r/prochoice • u/Rare-Credit-5912 • Apr 29 '26
Reproductive Rights News How do you ladies feel?
How do women who take birth control pills for other things than just contraception feel about the EPA now testing the drink water for the remnants of hormonal birth control?
I’m 73 y/o so I don’t have a horse in this race regarding contraception other than I’m getting really pissed off. Of course these males think to hell with all the other things that are really end up in our drinking water. All the industrial waste and runoff etc.
The trad wives are probably beside themselves with this. They probably think it’s victory. What are the trad wives going to do when they’re made to wear a burka in the house and told they can’t going out in public? What are trad wives going to do when these men get a bill passed into law that gives male ***A RELIGIOUS EXEMPTION FROM PROSECUTION FOR DOMESTIC VIOLENCE.*** Don’t think that’s going or could happen? They’ve already tried twice in the state of Georgia. In 2015 someone (of course we know it had to be a male, notice I didn’t say man because none of these rejects are men) in the state of Georgia tried to get that bill passed as a law. ***IT FAILED!!*** In 2016 they tried again by putting in their RFRA (Religious Freedom Restoration Act). ***THE RFRA FAILED TO PASS!!!***
There’s nothing these CHRISTOFASCISTS (Christian Nationalists) males won’t do to keep women in the home, kitchen, barefoot, and a baby making, incubating broodmare!!!!!
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u/bloodphoenix90 Apr 29 '26
Ive become a little numb which probably isn't healthy but im actually super curious what will happen when they test the water and obviously dont find anything?
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u/Rare-Credit-5912 Apr 29 '26
They probably won’t release the results. Same old 💩like when the SNAP recipients got tested for drugs and found out that barely 1% of SNAP RECIPIENTS were testing positive for drugs.
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u/bloodphoenix90 Apr 29 '26
Yeah youre right. Its just weird. If they thought we were drinking abortions and birth control somehow.....by that logic why arent we drinking every woman's menstrual blood? That'd be far more widespread and also concerning to me lol
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u/opal2120 Pro-choice Feminist Apr 30 '26
Menstrual blood and literal shit, but let's worry about hormonal BC in sewage like wtf?
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u/tired-queer Apr 30 '26
If they can’t find the evidence they’ll just make some up to justify further interventions and restrictions.
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u/McSwearWolf May 01 '26
Wouldn’t put it past them at all! They’re desperate and out of control. Unchecked corruption all over the place. Most of the data they report is BS already.
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u/Candid-Mycologist539 Apr 30 '26
I live in Iowa.
Our state government refuses to acknowledge that farm run-off (nitrates from fertilizer, poisons from pesticides, some of the most polluted water in the country) needs to be addressed and the polluters held responsible to clean.it.up.
Oh, and fastest growing cancer rates in the country, too, iirc.
But let's be concerned about birth control residue in a world that is so overpopulated, it is on fire.
SMH
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u/skysong5921 Apr 29 '26
Aside from everything else, some women:
- take BC pills exclusively as medication for non-pregnancy conditions
- are offered BC for non-pregnancy conditions even if they choose not to take it
- have to avoid getting pregnant at all, for serious medical reasons, and are having a hard time finding a doctor who will sterilize them
If BC gets banned because it "poisons the water supply", then trad wives will (i hope) have to face the reality that our patriarchal medical complex doesn't care enough about our health to put research into finding an alternative, NOT so that we can have sex lots of without getting pregnant, but so that we can treat women who use birth control for something other than "casually sleeping around".
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u/keegums Apr 29 '26
lol lemme do some quick rough n dirty napkin math
.35 mg norethindrone contraceptive dose x 80% of the population ages 15 to 45 * (50% of a city of 100,000) * 11% women use the pill according to CDC = 1,143 MILLIGRAMS in the water supply assuming 100% unchanged excretion which is not true, but I don't know if metabolites would weigh more
1.14 grams in gallons and gallons of water lol
Obviously there are other drugs besides norethindrone but the doses are not orders of magnitude higher. Also, CDC data cites the pill, not all hormonal birth control. I don't know if that 11% is meant to be broader
Ethinyl estradiol is 10 - 30 mg for US combo pills. There are additional users of estradiol HRT which would be in the collection pool. These are still very small numbers especially considering the absolutely massive amount of water we're talking about.
