I have recently read a few comments that compare contraception to tobacco, and I think it’s a great analogy that deserves to be developed further. Of course, no analogies are perfect, but it’s enlightening to evaluate the parallels.
Just as smoking was glorified 70 years ago, contraception is glorified today. Smoking then was and contraception now is a sign of sophistication. The woman who contracepts leads a glamorous life of consequence-free sex!
The popularity of cigarettes then and contraception now is overwhelming. In 1965, 42% of Americans smoked cigarettes (50% of men and 33% of women, ref). In 2002, 62% of American women used contraception (ref).
Of course, there are health risks to both tobacco and hormonal contraception, but those are ignored thanks to their crushing popularity. Correlations with cancer are either vehemently denied or disdainfully brushed aside.
This is due in great part to the power of big tobacco and big pharma.
"… the tobacco industry, through its economic and political clout, successfully suppressed for decades the link between cigarettes and lung cancer using the NCI and medical groups such as the American Medical Association.
Like tobacco, contraceptive steroids (birth control pills) are very widely used, having been taken at some time by at least 75% of American women, often for many years. The belief in the use and the safety of "the pill" is deeply engrained in American culture and the culture of American health scientists, in both the government and the pharmaceutical industry.”
http://www.bcpinstitute.org/steroid_brochure.htm
“Any other drug that has been linked with as many deaths and risks of lethal diseases would likely have been taken off the market. Some have observed the pharmaceutical companies may be as liable to class action suits as were the tobacco companies.”
Janet Smith in May 2nd issue of Our Sunday Visitor
Tobacco and pharmaceuticals are incredibly influential. This is not to say that they’re completely evil or anything; it’s just to say that business comes first, and awareness of health risks is very bad for business.
But it’s not all doom and gloom. My favorite part of this analogy is that it’s a hopeful one. People finally grew to understand just how bad tobacco was for them; they can also realize just how bad contraception is for them (just talking health-wise, not even getting into morality). According to wikipedia, "Smoking rates in the United States have dropped by half from 1965 to 2006, falling from 42% to 20.8% in adults." Sure, there are still holdouts (and people who struggle with addiction). But these people are well aware of what they’re doing to themselves and the people around them. They’ve made an informed choice to consume tobacco despite its health hazards and social scorn.
It is possible for our entire society to undergo a dramatic paradigm shift concerning contraception, just like it did with tobacco. After all, the first switch from condemning to embracing contraception took place in a matter of some 30 short years (1930-1960), so who’s to say the pendulum can’t swing back again now?
Sure, there will still be holdouts. But again, these people will be well aware of what they’re doing to themselves and the people around them. They will have made a fully informed choice to use contraception despite its health hazards and social scorn. And in my mind, that’s the ideal. Not to outlaw contraception – that’s not realistic. After all, we’ve already opened Pandora’s box. But for people to truly understand the risks involved with contraception, for society and particularly for doctors to acknowledge that it’s harmful, and for individuals to then make the choice whether or not to use it.
The beauty of free will is that we can make these decisions. However, an informed conscience is necessary to make good decisions. Right now many people are ignorant of the problems associated with contraception, just as people were once ignorant of the problems associated with tobacco. We have to push back against the industries which are making literally billions of dollars off of our ignorance. It will be difficult, but, as we’ve seen with cigarettes, it can happen. Cigarette smoking was a 20th century phenomenon that will hopefully continue to taper off in the 21st century. Will we be able to say the same of contraception?