Bats**tier Abortion Bill in U.S. HouseRepublican Rep Wants Us to Believe Chemical Abortion is the Problem in Our Water
I checked a lot of things off of my “to-do” list last week. I paid taxes, got my annual physical, and folded a veritable mountain of laundry. One thing I didn’t do, however, was fill my patch prescription. It’s not as easy as calling CVS because there is a shortage, and I’m apparently on the most popular dose. I started taking menopause hormone therapy (MHT) over the summer (though until I read this piece by Dr. Jen Gunter about twenty minutes ago, I was still referring to it as HRT or hormone replacement therapy). I was not having the horrible peri-menopause symptoms that some of my friends were suffering through, but I was having hot flashes most mornings. They weren’t the kind that had me sticking my head in the freezer or stripping off layers of clothes. Sometimes I wouldn’t even notice I was hot, I’d just suddenly realize I was coated in a thin layer of sweat. Not debilitating. Just annoying. I saw a new gynecologist in June who offered me MHT (though she also still called it HRT). Initially I said no because the hot flashes weren’t that bad. But then a friend swore that MHT was amazing at clearing up her brain fog. I was feeling like my processing speed had gotten slower, though I’d attributed it not to menopause but to the background thrum of fascism that had been layered under our day-to-day chores and worries. What really got me to give it a go, however, was the promise of better sleep that comes from adding progesterone back into my life. I’ve always been a crappy sleeper, but it’s been getting even worse as I age. I had some unpleasant side effects in the first few months (let’s just say, I didn’t expect to be popping Midol in my 50s), but eventually I got to a good place of no more hot flashes and less brain fog. Almost as soon as I settled on that correct dose, however, my patches became hard to find. It didn’t exactly surprise me because MHT is having a moment, but it’s almost as annoying as the hot flashes themselves. In November, the FDA officially removed the black box warning that had been on MHT since 2003. The warning came largely as a result of the Women’s Health Initiative (WHI), a large-scale, randomized, placebo control study that looked at two versions of hormone therapy. The study was not looking to see if the benefits of relief outweighed the risks for people who had symptoms. It was attempting to answer a very specific question: should most post-menopausal women be on hormone therapy to prevent heart disease and other conditions. The answer was no because the potential risks—slight increases in the risk of breast cancer, coronary heart disease, stroke, and pulmonary embolism—outweighed the benefits. Researchers determined this before the study period was over and halted the study, which made news. Lots of news. Not surprisingly, much of it was misleading or at least lacking any nuance. The takeaway became HRT (as we were still calling it) was dangerous, causes breast cancer, and all women should stop taking it. I highly recommend reading Dr. Jen Gunter’s multiple analyses of all things MHT to understand what the study did and didn’t say, the many ways in which it was misinterpreted, and how that led to a generation of women white knuckling (or wet tee-shirting) menopause symptoms without being offered any relief. My generation is different. We hit perimenopause at a time when people were re-examining the benefits of hormone therapy. There were new research studies and new understandings of the WHI results. Plus, there were new formulations of MHT available. Suddenly everyone and their sister was sticking a patch on their hip. And just as suddenly that patch became hard to find. Dr. Gunter has a good explanation of this as well. It’s supply and demand meets supply chain issues meets profit motive meets a drug manufacturing system that is not at all nimble. The manufacturing plan is set in motion years in advance and cannot change quickly if ingredients become difficult to source or a plant is closed because of power issues or everyone and their sister suddenly wants the same medication. And the supply that is available to you may depend on your Pharmacy Benefits Manager. These are the companies that work with health insurers and large employers to manage prescription drug benefits. These agencies often enter long-term contracts with drug manufacturers and have to decide far in advance how much of each drug they’re going to purchase. If they decide wrong, they may come up short. This explains why the pharmacist at CVS laughed when I asked when he might have my patches and suggested I check with the local Walgreens. (I couldn’t help but be reminded of the Macy’s Santa in Miracle on 34th Street, who may or may not be the Santa. He wins love and press coverage when he sends out-of-luck Macy’s customers to Gimbels for much-wanted toys.) It also explains why the independent pharmacy I called was surprised to hear that there was a shortage. Apparently, they’ve had no issues sourcing patches from their wholesalers. That doesn’t entirely solve my problem though because my prescription plan only covers drugs that I buy at CVS or its own mail-order pharmacy. The month that I bought from Walgreens cost me $40 out-of-pocket and the month I bought from the independent pharmacy cost $80. (I thought I was getting a full 90-day prescription out of that one, but that turned out to be an expensive misunderstanding.) I’m lucky that I live in an area that is densely populated with pharmacies and have the resources to pay out of pocket if I need to. Still, this wasn’t the right to-do list task to procrastinate on. I now need a patch by the day after tomorrow and will have to spend much of the day pressing 0 to talk to a member of the pharmacy staff. A Batsh**tier Abortion Bill Introduced in the U.S. HouseLast week we talked about the proposed bill in Ohio that would require doctors to file a “certificate of life” and a “certificate of death” for embryos. (We have certificates of life already by the way. They’re called birth certificates, and you better find yours because soon we’ll need them to vote, but that’s another story.) I called the bill—which effectively started a pregnancy registry in Ohio—the bats**ttiest anti-abortion bill I’d seen to which U.S. Representative Mary Miller (R-Illinois) said, “hold my glass of boxed wine.” Miller’s bill is yet another attack on medication abortions. This time, however, it’s being done through the lens of the environmental concerns. That’s right, the bill is called The Clean Water for All Life Bill and is meant to “protect both human dignity and America’s water systems.” According to Miller, “Every year, more than 50 tons of chemically contaminated medical waste, including blood, placental tissue, and the remains of preborn children are flushed into America’s water systems as a direct result of chemical abortion pills.”