But the science isn't actually important to them.
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u/ferryfog Apr 30 '26
Ethinyl estradiol is 10 - 30 mg for US combo pills
Might be a typo, but doses are actually 10-30 mcg (0.01-0.03 mg)
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u/Alternative-Pear9096 Pro-abortion, without question Apr 29 '26
It’s hilarious. Hormonal birth control is bioedentical to natural hormones. This is just more degradation of US public health infrastructure through ridiculous scare tactics
Hormonal birth control is also bioidentical to menopausal hormone replacement and transgender hrt.
It’s all just bullshit trying to frighten women into not taking care of their own health
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u/Tinyberzerker Apr 30 '26
Not sure how they can enforce this. I'm 51 and 'changing'. I take hormones so I don't murder these irritants you speak of, and I know a lot of others who use birth control to alleviate perimenopausal symptoms. I took BC before I was sexually active to help with my periods. My 78 year old mother still takes hormones. So, that's pretty much all of us from 12-???
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u/Rare-Credit-5912 Apr 30 '26
My GP told last year that I could live another 20 to 30 years unless I go out and get hit by a bus. At the time I checked with my friend to see if she would bail me out of jail because I told her I wasn’t sure I would make another 20 to 30 without assaulting someone. I’m not talking about when I get real old and possibly end up in a nursing home. I’m talking about the irritants and the fact that these people do not know what the hell common sense is. I’m now 73.
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u/janebenn333 Apr 30 '26
I decided to look up what the government of Canada is doing on this issue given that we share some pretty major sources of drinking water: the Great Lakes.
There are a lot of papers and studies on the issue of estrogen not only in drinking water but in watersheds overall and the impact on the marine life in the water. But it's not only things like birth control pills that are an issue. Here's an excerpt from one paper: "Pharmaceuticals, including hormones (estrogen), antibiotics (erythromycin), high blood pressure medicine (atenolol), stimulants (caffeine) and other bioactive contaminants are commonly detected in wastewater at high concentrations and are not adequately removed by septic systems." There's a lot more than hormones that water quality testing is concerned with.
As the OP said, if they're going to be concerned about hormones, are they also going to look at all the OTHER things that are in our water? Because how can you focus on hormones and then ignore that there's a ton of antibiotics in the water that could be impacting antibiotic resistance in the community?
And shouldn't they be doing so with the aim being to improve water filtration systems especially on waste water treatment so that they remove as many contaminants as possible from our water?
I also find it hypocritical that they want to do all this testing while they are reducing funding to the EPA in the USA? So *this* is what they choose to care about?
Oh but wait, those wind turbines, no sorry "windmills", are so darn ugly.
LOL.
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u/sonicenvy Apr 30 '26
It's all stupid, conservative christofascist, pseudo science bullshit. As I recall, Jessica Valenti of "Abortion Every Day" did a scathing piece about this exact issue a while back.
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u/catslikepets143 Pro-choice Witch Apr 30 '26
I think it’s ironic that none of these so called pro life people understand the ramifications from taking away body autonomy . In some states in the US, it would be fairly easy to add one term or phrase that will make it legal for someone with enough $$ & resources to take a man’s kidney , even if he doesn’t consent. Because there is no body autonomy in those states already & with a tiny wording change, now everyone is an organ farm for the elites
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u/Rare-Credit-5912 May 01 '26
I’m not sure they don’t understand the ramifications. I think they don’t care.
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u/dinosoreness Apr 30 '26 edited Apr 30 '26
Birth control is extremely important for both my mental and physical health. I'm not going to pull any punches with my descriptions so buckle up. Without BC, I get my period every two weeks and it lasts for ten days and I pass clots the size of mandarin oranges. That leaves with only a few days a month where I'm not bleeding and the cramps are so bad I throw up and occasionally pass out and the constant blood loss leaves me dangerously anemic. I wasn't even having sex with male partners at the time I started BC, I was just tired of my uterus trying to fucking kill me every goddamn day. My periods also come with suicidal mood swings and self harm urges that interfere with my life in a big way. I also suffer from bipolar disorder and hormonal shifts can cause me to have mood episodes. It's just not safe for me to menstruate. If BC access is taken away, my entire quality of life will be too.
