Vatican: Birth control pill pollutes environment

[Andy9o8 0]

Now here's a real stretch for an agenda:

http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5jAOv_zU_KMSFrB0Mt7QEcsO0c4vg

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VATICAN CITY (AFP) — The contraceptive pill is polluting the environment and is in part responsible for male infertility, a report in the Vatican newspaper L'Osservatore Romano said Saturday.

The pill "has for some years had devastating effects on the environment by releasing tonnes of hormones into nature" through female urine, said Pedro Jose Maria Simon Castellvi, president of the International Federation of Catholic Medical Associations, in the report.

"We have sufficient evidence to state that a non-negligible cause of male infertility in the West is the environmental pollution caused by the pill," he said, without elaborating further.

....

The article was promptly dismissed by several organisations.

"Once metabolised, the hormones contained in oral contraceptives no longer have any of the characteristic effects of feminine hormones," said Gianbenedetto Melis, vice-president of a contraceptive research association, quoted by the ANSA news agency.

The hormones contained in the pill such as oestrogen "are present everywhere... in plastic, in disinfectants, in meat that we eat," added Flavia Franconi, of the Society of Italian Pharmacology.

[jakee 1,257]

Lies from the Vatican over contraception? Qu'elle surprise

At least this one shouldn't be as dangerous as the junk science fabrications they've put out about condoms.

Do you want to have an ideagasm?

[shropshire 0]

Haven't they got anything better to talk shite about?

(.)Y(.)
Chivalry is not dead; it only sleeps for want of work to do. - Jerome K Jerome

[rehmwa 2]

cool, if religious fanatics and the enviro fanatics can join forces, .......

...
Driving is a one dimensional activity - a monkey can do it - being proud of your driving abilities is like being proud of being able to put on pants

[rushmc 18]

I dont know about the report you post but, here in Iowa, the DNR has reported levels of anti depresants and birth control cemicals in the water here.

Go figure.......

"America will never be destroyed from the outside,
if we falter and lose our freedoms,
it will be because we destroyed ourselves."
Abraham Lincoln

[tbrown 26]

You left out the part about masturbation causing blindness and hairy palms.

Your humble servant.....Professor Gravity !

[Belgian_Draft 0]

More birth control = fewer babies
Fewer babies = fewer disposable diapers in the landfill
Few disposable diapers in the landfill = good for the environment

so, More birth control (including pills) = Good for environment.

And that's not even taking into account the other forms of pollution associated with each and every person in the world.

The way I figure it, the Vatican is turned around 180 degrees on this.

HAMMER:
Originally employed as a weapon of war, the hammer nowadays is used as a
kind of divining rod to locate the most expensive parts adjacent the
object we are trying to hit.

[No_Phear 0]

Since you boys and I are sparring in another discussion, I'll at least note here that this is definitely a load of crap from the Vatican, and has no bearing on the true church.


Besides, how can you trust a religous group that ROUTINELY commits homosexual pedophilia?

Catholic birth control = don't take a pill; screw a little boy instead.

I agree with you on disgust against the Vatican, but do not equivilate Catholisism to Christianity.

Tact is not my specialty.....

Dirty Sanchez #453

[Andy9o8 0]

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I agree with you on disgust against the Vatican, but do not equivilate Catholisism to Christianity.

If you're defining Catholics out of Christianity, I'd disagree. On the other hand I would agree with this statement: Do not equate Catholicism and lay Catholics with the institution, clergy and hierarchy of the Catholic Church.

[No_Phear 0]

Yes I am not equivilating lay Catholics to the Roman Catholic Church (The Vatican) So what you said embodies what I meant.

Tact is not my specialty.....

Dirty Sanchez #453

[Andy9o8 0]

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equivilating

If you use that word one more time, I'm sending a guy named Guido to speak with you.

[No_Phear 0]

Now I'm equivilating in my boots

Tact is not my specialty.....

Dirty Sanchez #453

[Andy9o8 0]

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Now I'm equivilating in my boots

http://creativebits.org/files/images/wrapped%20fish.preview.jpg

[No_Phear 0]

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http://creativebits.org/files/images/wrapped%20fish.preview.jpg

Maybe I'll just send a Priest your way.......

