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RandySF

(57,588 posts)
Sun Oct 22, 2017, 11:33 PM Oct 2017

TRUMP WANTS TO REPLACE BIRTH CONTROL WITH THE DUBIOUS 'CALENDAR METHOD'

The Trump administration wants to replace reliable birth control methods with "fertility awareness," a dubious family-planning technique that fails nearly a quarter of women every year.

In a leaked memo obtained by Crooked, White House officials wrote that they intend to slash federal funding to the U.S. Agency for International Development's family-planning budget and require "equal funding" for fertility awareness. The memo further specifies that fertility planning should be the sole birth control method made available to young girls.

Newsweek has reached out to the White House for comment on the memo and hasn't heard back. Newsweek couldn't independently verify the veracity of the memo.

Fertility planning, also known as the "calendar method" or "rhythm method," requires women to diligently track their menstrual cycles, pinpoint the days when they're ovulating and avoid sex during that time in order to be effective. Because about 30 percent of women experience irregular periods, fertility planning has one of the highest rates of failure of any family-planning method. The calendar method also asks a lot of young girls, who often learn little about sex and reproduction thanks to abstinence-only education across the country.


http://www.newsweek.com/trump-replace-birth-control-fertility-awareness-leaked-document-689840?utm_campaign=NewsweekTwitter&utm_source=Twitter&utm_medium=Social

57 replies = new reply since forum marked as read
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TRUMP WANTS TO REPLACE BIRTH CONTROL WITH THE DUBIOUS 'CALENDAR METHOD' (Original Post) RandySF Oct 2017 OP
maybe this will finally wake women up.. mountain grammy Oct 2017 #1
Usually.... SergeStorms Oct 2017 #17
You know what they call people who use this method? Liberal In Texas Oct 2017 #2
Ha! snowybirdie Oct 2017 #39
The calendar method isn't "dubious". Mariana Oct 2017 #3
It is dubious because there are a lot of women with irregular cycles Zing Zing Zingbah Oct 2017 #24
And a bunch of men are making this decision SummerSnow Oct 2017 #27
My Mom had my older sister, me and my younger brother using rhythm system Marthe48 Oct 2017 #41
Seriously? Yes. moriah Oct 2017 #33
we're regressing to 1961 spanone Oct 2017 #4
more like 1861. ATL Ebony Oct 2017 #6
"The Handmaids tale".... SergeStorms Oct 2017 #18
I remember my Dad joking how they had "4 little rhythms williesgirl Oct 2017 #5
I thought this was going to be satire..... LeftInTX Oct 2017 #7
Oh Hell No! Glimmer of Hope Oct 2017 #8
As the National Lampoon once opined... TwistOneUp Oct 2017 #9
I hope the majority of people House of Roberts Oct 2017 #10
I shake my head Angry Dragon Oct 2017 #11
Trump seems like the guy who goes Bareback Motownman78 Oct 2017 #12
With that statement you realize they are not Doreen Oct 2017 #13
I know, pathetic excuses for men Motownman78 Oct 2017 #15
Even if a man kept his "promise," he could still get the woman pregnant. SunSeeker Oct 2017 #20
This sort of thing qwlauren35 Oct 2017 #14
There are all kinds of chains & attacks on our right to control our reproductive health is one kind. Solly Mack Oct 2017 #16
Please note that 'Newsweek couldn't independently verify the veracity of the memo' Stonepounder Oct 2017 #19
Especially after Newsweek publishing details about every Marilou... moriah Oct 2017 #48
I used it to GET Pregnant HockeyMom Oct 2017 #21
I was conceived with that method. nt zanana1 Oct 2017 #22
Someone should ask Trump point blank how many abortions he's paid for Orrex Oct 2017 #23
Why don't we just go back in time to the 50"s. onecent Oct 2017 #25
Catholics are promoting this... mreilly Oct 2017 #26
I bet Melania and Ivanka are not using the rhythm method SummerSnow Oct 2017 #28
I remember Trump talking about Melania on Howard Stern's show TexasBushwhacker Oct 2017 #49
Where the fuck does a politician get off telling anyone what birth control method to use??? LongTomH Oct 2017 #29
What happened to the too much government when Obama was Prez. SummerSnow Oct 2017 #50
I'm sure he always asks a woman to check her calendar spiderpig Oct 2017 #30
Aren't people that use the rhythm method called parents? n/t tammywammy Oct 2017 #31
That's how my youngest was conceived. Blaukraut Oct 2017 #32
My mother said she used the rhythem method Phentex Oct 2017 #36
My mother gave me one piece of advice LiberalBrooke Oct 2017 #34
Ha! See above... Phentex Oct 2017 #37
Says The Molester, Who Has. . . ProfessorGAC Oct 2017 #35
You know what they call people who use the rhythm method? MiniMe Oct 2017 #38
As a guy and thinking solely with my penis Victor_c3 Oct 2017 #40
I used the calendar method to get pregnant LeftInTX Oct 2017 #42
Teaching this to young women is worse than teaching them nothing. dawg Oct 2017 #43
Let him choose any method he wants rock Oct 2017 #44
Why is this "method" considered OK? BruceWane Oct 2017 #45
Satire is dead Proud Liberal Dem Oct 2017 #46
Anyone who says that the 2 parties are the same is lying & has an agenda. Madam45for2923 Oct 2017 #47
There was one family who filled an entire two rows of the Catholic Church I went to. redstatebluegirl Oct 2017 #51
And well meaning liberals yelled at me and called my hyperbolic when I said they were gonna Eliot Rosewater Oct 2017 #52
I come from a large Catholic family, thanks to the calendar method. :( Irish_Dem Oct 2017 #53
This is what the Catholic Church advocates TO THIS DAY NastyRiffraff Oct 2017 #54
Alternate title: Trump wants to replace science with workinclasszero Oct 2017 #55
My very Catholic SIL used the rhythm method. Freethinker65 Oct 2017 #56
Yeah I tried that once Madam Mossfern Oct 2017 #57

