Humanae Vitae: a nurse's perspective, Part 1

In the right context, sexuality is a beautiful gift from our loving God. Fertility is a gift, not a disease. In 1968, the intent of Pope Paul VI's encyclical Humanae Vitae was to elevate the sanctity of life in a world of forced-sterilization and coerced-contraception. Please see the timeline below. If you think synthetic-hormones have improved, please review this evidence. While everyone understands contraception-rationale, this post's purpose is to respectfully-demonstrate harms visited upon fertile-women. Part 2 contains science, opportunity-costs to women who reject normal monthly-cycles and alternatives.

Timeline. Below is the encyclical-landscape facing Pope Paul VI. While I understand industry-evolution and acknowledge learning-curves, damage continues today. Thank you for reviewing this alternate-perspective, which concerns the health of the normal, adult, feminine-body.

1950--Progressive-Democrat Margaret Sanger organized financial-support to fund research to create birth control pills. Her eugenics-agenda was to "filter-out human weeds." Later, the nomenclature "population-control" replaced eugenics. Today's benign-terms are "womens' health."

1953--Two male biologists teamed up to develop the birth control pill, with $2 million dollars in funding from philanthropy. Because state laws prohibited contraceptive, these 2 males tested their hormones on male and female patients at the Worcester State Psychiatric Hospital in Massachusetts and again on marginalized women in Puerto Rico.

1960--The first oral contraceptive, a mix of high-dose hormones was approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration or FDA. It quickly became known as “the Pill.”

1965--To reduce birth rates in developing countries, the U.S. Agency for International Development began a population & reproductive-control program.

1968--The FDA approves intrauterine devices with high-dose copper, causing liver damage, kidney failure and death, later recalled in 1974.

1969--Medical journalist Barbara Seaman publishes her research, “The Doctor’s Case Against the Pill,” evidencing damages from high-dose estrogen leading to blood clots, heart attacks, strokes, and cancer.

1970--At well-publicized Congressional hearings, feminists challenged the pill's devastation to women's health.

1970--Toni Cade Bambara’s essay “The Pill: Genocide or Liberation?” calls attention to race and gender controversies surrounding government-sponsored contraception in marginalized communities.

1970s--The Indian Health Services sterilizes thousands of Native American women.

1972--Challenging the 6th commandment, birth control for unmarried women is legalized by the Supreme Court in Eisenstadt v. Baird.

1973--Two coercively-sterilized African American teen sisters, Minnie and Mary Relf, submitted a lawsuit to end sterilization. The Committee to End Sterilization Abuse (CESA) is founded 1-year later to combat coercive sterilization in minority women.

1974--After 4 years on the market, the FDA suspends copper IUDs due to severe pelvic infections and toxicity deaths. Other IUDs are removed from the market due to costly lawsuits.

1984--an 18-year-old female was brought to our ER with CPR in progress. The EMTs brought along a new bottle of recently prescribed birth control pills. Based on the unnatural color separating her upper chest/face (purple) and lower body (white) at the nipple and lung-line, it can be assumed that she suffered massive pulmonary clotting. This was my first of many women to experiencing this phenomenon. A post-mortem confirmed cause of death. Her name was Olivia.

1992-- The FDA approves Depo Provera, a birth control shot taken every 3 months. In 2025, Depo-related brain meningiomas scored 3.5 times higher than in non-depo women. Meanwhile, doctors, judges and policymakers enforce long-term hormone use against people of color and low-income people, especially in criminal sentencing.

1999--the makers of Norplant are sued by 36,000 women. Wyeth-Ayerst admits no fault but settles by paying $50 million in damages.

1999--The FDA underreports safety statistics and approves Plan B. Please see this Catholic365 article: Chemical Abortions & FDA safety statistics--how are they misrepresented?

2002--FDA approves a method of transcervical female sterilization using a device called Essure, marketed by Bayer. In 2018, this device was recalled due to perforation of women's abdominal organs and cavities. Lawsuits yielding $1.6 billion in damages was awarded in 2020.

2002--Wyeth Pharmaceuticals takes the first hormonal-implant off the U.S. market due to high-harm side effects.

2006--The FDA approves over-the-counter sales of Plan B for adult women. Again, see Catholic365 article for dubious safety statistics.

2008--The Ortho Evra patch for birth control results in dozens of deaths. The youngest is 14 years old.

2010s--The FDA approves a new abortion pill called Ella, of the same family as Plan B but with steroids. Safety statistics are understated as in the Catholic365 article. Plus, now the risks of steroids are involved.

2012--British Medical Journal publishes higher risks for high blood pressure, ovarian cysts, clots and death in women using Ortho Evra or NuvaRing

2013 For minors, the FDA approves emergency contraception Plan B. Again, see Catholic365 article.

2013 North Carolina compensates victims of criminally-forced sterilization. Virginia joins compensation awards as of 2014.

2017 Bayer class action lawsuit grants over $142 million for fatal blood clots for 18,000 Pill-users.

2020 Class action lawsuit of the Pill users against Watson and Lupin pharmaceuticals for a bait-and-switch drug using a fraudulent patent.

2025--Bayer-marketed IUD migrates, class action begins for intrauterine and organ damage requiring surgical intervention.

2025--Merck NuvaRing is sued for serious side effects including wrongful death, heart attacks, blood clots and device migration leading to abdominal bleeding, surgical intervention and unexpected pregnancy.

2025--Paragard IUD-breakage results in class action lawsuit from uterine wall lacerations, unecessary surgeries and wrongful death.

2025--Pfizer class action lawsuit filed for hormone-implant having 3.5 times higher rates of brain cancer.

I could go on, but trust that you see the patterns. While the pill's hormones are at their lowest effective dose possible, risks and damages still continue. Please don't take my word for it, open the source links below for their breadth and gravity. Today, women still suffer risks and die. In the earlier timeline, we see governments patronize the fertility of women, seeking population control as funded by big pharma for profits. However, neither ingest nor use their own devices. The world seems to think contraception is as safe as aspirin. Yet, hidden damages and false promises are not going away. In good faith, many of my Catholic-physician colleagues are refusing to prescribe these meds, which aid and abet these problems. If you have read thus far, thank you for your open mind. As a fellow Catholic, I respect your God-given right to free will, your experiences and opinions. As a mother of 4, grandma of 2 and hand-holding nurse to hundreds of affected women in extremis, I hope you walk in their shoes in Part 2 of this series, as ethical dilemmas are further-explored. May God bless you and your family.

Mother Mary, pray for us.

St Joseph, pray for us.

Jesus, I trust in you.

Sources:

A Brief History of Birth Control in the U.S. | ourbodiesourselves.com

Birth Control Side Effects and Risks WebMD.com

Class-action lawsuit involving Bayer IUDs certified in Canada | dailyhive.com

Depo-Provera Lawsuit | Forbes

Essure Settlement | $1.6 Billion On the Way | consumersafetywatcg.org

Implanon Lawsuit Jul 2025 | schmidtandclark.com

Loestrin Birth Control Class Action | topclassactions.com

Maker of Norplant settles lawsuits by 36,000 women | | azdailysun.com