In the 1960s, shortly after the release of oral contraceptives, US senator Nelson stated: “Never in history have so many individuals taken such potent drugs with so little information as to the actual and potential hazards. We are embarking on a massive endocrinological experiment on millions of healthy women.”

The pill was introduced after three years of minimal field trials in Puerto Rico and when it was marketed there was no knowledge of what the medium- or long-term side effects were.

Only in the last 20 years are we beginning to get a fuller picture of what this drug is doing to individuals, and to society and it is extremely concerning.

There are several known frequent side effects of the pill: nausea, headache, depression and weight change and the slight but serious increased risk of breast and liver cancer and uncommon occurrence of stroke and vascular events.

Recently, several more insidious psychological side effects have been discovered. These include: enhanced fear learning (how the body reacts to danger); higher levels of jealousy; preference for a less masculine facial appearance in partner; risk of dissatisfaction with your partner if you stop the pill.

However, the most pernicious and dangerous side effect of the pill is only just surfacing. It is likely distorting the moral judgement ability of whole societies.

How is this possible? William Newton, professor at Steubenville University, has concluded that: “The regular use of the pill has given couples control over when to have a child. Contraception gives us the impression that we are the gatekeepers of human life. It leads to the perception that since we alone create a child, we alone can decide when we shall and shall not exercise this power. It engenders an exaggerated and ultimately despotic desire for power over the origins of human life.”

Neuroscientist Nayef Al-Rodhan has reviewed evidence that power activates reward-processing in the brain and creates an addictive “high” in much the same way as drug addiction.

Reward is the motivational property of a stimulus that induces pleasure and oral contraceptives can enhance brain reward responses. Al-Rodhan says that humans are emotionally driven and our moral compass is heavily influenced by circumstances, survival value, and our perceived “emotional self-interest”.

The most pernicious and dangerous side effect of the pill is only just surfacing. It is likely distorting the moral judgement ability of whole societies

In addition to its effects on reward processing, the pill has been shown to alter emotional behaviour.

What is clear is that free acceptance of contraceptives in a society leads to acceptance of abortion by that society. In many countries where contraception was started, and its use became widespread (60 per cent of women in the US), abortion followed: after eight years (US, France), seven years (UK) and 35 years (Ireland).

Recently we have witnessed virulent anti-life stances in the US. Last month New York governor Andrew Cuomo shocked everyone by pushing through a law of abortion up to birth. This has been followed by Governor Ralph Northam in Virginia proposing a Bill that allows abortion in labour and even infanticide at birth.

How is it possible that supposedly civilised societies can allow these “horrific, vicious and outrageous attacks” on vulnerable nascent life?

The US started using the morning-after pill 20 years ago followed by the do-it-yourself abortion drug mifepristone in 2000. The doctor’s prescription requirement was removed from the morning-after pill three years ago.

The parallel between the progressively increasing availability of these anti-life drugs and the increasingly aggressive attitude towards pre-born life is difficult to ignore.

Malta is not immune to this. In 1971, two per cent were using hormonal contraception, which increased gradually to about 16 per cent in 1993 and 22 per cent in 2010 (Savona-Ventura). Contraceptive use is probably now much higher. In Malta, the morning-after pill was introduced in 2016 and it is very likely to encourage the moral acceptance of abortion.

The decision to start taking the pill is a personal one. However, the sinister effects of these drugs are now becoming increasingly apparent. Society should wake up to their profoundly negative aspects.

So much so that Newton has recently called them “the root of the culture of death”.

Patrick Pullicino is a final year seminarian.

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