Should Birth Control Be Used for Medical Purposes? (Part Two)

You may be familiar with the fact that the birth control pill (BCP) is not just prescribed to the sexually active seeking to be “safe.” Although that is a major draw toward the Pill, many young women have been offered it as a solution for numerous medical problems. Frequently, in the doctor’s office, this “medication” is presented as the best, if not the only, option. 

According to Statistics Canada, hormonal contraception was the number one prescribed “medication” to teenagers aged 12 to 19 between 2012 and 2017. Below that on the list was antidepressants and ADHD medication.[1] Many teenagers and women are given oral contraception without being educated on the full implications of its effects. Even doctors don’t know the full effect that this is having on society. 

There is one thing we do know: women on birth control report experiencing many physical side effects. The patient medication information package for the birth control brand APRI 21 and APRI 28 lists: headaches, migraines, abdominal (stomach) pain, nausea, upper respiratory tract infections (bronchitis, runny or stuffy nose, sore throat, etc.), back pain, breast tenderness, diarrhea, vomiting, loss of strength and fatigue, feeling of physical discomfort or uneasiness, flu-like symptoms/fever, dizziness, indigestion, urinary tract infections or inflammation, weight gain, insomnia, and nervousness. The monograph also lists a risk for blood clots, cancer, gallbladder issues, vaginal bleeding, and chloasma (yellowing or browning of the skin).[2] This is not even the complete list of symptoms.   

Dr. Sarah E. Hill, who is in support of the birth control pill, wrote a comprehensive book on further effects it has on women.[3] One of her main points is that you are your hormones, and therefore a shift in hormones changes everything inside of you. There are hormone receptors on every major structure of your brain, and since birth control pills are made up of synthetic hormones, it affects something deeper than the physical side effects listed above. 

Often women begin the Pill as a teenager or in their early 20s, and remain on it for a substantial portion of their life. This is during major decision-making moments for these young women—they are choosing what college to attend, determining who to be friends with, exploring hobbies, and developing romantic relationships. What if it were suggested that the Pill can influence all of these decisions by altering psychological function? 

In one particular case, Hill references a research clinic who studied a group of naturally cycling women in the follicular phase of their cycle. The participants were presented photographs of men, with the possibility to change the strength of certain features in increments of 10 percent. These were features that masculinized or feminized the face by changing jaw size, height, cheekbone prominence, face width, etc. These are the features that shift as a result of someone’s level of sex hormones, like estrogen and testosterone. The participants were not aware of this. 

The women formed their most attractive faces, ending part one of the study. Half of the women went on oral contraception, and the other half stayed naturally cycling. Three months later, both groups came back to form their ideal romantic partner’s face again. For the naturally cycling women, there was virtually no difference in their ideal male face shapes. However, for the women who were on oral contraceptives, a significant difference was observed. The same women who were naturally cycling three months prior, after going on birth control, now preferred more feminized facial features (narrower jaw bones, rounder silhouettes, less prominent cheekbones, etc.). 

Physically, the birth control pill changes who you are attracted to. Imagine getting married while on the Pill, only to eventually quit and suddenly not be attracted to your spouse anymore. While this is not every woman’s experience, it could be yours.

Although this is alarming, there is an even more shocking way the brain is changed—something few non-academics know about. In “The Curious Case of the Missing Cortisol,” Hill explains her findings: women on birth control, although they may feel stressed, have little to no cortisol response. Simply put, cortisol is the hormone released when you experience stress. It is responsible for many things, such as running the body’s stress program (by dumping fat and sugar into the blood so you can escape quickly), and it helps your brain absorb experiences and create memories.

You may think, no stress! Fantastic! Hill’s response is: “Even though stress seems bad, the lack of a stress response is decidedly worse…Stress isn’t necessarily synonymous with sh** hitting the fan. Sex, physical attraction, getting exciting news, and Christmas morning are also powerful elicitors of stress.”4(pg 148) Hill brings up multiple different ways of how this is affecting women, one being that your brain is not flagging events in life as meaningful, exciting, or opportunistic. Since women on the Pill are experiencing this plateau in excitement, it may convince them that their world is unstimulating and “lacks the promise of exciting new possibilities and challenges.”5(pg 164)

Seemingly, this effect is preventing women from living their life to the fullest. We have one life, one that should be exciting and adventurous. As humans, we have a natural desire to be free and fully alive. The birth control pill promises to fulfill this desire; however, it leaves women burdened with a series of negative side effects, such as weight gain and anxiety. How much divorce, abortion, and emotional numbness have women suffered because they are blindly taking this “medication,” unaware of the drastic control it will have over their life? 

Women don’t deserve this bad healthcare.

[1] Statistics Canada. Table 4 most common prescription medications used in the past month, by age group and medication class, household population aged 3 to 19 years, Canada excluding the territories, 2012 to 2017. Statistics Canada. Updated March 17, 2021. Accessed February 25, 2025. https://www150.statcan.gc.ca/n1/pub/82-003-x/2021003/article/00001/tbl/tbl04-eng.htm

[2] Product monograph APRI 21 and APRI 28. Teva Canada Limited. Revised June 12, 2023. Accessed February 25, 2025. https://pdf.hres.ca/dpd_pm/00071215.PDF

[3] Hill SE. This Is Your Brain on Birth Control: The Surprising Science of Women, Hormones, and the Law of Unintended Consequences. Orion; 2019.