Republicans Drop Opposition to Birth Control Pills

[LordKiran]

It lowers testosterone. I doubt the side effects will be acceptable.

And I disagree with the OP--it's still non-biblical.

It's an early study, but...

"Despite having low levels of circulating testosterone, very few subjects reported symptoms consistent with testosterone deficiency or excess," Page said. "These promising results are unprecedented in the development of a prototype male pill. Longer term studies are currently underway to confirm that DMAU taken every day blocks sperm production."

I'm a feminazi so I'm hoping it works to feminize men. If so, I will support legislation to require all men to take it starting at age 13 or so.

I for one would be interested to see its effects on the population at large, having been on an HRT regimen at one point myself. I doubt the hormonal effects would be nearly as pronounced but should still be noticeable.

 

[Jobar]

I wonder if the slightly lower testosterone level will be enough to produce a slightly lower statistical level of violence?

And if it does, what effect that will have on society, and republican views of the male pill?

 

[Angry Floof]

I wonder if the slightly lower testosterone level will be enough to produce a slightly lower statistical level of violence?

And if it does, what effect that will have on society, and republican views of the male pill?

Good questions, and one of them can be answered with certainty: the Republican view will be based in fear and impervious to facts.

 

[Toni]

If a woman is asking for any form of birth control requiring a prescription, she will be given a pelvic exam (see my previous post for the details). This is normally part of a regular yearly exam for women regardless of what kind, if any, birth control is used, at least up until menopause. In fact, for years, a woman could designate her gyno as her primary care physician.

Any sexually active woman should have a yearly pelvic exam, regardless of her need for birth control. Say she's had a tubal ligation: she still gets the pelvic exam.

Some women have separate physicals by non-gynos and may or may not have a pelvic exam as part of that. But for a prescription for birth control of any type requiring a prescription, yes, she will be asked to submit for a pelvic exam unless, perhaps one was performed recently (as in less than 6 months). The other thing that is checked is to see if she's actually pregnant.

Presumably you are talking about women in the US. In Australia it is entirely up to the woman to decide if she wants to have a PAP smear, pelvic examination, ultrasound test or a mammogram done. None of them are prerequisites for getting the pill. Apparently, there are some doctors around who insist on performing at least some of those before writing out a prescription, but there is no law requiring any of them, so it is easy to walk out and see a doctor who does not insist.

I am USA-centric when talking about such requirements. Pap smears are reduced in frequency assuming your last 3 were normal and no risk factors. Mammograms don’t start until 50 unless there is a risk factor such as strong family history. Pelvic exams are de rigeur for prescriptions which typically are good for a year.

 

[Jason Harvestdancer]

Sorry if that was unclear from my previous post.

Calm down and I'll make my previous post clear.

It looks like you are describing a standard Ob appointment to make sure the *ahem* equipment is healthy. As in any woman going in for an Ob appointment goes through that whether or not asking for pills.

My question was "Is there something special extra above-and-beyond that a woman has to go through if she wants BC pills?"

Do women get the speculum if they are getting a standard OB exam, or ONLY IF THEY ARE ASKING FOR BC PILLS? And what about the ultrasound wand that Keith mentioned that prompted my original reply?

Woman: Doctor, I'm here for my OB exam.
Doctor: Okay, I'll take your blood pressure and temperature.
Woman: I also want BC pills.
Doctor: Okay, I'll get out the speculum.

If a woman is asking for any form of birth control requiring a prescription, she will be given a pelvic exam (see my previous post for the details). This is normally part of a regular yearly exam for women regardless of what kind, if any, birth control is used, at least up until menopause. In fact, for years, a woman could designate her gyno as her primary care physician.

Any sexually active woman should have a yearly pelvic exam, regardless of her need for birth control. Say she's had a tubal ligation: she still gets the pelvic exam.