mountain grammy

(26,568 posts)
1. maybe this will finally wake women up..
Sun Oct 22, 2017, 11:37 PM
Oct 2017

I mean the 50+% of white women voters who voted for this asshole.WTF ever were they thinking or not thinking?

SergeStorms

(18,880 posts)
17. Usually....
Mon Oct 23, 2017, 02:06 AM
Oct 2017

they let the "man" in their life do their thinking for them. Many of those women have been brow-beaten, literally beaten, and made to feel subservient to a man their entire lives. I feel sorry for them, in a fashion, but everyone must take responsibility for their lives sooner or later. That they betray their own gender sickens me, and I'm a man.

Zing Zing Zingbah

(6,496 posts)
24. It is dubious because there are a lot of women with irregular cycles
Mon Oct 23, 2017, 09:48 AM
Oct 2017

Plus, you could think you have a regular cycle and then it can change on you randomly. It's ok for someone who doesn't want to get pregnant, but might be ok with it if it happened (maybe married woman who wants a child eventually, not a teenager). I think the method sucks too because there are lots of times when you can't have sex. Guys aren't going to be into that either.

Marthe48

(16,688 posts)
41. My Mom had my older sister, me and my younger brother using rhythm system
Mon Oct 23, 2017, 11:34 AM
Oct 2017

Yeah, sure works good. And for God's sake, in this world, who is disciplined enough, other than pence and melania, to hold off having sex? And just a couple times a month. And don't forget, masturbation is a sin for some religions.

moriah

(8,311 posts)
33. Seriously? Yes.
Mon Oct 23, 2017, 10:30 AM
Oct 2017

You missed the sarcasm tag, so I'm going with your "seriously" as a request for a serious answer

Especially as this is allegedly supposed to be replacing parts of sex education about other, more reliable, methods for young women who may not have developed a fully regular cycle -- if they ever will -- this is not good.

I personally do think every woman should understand her reproductive cycle, and teaching young women how their cycle works and how to track it is great. If a woman's cycle actually does stay within a 26-32 day window, they can make a version of "CycleBeads" cheap. It'd be a cool 6th grade sex project to teach young women how to learn to understand their bodies.

But it should NOT be used as a replacement for education about condoms, pills, LARC, and other better methods, and the effectiveness rates should be accurately expressed for such a system with perfect use.

https://www.cyclebeads.com/blog/673/birth-control-effectiveness_how-risky-is-your-birth-control

Their own chart shows perfect condom use surpasses perfect Standard Days Method, and oral contraceptive "typical use" still surpasses SDM's typical use. That's, by their own website promoting the product, four more teenagers out of every 100 having an unintended pregnancy if this is advertised to teens as a replacement for condoms or birth control, especially when teaching how to use condoms correctly and consistently would overcome the "typical use" issues.

