weight gain, or loss of sex drive due to medication.

Those are all symptoms of low testosterone. Especially the heart disease.

I don't think men have to worry about weight gain the way women do. We have more fat than men, and we carry excess weight in places that they don't.

I'm sorry, but I don't quite follow the logical progression here, blas. Men would be subjected to all of those pretty terrible symptoms you listed initially if we altered their testosterone level (which a male birth control pill would most likely have to do at this point) but that would be fair because the female equivalent can cause weight gain? Heart disease and bone mass loss be damned, being safe about sex has the potential to make us girls fat and that's just not right! They should suffer equally!

I agree with Boozy. The free market we live in would do just about anything to make money, so if there was a viable option for a male BC pill, it would be out there. It's not a conspiracy or anything, it's most likely just not a safe alternative at this point.

[Evandril]

The female body is designed to make itself non-fertile at various times, the male body is not, hence the greater difficulty in temporary sterility for males.