Doctors warn about social media link to abortion rise

[lavender2023]

Very interesting (and worrying!) documentary on BBC and also an article..
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-66671765
Disclosure, Should I Quit My Birth Control?: www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/p0g8bqv4 via @bbciplayer

Apparently a lot of influencers have been promoting 'natural contraception ' on social media and even peddling complete mistruths like the pill contains carcinogens and causes infertility! This has been linked to a corresponding increase in abortions (partly, could also be due to cost of living). But sexual health experts are worried that these videos would dissuade women from getting on contraception or persuade them to stop using contraception with bad repercussions

And meanwhile in the states, we can also see this trend (when I look on tiktok under the #naturalbirthcontrol hashtag, most of the influencers propagating this are American) but it is a lot more sinister.
https://vcresearch.berkeley.edu/news/uc-berkeley-investigation-reveals-birth-control-disinformation-campaign
A collaboration between Reveal from The Center for Investigative Reporting, Mother Jones, the UC Berkeley Human Rights Center, and Berkeley Journalism’s Investigative Reporting Program have published a two-part investigation showing a disturbing landscape of birth control disinformation that actively targets women searching for functional contraception options in the United States. Part One was published as a longform article with Mother Jones: Inside Anti-Abortion Groups’ Campaign to Sell Women on Unreliable Birth Control “Alternatives.”(link is external) Part Two was broadcast as an hour-long podcast with Reveal: The Long Campaign to Turn Birth Control Into the New Abortion(link is external)

AIBU to be worried that this is a worrying trend. I say this as someone who has used natural contraceptive methods for the past 8-9 years. But I was either engaged or married throughout the entire period (married at the age of 22) and it did work well for me (and it wouldn't have been a disaster if I got pregnant). Now on the cusp of TTC and I don't think we are very fertile! But I look at those young girls on tiktok who are using the birth control apps and I doubt most of them are married or in secure long term relationships because let's face it, it's quite unusual to settle down so young

Videos on the platform include false claims about hormonal contraception, such as the pill, the implant, the jab and some types of the coil.
The misinformation online often focuses on side effects.
One TikTok video that has been viewed more than 600,000 times falsely claims hormonal birth control can cause infertility and brain tumours.
Another video posted by an influencer with more than 300,000 followers claims "birth control is this generation's cigarettes" and "ruins our bodies".
Meanwhile the hashtags #naturalbirthcontrol and #quittingbirthcontrol have had hundreds of millions of views.

I've seen this, I'm not sure how i feel about it!

I’m not sure how I feel either.

While I certainly can’t agree with actively encouraging people with unsafe and unreliable conception methods, I do agree that hormonal contraception really messes with people, and I think it’s wrong that we encourage girls to go on it as soon as they become sexually active.

It can mess with moods, weight and libido, and I’ve come off all hormonal contraceptives now and use only condoms.

Not sure what the answer is.

I also don’t think it’s a bad thing for young women to question hormonal contraception. Maybe it’s time for men to step up more to solve the issue

The false claims are certainly worrying however I can understand why so many women are turning away from using hormonal BC because it can make you feel so shit. I don’t think there’s anything inherently wrong with using natural family planning but it takes careful consideration. It can be very reliable. More education needed for younger women that doesn’t come from tiktok. I swear the failure figures on many traditional methods aren’t accurate. I fell (unwanted pg) with the copper coil as it had fallen out in a heavy period without me noticing, embarrassing I know. I’ve spoken to so many other women who’ve fallen pg with coils in particular. I used NFP in between dc with no problems.

I don’t understand why anti abortion groups would want to cause more unwanted pregnancies, seems a bit of an own goal?

Hmm...an interesting thread. On the one hand, of course safe and effective contraception is important and I would argue that your GP or sexual health clinic should be the place to discuss your options (if you can ever get an appointment) not getting your information from social media. However, on the other hand we need to acknowledge that there are risks with hormonal birth control (small increased risk of breast cancer for example) and I feel that too often these are glossed over and women are often encouraged to use these methods too quickly without the appropriate discussion about other methods. I was prescribed the pill at 19 and experienced horrendous side effects. I felt much happier and healthier using condoms but it is essential that you know how to use these correctly.