SergeStorms

(18,880 posts)
18. "The Handmaids tale"....
Mon Oct 23, 2017, 02:11 AM
Oct 2017

comes to mind. General Kelly and his "adored and revered" women comes to mind. They'll be "adored and revered" as long as they do everything the man dictates, whenever he dictates, and sometimes that "adoration" comes in the form of physical violence. By that time women are usually too numb and broken to notice.

williesgirl

(4,033 posts)
5. I remember my Dad joking how they had "4 little rhythms
Mon Oct 23, 2017, 12:25 AM
Oct 2017

running around"! Catholic method of birth control. Watch the abortion rate escalate quickly and, unfortunately, women dying from the coat hanger method when given no choice. Naturally, the responsibility and blame will fall on women, not men.

LeftInTX

(24,541 posts)
7. I thought this was going to be satire.....
Mon Oct 23, 2017, 12:44 AM
Oct 2017

This is really bad. This guy doesn't know WTF he is doing..Just making shit up to pander to some crazy base.

TwistOneUp

(1,020 posts)
9. As the National Lampoon once opined...
Mon Oct 23, 2017, 12:48 AM
Oct 2017

The "rhythm method" is a bitter pill.

Does anyone NOT believe we're living in a theocracy?...

Doreen

(11,686 posts)
13. With that statement you realize they are not
Mon Oct 23, 2017, 01:28 AM
Oct 2017

even expecting the guy to take responsibility by even suggesting that. I have not seen those administration men suggest that a man learns to pull out.

 

Motownman78

(491 posts)
15. I know, pathetic excuses for men
Mon Oct 23, 2017, 01:33 AM
Oct 2017

The Dumpster Fire Administration is a bunch of MRA and PUA losers.

SunSeeker

(51,367 posts)
20. Even if a man kept his "promise," he could still get the woman pregnant.
Mon Oct 23, 2017, 02:26 AM
Oct 2017

Some semen is released in pre-ejaucate fluid before ejaculation. The withdrawal method produces a lot of babies, like the rhythm method.

qwlauren35

(6,108 posts)
14. This sort of thing
Mon Oct 23, 2017, 01:32 AM
Oct 2017

requires organized protest. From women, from men.

It's nice to make comments and shake your head, but it doesn't send a message to the White House that this would have horrific repercussions on women's health and the ability of families to control their size. This will affect women AND men. Because women's reproductive health affects the men who love them.

So, we need men to speak out against this.

Stonepounder

(4,033 posts)
19. Please note that 'Newsweek couldn't independently verify the veracity of the memo'
Mon Oct 23, 2017, 02:14 AM
Oct 2017

For something this blatantly idiotic, I want a second source. (Not to say that the tRump White House isn't blatantly idiotic.)

moriah

(8,311 posts)
48. Especially after Newsweek publishing details about every Marilou...
Mon Oct 23, 2017, 01:19 PM
Oct 2017

... they could find information about without vetting it.

I saw the original Crooked article and I still want confirmation.

 

HockeyMom

(14,337 posts)
21. I used it to GET Pregnant
Mon Oct 23, 2017, 08:07 AM
Oct 2017

after I had a ruptured ectopic pregnancy and was left with only one fallopian tube. My OB/GYN told me to take my temperature every day to see when I was ovulating to maximize my odds of getting pregnant. It took 6 months to get pregnant with only one tube.

Would I use this method as birth control? Absolutely not. If the method failed to ACHIEVE a pregnancy, no harm done. As a means of birth control, failure would mean an unwanted pregnancy.

My husband got a vasectomy after our 2nd child was born.

 

mreilly

(2,120 posts)
26. Catholics are promoting this...
Mon Oct 23, 2017, 09:53 AM
Oct 2017

... Catholics. Who want their followers to have large families. As large as possible. The larger the better. In order to induct more new Catholics into the church.

When a birth control "method" is proposed by people opposed to actual birth control and in favor of people - well, Catholics only -
breeding like fucking rabbits, you know it's complete bullshit.

TexasBushwhacker

(20,043 posts)
49. I remember Trump talking about Melania on Howard Stern's show
Mon Oct 23, 2017, 01:25 PM
Oct 2017

He said she was very good about using birth control. Considering he wanted Marla to abort Tiffany, I don't think he wanted any more surprises.

