Letter to the editor:

When leaving Huntington Bank yesterday morning, I picked up the 4/10 issue of the Stater and read Conner Howard’s “Know your options — Pregnancy Prevention.” 

My first reaction as a woman was: Since when does sexuality exclude men? Are we putting sexual responsibility solely on the shoulders of women? It seems so. There was not one single mention of anything regarding male sexual integrity. This might be idyllic for some men on campus if it were true, but alas it still takes two. Men are inherently part of the reproduction equation.

My second reaction was: Why wouldn’t a student paper address the harmful effects of contraception in a front-page reproductive health issue? We might speculate why the established media avoids the negative side effects, but would a student-run paper be duped by pharmaceutical mysticism?

The International Agency for Research on Cancer of the World Health Organization reported “artificial contraceptives are carcinogenic on par with cigarettes and asbetos.”

Contraceptives are unnatural and thereby incur side effects. The National Cancer Institute links the pill to breast, liver and cervical cancer as well as blood clots. [10/20/11 NCI Fact Sheet]. The patch and vaginal ring account for high indications of cardiovascular disease, cancer and cataracts. [Obstetrics and Gynecology International 8/9/10].

Contraceptives do not prevent sexually transmitted diseases either, as the writer indicates. But they can cause life-threatening illness and chronic disease.

It seems printing this letter might be in the interest of reproductive health for the student population.

An MLS degree from KSU keeps me cautious, but optimistic that truth will prevail. 

— Karen Barrett