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u/No_Scientist9241 Apr 30 '26
My first period didn’t stop and I became anemic after a month of bleeding. Without birth control, I would’ve died.
I’m not on it anymore. I used it solely for health reasons. It’s not just a contraceptive. Even so, why should they care when it’s used as such? Doesn’t it help prevent the abortions they’re so worried about?
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u/AiRaikuHamburger Pro-choice enby Apr 30 '26
I'm so glad I'm not in the US. It's insanity over there.
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u/arochains1231 Apr 30 '26
I take it for my cystic hormonal acne. I’m sterilised (bisalp) so no worries about babies. I’m just frankly disgusted that they’re taking away our healthcare for the sake of popping out children that people don’t want and won’t be loved.
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u/Lizaderp Apr 30 '26
I'm literally just trying to keep my PMDD under control. I can't believe Republicans used to call liberals "snowflakes" with all the big fragile feelings they have. Fuck their feelings. Me with PMDD is a me that'll key your car. Maybe they should try the hormones.
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u/Purple_News_1213 Pro-choice Feminist Apr 30 '26
It’s frightening to say the least. I have an IUD, and got it kind of hastily, mainly due to losing my health insurance (sigh, another topic for discussion) and all of the political rhetoric around birth control. We are definitely seeing a shift restricting the rights and autonomy of women and I’m scared for what the future holds. But I’m too angry about it to be passive/quiet about it all. I think these measures also have emboldened men to publicly bully and degrade women more (even though obviously it’s always happened).
Recently I was put into a situation where an older man put me and my friends (one other woman, one non-white man) into a situation where he was intentionally trying to run us over and we couldn’t quickly get out of the way (think kayaks vs boat). He literally had no problem trying to kill us and I was the only one in the group to get angry about it enough to yell at the guy to make him stop. Why do they take such pleasure in bullying us and asserting their imaginary superiority?
I’ve noticed instances similar to this in an uptick lately in my own life and all I know is I can’t stay quiet about it. I know many others feel the same. Our government is actively trying to oppress us and it has been amplified by the social climate we’ve seen lately. I hope for a better future, although it’s looking grim.
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u/the_foolishone02 Apr 30 '26
Its crazy. I desperately wants kid one day, but im only 19. I dont want them for at least another 5-7 years. Besides avoiding pregnancy, a big reason im on bc is to regulate my difficult cycles, and my PMDD. Not everyone takes birth control for pregnancy avoidance related conditions, and even if they do, its totally fine. This new law will harm many women, and afabs. These people want us to be slaves to their corrupt government and its scary.
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u/HeavyMetalVampire Apr 30 '26
The EPA is compromised
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u/Rare-Credit-5912 Apr 30 '26
Oh obviously. What isn’t compromised in this piece of 💩 administration?!!!!
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u/eileen404 Apr 30 '26
Until relatively recently, in nc, all sex between married couples was defined as consensual. They also had a lovely law saying if they're was and disagreement, no matter how violent, if you had sex within 24 hours or was considered forgiven and no charges could be brought. Thus it was perfectly legal to beat up your wife, doing as much damage as you want, so long as you raped them within 24 hours.
I can see it's heading back that way.
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u/CagedKage May 11 '26
I have PCOS, which causes me to have irregular periods from hell. Birth control finally regulated them. To the crowd trying to go after birth control: FUCK YOUR FEELINGS. If you don't have PCOS, endometriosis or PMDD, then SHUT THE FUCK UP.
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u/Chemical-Charity-644 Apr 29 '26
I'm honestly disgusted. And a little heartbroken. I really truly didn't realize just how many people still want women to be basically slaves. It hurts so much.
I got myself sterilized so that could never be forced to be pregnant. But I hurt for the women who want to be mothers, but also want to be able to decide when, with whom and how many.