LongTomH

(8,636 posts)
29. Where the fuck does a politician get off telling anyone what birth control method to use???
Mon Oct 23, 2017, 10:10 AM
Oct 2017

This (mal)administration just gets more toxic by the day!!!!

Blaukraut

(5,689 posts)
32. That's how my youngest was conceived.
Mon Oct 23, 2017, 10:16 AM
Oct 2017

The method can work, but it takes a lot of dedication and a generous fertility window. Even then, if your cycles aren't regular, you're screwed.

Phentex

(16,330 posts)
36. My mother said she used the rhythem method
Mon Oct 23, 2017, 10:33 AM
Oct 2017

and she had 7 kids. She seemed offended when we told her it didn't work.

LiberalBrooke

(527 posts)
34. My mother gave me one piece of advice
Mon Oct 23, 2017, 10:30 AM
Oct 2017

about birth control, which was “the rhythm method does NOT work.” This was from a Catholic woman who had 9 children.

MiniMe

(21,676 posts)
38. You know what they call people who use the rhythm method?
Mon Oct 23, 2017, 10:49 AM
Oct 2017

Parents. Yeah I know, old one, but I learned that in Jr. High School. Back when they were realistic and didn't teach abstinence

Victor_c3

(3,557 posts)
40. As a guy and thinking solely with my penis
Mon Oct 23, 2017, 11:28 AM
Oct 2017

I don’t understand this point of view at all.

I try to give women as few reasons not to have sex with me as possible. Ensuring plenty of birth-control options are available surely falls into that category.

From a selfish male standpoint this is just stupid.

dawg

(10,607 posts)
43. Teaching this to young women is worse than teaching them nothing.
Mon Oct 23, 2017, 12:10 PM
Oct 2017

Not only does it not protect against STD's, it isn't very effective as birth control either. But it might just make someone confident enough to run the risk.

BruceWane

(345 posts)
45. Why is this "method" considered OK?
Mon Oct 23, 2017, 01:03 PM
Oct 2017

Seriously - if it's a "sin" to prevent the holy equation sperm+egg+9 months = baby, why is engaging in sex when less fertile any more OK than using other methods?

You're just using a calendar instead of a condom. Different tool, same result.

It's still a person acting intentionally to have sex and avoid making a baby. Seems like the method would be irrelevant.

Proud Liberal Dem

(24,353 posts)
46. Satire is dead
Mon Oct 23, 2017, 01:10 PM
Oct 2017

I truly thought that this was an Onion article when I first heard about it but, sadly, it is not.


Also, how many Republican/Christian women use the Rhythm Method? Not everybody is out there breeding like Duggars (most of us couldn't seriously afford to even if we wanted a huge family).

redstatebluegirl

(12,264 posts)
51. There was one family who filled an entire two rows of the Catholic Church I went to.
Mon Oct 23, 2017, 01:30 PM
Oct 2017

I don't think I ever saw Mrs. Brown when she wasn't "with child". My Dad used to point at them and say "the rhythm method gone bad".

Eliot Rosewater

(31,096 posts)
52. And well meaning liberals yelled at me and called my hyperbolic when I said they were gonna
Mon Oct 23, 2017, 01:30 PM
Oct 2017

take BC away.

They are gonna legalize rape, too.

You see elections have consequences, even stolen ones.

NastyRiffraff

(12,448 posts)
54. This is what the Catholic Church advocates TO THIS DAY
Mon Oct 23, 2017, 01:53 PM
Oct 2017

It's never worked reliably, and they know it. But you know, because god.

Freethinker65

(9,928 posts)
56. My very Catholic SIL used the rhythm method.
Mon Oct 23, 2017, 03:36 PM
Oct 2017

She had 5 kids and was upset about the last pregnancy (at the time had prefered to keep the family at four children). She is a wonderful mother and delightful compassionate person. She also made sure to get her eldest daughter an appointment to an OBGYN for birth control as soon as said teenage daughter began dating!

My other very Catholic SIL got knocked up by a married man. She ended up with four kids. Her unmarried daughter has two kids (one conceived while she was a teenager after a miscarriage) and is living off and on with government assistance.

Both SILs are reliable GOP voters.

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