Tact is not my specialty.....

Dirty Sanchez #453

[Andy9o8 0]

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Quote

http://creativebits.org/files/images/wrapped%20fish.preview.jpg

Maybe I'll just send a Priest your way.......

PLease send this guy. His name is Guido, so I'll know what to expect.

http://www.fathersarducci.com/images/frsarducci.gif

[Capt.Slog 0]

What a load of horse piss.

[micro 0]

well instead of turning this into a thread to bash the church with, perhaps you all should do a little more research into this matter.

any google search will turn up the work of EPA scientists and others who have discovered that the synthetic estrogen found in birth control pills have been showing up in waterways around our country for some time now, altering the fertility of fish and causing gender abnormalities. other research has been and is being done to see how this waterway exposure would affect human fertility.

i'll let you read up on all of this research for yourself, then you can come back here and apologize for using this as just another launching point for which to attack the church.

I miss Lee.
And JP.
And Chris. And...

[Andy9o8 0]

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apologize for using this as just another launching point for which to attack the church.

Nope. The Vatican's principal motivation for doing this is not to promote environmental protection, it's simply a lame attempt come up with a more "palatable" rationalization of its arcane, out-of-touch stance on artificial contraception. It's insulting to the intelligence.

Next I expect they'll scare up some stories about small children and puppies choking to death on condoms and IUDs.

[micro 0]

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apologize for using this as just another launching point for which to attack the church.

Nope. The Vatican's principal motivation for doing this is not to promote environmental protection, it's simply a lame attempt come up with a more "palatable" rationalization of its arcane, out-of-touch stance on artificial contraception. It's insulting to the intelligence.

Next I expect they'll scare up some stories about small children and puppies choking to death on condoms and IUDs.

You've never even read Humanae Vitae, have you? Do you even know what it is, when it was written, who wrote it? Why don't you read it first, then perhaps we can have an intelligible conversation on this matter b/c you clearly do not understand the church's stance against artificial birth control. Perhaps after reading that document, in which Pope Paul VI wrote quite prophetically what would be the consequences of the widespread adoption of birth control, you will understand the church's motivation for her position.

"There are not one hundred people in the United States who hate The Catholic Church, but there are millions who hate what they wrongly perceive the Catholic Church to be."
— Fulton J. Sheen

I miss Lee.
And JP.
And Chris. And...

[Andy9o8 0]

You're evading my point. The issue raised by this thread is not to revisit the debate over the Catholic hierarchy's stance on artificial contraception. The issue is the Heirarchy's intellectual dishonesty in hiding its agenda by coopting other issues as a smokescreen for trying to find after-the-fact rationalizations for its stance that are more palatable to the modern laity - the same laity that began falling away from the Church in droves a generation ago over this issue.

Quote

"There are not one hundred people in the United States who hate The Catholic Church, but there are millions who hate what they wrongly perceive the Catholic Church to be."
— Fulton J. Sheen

Yes, Bishop Sheen was a very skilled, telegenic spokesman, and he came up with some appealing sound bytes, like that one. Truth be told, however, the people are reacting less to perception than to what the Hierarchy of the Catholic Church has shown itself to be.

[billvon 2,402]

>any google search will turn up the work of EPA scientists and others who
>have discovered that the synthetic estrogen found in birth control pills have
>been showing up in waterways around our country for some time now, altering the
>fertility of fish and causing gender abnormalities.

That's definitely true, but the amount of xenoestrogens that are contributed by birth control is immeasurably small compared to the amount contributed by plastics, DDT and PCB's. The position that birth control pills represent a large part of the xenoestrogen hazard is a political position, not a scientific one.

[micro 0]

I'm not evading your point at all and your making an unwarranted assumption about why the Vatican is making these statements. The Vatican isn't trying to repackage it's anti-BC artguments. It is, however, using secular research in this area to back up it's existing prohibition, in effect saying look, we told you this wouldn't be good for a number of reasons.

