http://stream.publicbroadcasting.net/production/mp3/wamc/local-wamc-665737.mp3
Albany, NY – Scholars have tagged the birth control pill as the source of financial and emotional freedom for women. Its social effects are fairly undeniable. Its health effects are something else. Pharmaceutical companies continue to develop different contraception methods with varying side effects - the traditional birth control can cause blood clots. An intrauterine device, a plastic T-shaped contraceptive, can cause perforation of the uterine wall or infection. These side effects have been identified over years of use and study.
But newer contraceptives on the market take more dramatic control of women's cycles. New birth control pills control menstruation cycles, some allowing women to go years without having a period. Some hail these developments as yet another step in evening the playing field for women; others worry about potential physical effects. 51%'s Jill Rontey has this report.
In the first two months of pregnancy, women who want an abortion can opt to use RU486, otherwise known as the Abortion Pill. It's used for women who want a non-surgical abortion. The drug is strong, and can produce dangerous side effects. When Kimi Faxon Hemingway elected to use RU486 to terminate a pregnancy, she says doctors did not prepare her for the potential fallout of the drug. Hemingway finally received full medical attention after hemorrhaging in an airport restroom. She wrote her story in an anthology called Choice, a book exploring the complexities behind different family planning options.
Susan Wicklund entered medical school as a single mother well into her twenties. It's not easy to care for a young daughter and pass medical boards; but Wicklund's career became even more difficult when she began working for clinics that provide abortions. Wicklund has also branched into public activism, and recently wrote the book This Common Secret. She's now touring the country, talking about her career and life as an abortion doctor. According to the Guttmacher Institute, about a quarter of pregnancies in the Unites States end in abortion. But it's still a fairly taboo subject of conversation - a taboo that Wicklund wants to eradicate. I sat down with her to try and understand the immense pressure she endures as a woman who conducts such a controversial medical procedure.