Women are not capable to do so?

Why are people having mixed thoughts about this? No way should any influencer be giving information on this unless they actually have medical knowledge

Yes women should be made aware of the downsides of hormonal contraception but someone’s Instagram is not the place to go for this.

It already amazes me that people think the tracking or withdrawal method are reliable contraception!

I went on the pill over 50 years ago, I do think back then you were able to get more time with a doctor to discuss things. I never had any issues, used various methods over the years, never had a fail, only had an issue once when I was on a new pill and honestly I think it is a wonder I didn't commit murder as it made me feel so aggressive and angry. Fortunately I was rational enough to know what was happening and came off it very quickly.

The doctor I used to see was a retired GP who did sessions at the FP Clinic. She was amazing, she had gone to Arabia before WWII and traveled round by camel giving contraceptive support to Bedouin women. I suppose she was late 70s early 80s when I used to see her and a really inspirational woman.

I think it’s healthy to question hormonal contraceptives yes. They haven’t been around that long really in the scheme of things.

They are against women having sex outside of marriage or casual sex. Arguably if you get used to tracking your cycle, it's not a setup that is favourable to spontaneous casual sex. It is the kind of set up which is semi feasible in a secure long term relationship where you live together and would probably be considering children at some point anyway.

So might be pushing women towards this kind of setup.

Neither has women having their own careers or being able to have sex freely with men they weren't married or at least engaged to.

Anti-abortion activists—many of whom are morally opposed to the idea of contraception because they consider it a form of abortion or just morally wrong—have found that wellness influencers, many of them pro-choice, are a boon to their cause. While previous generations of activists saw picketing outside abortion clinics as their only option for engaging the public, today’s crusaders are also using social media to win followers, incorporating wellness messages into confessional videos and stylish memes to convince their audience that hormonal contraception is not only sinful but also unhealthy.

surely the issue is the rise in unwanted pregnancies and not just terminations.

Or unplanned pregnancies.

This! It should be banned on social media to give any medical advice or opinions, including about contraception.

And plenty of women, including me, have used hormonal contraception with no side effects. It's misleading for one 'influencer' to have side effects and then say to others they should use that contraceptive, it will be different for everyone.

They’ve been around longer than IVF which also uses large doses of hormones and nobody questions the safety of that.

The increased difficulty in accessing GP appointments is also likely to have some impact on the unwanted pregnancy rates, surely?

Barrier methods such as the cervical cap and the diaphragm should never have been discontinued. When used perfectly they are very effective, not as effective as hormonal contraception, but very effective! If women were given them as an option, in conjunction with natural methods, recommending doubling up with condoms during fertile periods, that would be a very good option for people who don't want to mess with their hormones. I think it is dismissive and condescending to assume that women are incapable of consistent and scrupulous use of barrier methods, if that is the choice they want to make.

I've noticed this really worryingly.

I think it's an insidious anti-abortion movement, loaded with purity, no sex outside of marriage etc.

Whilst I don't think hormonal contraceptives are perfect, I do think they're the safest and most reliable of a bad bunch if your family isn't complete/ started.

I agree questioning such widespread use of hormonal contraception isn’t necessarily bad. It’s present in the water stream which is damaging ecosystems and does increase the risk of breast cancer slightly. But this isn’t the role of influencers and I’m sceptical of anyone promoting ‘natural birth control’

I don’t understand why anti abortion groups would want to cause more unwanted pregnancies, seems a bit of an own goal?

People with those views are often against women controlling their own sexuality and having sex outside of marriage.

(It's not really about saving babies.)

Hormonal birth control gives many women the kind of freedom that anti-abortionists would like to take away, so to me it makes sense they would be against it.

IIRC the last pope took it even further and was against promoting condom use in South Africa to stop the spread of AIDS.

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2009/mar/17/pope-africa-condoms-aids

Copper coil copper coil copper coil

I mean the obvious solution is to get the man to wear a condom if you're having casual sex. You need to anyway to protect against STDs. But for women in long term committed relationships who would be ok with either an abortion or a baby should things not go right, natural contraception can be a really good option.