Some women have separate physicals by non-gynos and may or may not have a pelvic exam as part of that. But for a prescription for birth control of any type requiring a prescription, yes, she will be asked to submit for a pelvic exam unless, perhaps one was performed recently (as in less than 6 months). The other thing that is checked is to see if she's actually pregnant.

I asked my wife about this. She disagrees with you. My mock-conversation is not the way it works.

Straight from my wife: No, that's silly. If you say you want a prescription they'll give it to you. They want to give you the exam because you're supposed to have one on a regular basis. They won't require it to get the pills unless there is something unusual in a particular case.

So ... back to my original comment way back when.

Demand a prostate exam as part of applying for every prescription refill, using an ultrasound wand...

I reacted to Keith's post when I entered this thread. It seems that he is making a point about something other than BC pills, but he refused to comment further. I suspect I know what he's actually referring to, given that he mentioned an ultrasound wand, but I will not say so because that is nothing more than an assumption on my part. Even if it were true that the moment a woman asks for BC pills that the speculum comes out (and my wife says it is not true) what possible use is there for an ultrasound wand on standard gynecological exam?

 

[Toni]

If a woman is asking for any form of birth control requiring a prescription, she will be given a pelvic exam (see my previous post for the details). This is normally part of a regular yearly exam for women regardless of what kind, if any, birth control is used, at least up until menopause. In fact, for years, a woman could designate her gyno as her primary care physician.

Any sexually active woman should have a yearly pelvic exam, regardless of her need for birth control. Say she's had a tubal ligation: she still gets the pelvic exam.

Some women have separate physicals by non-gynos and may or may not have a pelvic exam as part of that. But for a prescription for birth control of any type requiring a prescription, yes, she will be asked to submit for a pelvic exam unless, perhaps one was performed recently (as in less than 6 months). The other thing that is checked is to see if she's actually pregnant.

I asked my wife about this. She disagrees with you. My mock-conversation is not the way it works.

Straight from my wife: No, that's silly. If you say you want a prescription they'll give it to you. They want to give you the exam because you're supposed to have one on a regular basis. They won't require it to get the pills unless there is something unusual in a particular case.

So ... back to my original comment way back when.

Demand a prostate exam as part of applying for every prescription refill, using an ultrasound wand...

I reacted to Keith's post when I entered this thread. It seems that he is making a point about something other than BC pills, but he refused to comment further. I suspect I know what he's actually referring to, given that he mentioned an ultrasound wand, but I will not say so because that is nothing more than an assumption on my part. Even if it were true that the moment a woman asks for BC pills that the speculum comes out (and my wife says it is not true) what possible use is there for an ultrasound wand on standard gynecological exam?

Note: I had a tubal ligation after the birth of my youngest child who is now an adult so it's been a while since I've needed to get prescription birth control

For myself: I always re-upped whatever birth control I was planning to use at my annual exam. This schedule was sometimes different if instead of a regular annual exam, it was a postpartum exam.

As I mentioned in one of the posts, if you go in for birth control and you've had a recent pelvic exam, you won't need another pelvic exam unless there is a specific reason it's warranted. It could be that a particular practice but more likely a particular insurance company will not do an annual pelvic exam but that's never been my experience. I've lived in several states as an adult and have always been fortunate to have good insurance coverage (with the exception of during my first pregnancy when I had zero insurance. That was extremely expensive, even back then. Do NOT recommend!!!).

The ultrasound wand is used if there is a need to obtain ultrasound images. I've had this done to get more information about what was suspected to be uterine polyps. So, it was a separate procedure from the usual pelvic exam (performed prior and indicating to my doc that she thought it might be a good idea, along with my particular history/symptoms to be certain of what was what--- but indeed, I was laying flat on my back, knees up with the wand inserted vaginally--and moved around a bit to get a variety of images. This was done at a very large medical facility with many specialized resources because that's where my primary and gynecological care was. It is possible that some practices have this technology within their smaller practice and patients are not sent to a different part of a building for the procedure as I was.