So, the real problem with our water supply isn’t chemicals or lead or corporate pollution; it’s mifepristone, menstrual blood, and embryonic cells? Try telling that to the people of Flint, Michigan. This is actually not the first time that House Republicans tried to pass off this crock of s**t as legitimate concern for our health and well-being. Last summer, 25 members of Congress wrote a letter to the EPA commissioner asking him to test the water supply for evidence of abortion medication. They claimed that mifepristone in the water could make American women infertile. That would be ironic. Almost as ironic as, say, the political party that is rolling back clean water legislation, gutting the EPA, and letting industry weigh in on what constitutes a toxic substance trying to convince us that this is all about keeping us safe. Trace amounts of medications—including every-day-over-the-counter stuff like ibuprofen—are sometimes found in our wastewater, but there is no evidence that mifepristone is contaminating our drinking supply. There isn’t recent research, but the FDA did an environmental assessment of mifepristone in 1996 and found it had no significant impact. But that doesn’t matter, because this law isn’t about the water. It’s just a backdoor way to get mifepristone banned since the court cases have not yet succeeded and the FDA is going very slowly on a promised safety review. In fact, the Trump Administration has tried to back out of some mifepristone lawsuits and seems to be holding off on the review until after the midterms so as not to hand the Dems even more votes. (Turns out voters want access to all forms of abortion.) Under the guise of protecting our water supply, Miller’s bill would prevent medication abortions that take place:
In other words, telemedicine abortions and abortion pills by mail would be forbidden with the added bonus of making women lucky enough to have access to the physical presence of a health care provider collect everything that comes out of their vagina for a few days. Once again, that’s just mean. I also hate the language that supporters of this law are trying to sneak past us. Miller’s press release talked about “innocent life… discarded as waste,” and the “unethical disposal of pre-born baby remains.” Kristan Hawkins, the president of Students for Life America—the group that did the 50 tons study Miller cites—actually said, “Chemical abortions are the leading cause of infant death in our country.” Nope. Medication abortions are only approved up to 10 weeks of pregnancy, you’re not going to make me believe we’re talking about infants or babies, any more than you’re going to get me to believe that Mary and her GOP colleagues are suddenly environmentalists. But if you really are turning over a new leaf (pun not originally intended), firearms are the leading cause of death among young people ages 1 to 19. How about some regulations there? Beam Me Up FEMAThere’s no way I can make this one even tangentially related to sex, but I couldn’t resist sharing this story about a high-level FEMA official who believes he’s been teleported more than once. Gregg Phillips, who has been the head of FEMA’s Office of Response and Recovery since December, did a podcast earlier this year in which he mentioned that he has been teleported at least twice. Both times he was in car. The first time he claims he was lifted up and dropped 40 miles away in a ditch near a little church. Lest you think this might have been a spiritual intervention, the second time he and his children were taken to a Waffle House 50 miles away. I have admittedly driven on auto pilot to and not been able to recall each turn that I made along the way. But this typical “how did I get here?” feeling isn’t what Phillips is talking about. He told the host that he had no control over where he was going and added, “It is an incredibly frightening moment to experience yourself in your car, flying through the air.” You know what else is terrifying, Gregg? Realizing that the person is charge of storm recovery in an increasingly volatile climate not only believes he was teleported to a Waffle House but also doesn’t have enough common sense, judgement, or media training to realize he shouldn’t say that out loud. Sex on Wednesday is free today. But if you enjoyed this post, you can tell Sex on Wednesday that their writing is valuable by pledging a future subscription. You won't be charged unless they enable payments.
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Bats**tier Abortion Bill in U.S. House
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