Like I said, in order to have an intelligible conversation about this, I challenge you to read Humanae Vitae. I'll even provide you with a link, but I doubt you will take the time to read it. Most people don't really want to understand why the church teach this or that thing.

http://www.vatican.va/holy_father/paul_vi/encyclicals/documents/hf_p-vi_enc_25071968_humanae-vitae_en.html

One last thing... while people have indeed left the church in droves as a result of the church's steadfast teaching on birth control there are many people coming into the church today for that very same reason. They are finding that embracing the total vision for sexuality in marriage (of which not using birth control is just one piece), as taught by the church and expressed eloquently by John Paul II in his Theology of the Body, strengthens and fortifies marriages.

I miss Lee.
And JP.
And Chris. And...

[micro 0]

Quote

>any google search will turn up the work of EPA scientists and others who
>have discovered that the synthetic estrogen found in birth control pills have
>been showing up in waterways around our country for some time now, altering the
>fertility of fish and causing gender abnormalities.

That's definitely true, but the amount of xenoestrogens that are contributed by birth control is immeasurably small compared to the amount contributed by plastics, DDT and PCB's. The position that birth control pills represent a large part of the xenoestrogen hazard is a political position, not a scientific one.

Please back up your last statement w/ something tangible bill. None of the articles I've read on this matter seem to be politically based.

I miss Lee.
And JP.
And Chris. And...

[billvon 2,402]

>Please back up your last statement w/ something tangible bill. None of the
>articles I've read on this matter seem to be politically based.

A few articles on the problem:

http://www.scribd.com/doc/2361164/Environmental-Estrogens
http://www.worldandi.com/public/2001/October/ee.html
http://www.gdrc.org/uem/waste/e-estrogens.html
http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/17346.php


An example of an article claiming that birth control pills are the problem:

================================================
The cause of intersexuality among fish, scientists speculate, is pollution in the water, particularly hormones. Why don’t we have more outcries about hormones, and campaigns to save the fish populations? Why aren’t environmentalists lobbying on Capitol Hill to keep these chemicals from being dumped into our rivers?

Maybe because the source of these chemicals is not some corporate polluter, but something a little more dear to the Left: human birth-control pills, morning-after pills, and abortion pills.
==================================================

Notice anything political about the last one?

[micro 0]

Quote

>Please back up your last statement w/ something tangible bill. None of the
>articles I've read on this matter seem to be politically based.

A few articles on the problem:

http://www.scribd.com/doc/2361164/Environmental-Estrogens
http://www.worldandi.com/public/2001/October/ee.html
http://www.gdrc.org/uem/waste/e-estrogens.html
http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/17346.php


An example of an article claiming that birth control pills are the problem:

================================================
The cause of intersexuality among fish, scientists speculate, is pollution in the water, particularly hormones. Why don’t we have more outcries about hormones, and campaigns to save the fish populations? Why aren’t environmentalists lobbying on Capitol Hill to keep these chemicals from being dumped into our rivers?

Maybe because the source of these chemicals is not some corporate polluter, but something a little more dear to the Left: human birth-control pills, morning-after pills, and abortion pills.
==================================================

Notice anything political about the last one?

Thanks bill. Sure, the last one is rich with political language and the topics discussed may deal w/ hot-button political issues, but that doesn't ipso facto mean that the cause of the pollution in question can't be by those very hot button products. We shouldn't immediately discount the possiblity that the very products that helped usher in the age of sexual freedom (the pill and it's many derivitives) could be colliding with some other culturally relevant issue, like environmentalism.

It is entirely possible, at least for some people, to disengage their emotions and prejudices from these issues long enough to discuss the matter. I for one am not so quick to let BC hormones off the hook and blame other products for these freaks of nature in the water. I'd like to see more research, esp. about the chronology of events... when did they start showing up vs. when did all the estrogen laden urine start getting dumped vs. when did the other products start getting dumped? I know there isn't a fine demarkation in time here, but surely there should be some way of determining what is more causal for these environmental probs, BC or other things.

I'll read the links you provided.

I miss Lee.
And JP.
And Chris. And...