Have you ever seen commercials for birth control devices? A series of commercials that particularly annoys me is the one that run for a contraceptive patch that a woman wears on her skin to prevent conception. The commercials that I’ve seen usually feature some hip young female doctor sagely counseling a young woman about the wonders of the patch. Of particular annoyance is the montage of shots of happy women who are delighted with life, presumably because they are customers of the patch. One shot in the montage is of two young girls who can’t be older than twelve.
All is not well in Contraceptive Wonderland, though. The maker of the Ortho Evra patch, Johnson & Johnson, is being sued by a woman who suffered a pulmonary embolism that she asserts was caused by using the patch for seven months.
"Johnson and Johnson’s Ortho-McNeil Pharmaceutical Inc. unit is being sued on behalf of a woman who had been using the company’s Ortho Evra contraceptive patch.
"The suit, filed by Parker & Waichman LLP, alleges the woman suffered a pulmonary embolism after using the patch for seven months.
"The law firm said Monday, after the financial markets had closed, that recent reports have indicated that the risk of developing blood clots, pulmonary embolism, heart attack and stroke may be significantly higher with the Ortho Evra patch than with oral-contraceptive use.
"The firm alleges that Ortho-McNeill was aware of the increased medical risk and failed to adequately warn patients.
"Ortho Evra was approved by the Food and Drug Administration in April 2002."
Isn’t it interesting how the physical consequences of morally-problematic actions seem to "mirror" the morally-problematic action?
Of particular annoyance is the montage of shots of happy women who are delighted with life, presumably because they are customers of the patch.
This line made me think of all those better-living-and-world-peace-through-Coca-Cola ads we’ve seen over the years. 🙂
“Isn’t it interesting how the physical consequences of morally-problematic actions seem to “mirror” the morally-problematic action? ”
I’ve always thought it comical that one of the side effects of birth control is decreased libido. (the pill at least; I’ve not heard whether the patch has the same effect.)
How do you do italics? It’s so much better visually.
+J.M.J+
During my second pregnancy, while I was in my OB’s waiting room I saw a bunch of fliers advertising the contraceptive patch on the table. While the receptionist was away from the desk, I picked up the whole lot and threw them away. Not sure whether that was completely moral (they were free for the taking, though), but considering that product’s health risks maybe I saved a life or two?
In Jesu et Maria,
How do you do italics? It’s so much better visually.
This blog uses html code tags. Turn on italics with left arrow (<), the letter i, then right arrow (>). There should be no spaces or other characters. Turn off the italics with left arrow, slash (/), the letter i, then right arrow. You can do bold the same way by replacing “i” with “b.”
Your code should look like this:
(i)This text is italicized(/i)
Except with arrows instead of parentheses.
You know, some people would say that laughing or getting satisfaction over someone’s problems is kinda unchristian.
When we had our baby, our OB gave us this super flier that had all possible birth control methods out there. 3/4 of them were IUD’s. Great. Even the pill is abortive much of the time, it just isn’t specifically supposed to be.
Nearly all of them had ‘side effects’ that were not something a sane rational person would choose to experience for the fun of it. Obviously, free sex w/out children is worth the suffering.
hippo354:
< i > italics are now turned on < /i > and now they’re turned off.
(the < i > and < /i > won’t really appear in your posts, I did something to make them appear in mine..you can also use the letter ‘b’ to make bold text.)
Is this the commercial that has women dancing on the beach to that song that goes “There sheeeeee gooeeeees!”?
When I see that ad I always make up the next line” “Straaaaiiigght to Hellllll!” 🙁
Scott
I don’t follow you Protestant Visitor. Was someone deriving satisfaction or laughing at someone else’s problem? I don’t see it.
Welcome, by the way!
You know, some people would say that laughing or getting satisfaction over someone’s problems is kinda unchristian.
I have to concur with Tim J. Who’s laughing at other people’s misfortunes?
Okay, laughing might have been the wrong word. I apologize for that. But there does seem to be a little bit of smugness in Jimmy’s comment: “Isn’t it interesting how the physical consequences of morally-problematic actions seem to “mirror” the morally-problematic action?”
I don’t see a whole lot of concern for this woman’s situation in that statement. And Scott’s “Straaaaiiigght to Hellllll!” is a little bit flippant, even if there is an unhappy emoticon after his statement.
Whether or not you agree with birth control, this woman has some problems, and is deserving of compassion.
Protestant Visitor-
I’m sure that most everyone here (including Michelle Arnold, who wrote the post) sees this woman as a victim who has been manipulated by larger forces, which is exactly the truth.
Most people who use artificial birth control doubtless do so in ignorance. That was certainly the case with my wife and I before God led us to the Catholic church.
I now feel to some extent that we were sold a bill of goods. My heart goes out to this woman.
JimmyAkin.org is a group blog, APV, and this particular post is mine. My comment was intended to be a general observation, not satisfaction over anyone’s misfortune. I apologize for the lack of clarity.
I see. Sorry for the misconception.
My post was simply asking about the commercial and if it was the same one I saw. No connection was intended to the women in the news item, although I can see how that might happen.
And I am still asking, is it the same commercial with that song? (Not sure of the artist, Robbie Williams maybe?)
Scott: I know the commercial you are talking about. The song as performed on the commercial is by the group Sixpence None the Richer, but I’m pretty sure it’s a remake of an earlier version. I don’t know who the original artist was. SPNTR began as a quasi-Christian group but is more often found in secular music these days, a fact which I find ironic when their music is on a contraception commerical.
Just thought I’d add. Every single form of contraception that a woman can use causes depression, pill, patch, shot, etc. This might not seem really important, but as a student studying mental disorders, it is sad to see the extent of what depression can do to people for the rest of thier lives and to know they can prevent it in at least one area and the fact that they don’t is very heartbreaking. Not to mention the stopping of life and sometimes the taking of it by contraception.
When watching the “There she goes” commercial with my daughter, I said, “Have you noticed that there’s never any men in these commercials?” and she said, “That’s because it’s only women who get pregnant!” to which I replied, “But not by themselves.”