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Nuns and contraception
Praying for the Pill
Dec 9th 2011, 14:48 by C.H. | NEW YORK
THE Catholic church condemns all forms of contraception, apolicy that Paul VI laid out in detail in Humanae Vitae in 1968. Over thesubsequent decades it has had various brawls with secular authorities over theuse of birth control pills. Most recently, America’s bishopshave fought to keep Barack Obama’s health law from providing contraception free. The church hasalready won an exemption for women who work for a church, but it also wants tokeep coverage from women who work for any Catholic institution, even if thewomen in question are not Catholics and the institution has a secular purpose,such as a school, say, or hospital. Given all this, it would seem unlikely thatthe church would want to give the Pill to its nuns.
Yet that is precisely what a recent paper in the Lancet suggests. Its authors,Kara Britt and Roger Short, of Monash University and the University ofMelbourne, urge the Church to provide oral contraception to the sisters. Nunsneed the Pill not to prevent pregnancy, but to prevent cancer.
In 1713, the authors write, an Italian doctor observed thatnuns had a very high rate of that “accursed pest”, breastcancer. Modern studies have confirmed that Catholic have a higher risk thanmost women of dying from breast, ovarian and uterine cancers. Women who bearchildren have fewer menstrual cycles, thanks to both pregnancy and lactation(which suppresses menstruation). Other studies have established a relationshipbetween menstrual cycles and the prevalence of cancer, with fewer cyclesmeaning a smaller risk. Nuns - who are required to be celibate - experiencemore cycles than the typical woman, and therefore run a higher risk ofdeveloping cancer.
The Pill can help to counteract this. The overall mortalityin women who use, or have used, oral contraception, is 12% lower than amongthose who do not. The effect on ovarian and endometrial cancer is greater: therisk of such cancers plummets by about 50%. Drs Britt and Short make acompelling medical case. But it is unlikely to sway the Church.