Comments for Pink Ribbons & the Mother of all Causes at http://www.thecatholicthing.org , comment 1 to 15 out of 15 comments http://www.thecatholicthing.org Tue, 21 May 2013 20:55:19 +0100 FeedCreator 1.7.3 http://www.thecatholicthing.org/columns/2011/pink-ribbons-a-the-mother-of-all-causes.html#comment-6917 This review does nothing to address the issues discussed in "Pink Rubbon Blues" - namely the commercialization of all things pink under the guise of gaining awareness. Suluk's point is that all the pink vacuum cleaners, socks and M&Ms in the world will NOT prevent breast cancer. Races are nice, but where does the money for research go - towards more treatment drugs or towards finding a cure so no one is ever lost to this disease again? Survivors get that - whether we're done with treatment or battling mets/Stage IV. BC is a GENETIC disease. Blaming the victims for getting it is just.plain.stupid. - Felicia Wed, 25 May 2011 06:37:07 +0100 http://www.thecatholicthing.org/columns/2011/pink-ribbons-a-the-mother-of-all-causes.html#comment-6911 Shame on you for putting false information out there. Any supposed link between abortion/birth control and cancer has never been proven. But here you go trying to blame women for causing their own cancer. This is more than misguided, it's damaging. - KT Wed, 25 May 2011 04:39:28 +0100 http://www.thecatholicthing.org/columns/2011/pink-ribbons-a-the-mother-of-all-causes.html#comment-6910 WOW, I didn't have any of those risk factors you so nicely listed. Never had an abortion, my first child was at age 19 AND I never used birth control pills. I'm a happy, well adjusted, low-stress person who takes care of herself, eats healthy and exercises. So please refrain from playing the blame game to those of us who did everything right and still have breast cancer. Triple Negative stage 2, 2 cm tumor, neg. nodes. - Cheryl S. Wed, 25 May 2011 04:31:22 +0100 http://www.thecatholicthing.org/columns/2011/pink-ribbons-a-the-mother-of-all-causes.html#comment-6541 Thank you so much for writing this, Mr. Hanley. Well said. And yes, in many ways, any woman can be afflicted by breast cancer for many different reasons (poor diet, high levels of stress, etc) but what you write about is very important: the connection between birth controll pills, abortions and breast cancer. This is something, which society is turning away from. - Emina Melonic Wed, 13 Apr 2011 11:35:32 +0100 http://www.thecatholicthing.org/columns/2011/pink-ribbons-a-the-mother-of-all-causes.html#comment-6519 Matt, I did not think my comment went through and just came back to try again. Yes I did see that one mention of the breastfeeding and thank you for that, maybe you could include more information about that point when you write another article like this. I agree with what some of the others are saying about not generalizing but we have to remember that that is exactly what 'risk factors' and 'prevention factors' are--generalizations based on whatever data the statistics are generally based on. ;) It's like seatbelts, generally they save more lives when used properly. There is nothing unethical about seatbelts and they don't cause any adverse side effects when wearing them. Still, we all know stories of when, during a crash, despite the statistics the seatbelt did not work as intended. But we all probably still wear seat belts and drive as safely as we can in order to prevent a possible situation. So we do what we can to avoid breast cancer and other diseases and cancers naturally and ethically, and the rest is up to God and we pray that we can embrace whatever suffering and joy He gives us. - Erika Marie Mon, 11 Apr 2011 03:08:14 +0100 http://www.thecatholicthing.org/columns/2011/pink-ribbons-a-the-mother-of-all-causes.html#comment-6501 Thank you for your thoughtful and informative comments, Finola. You and I agree, of course, but my point was to explain that this woman, as do others, had a goal which was the sine qua non of her life at that point and she could not let ANYONE interfere with or delay it. Some women do not feel that the fact a method utilizes abortifacients rules it out. The point is they must achieve their GOAL. Our society encourages this attitude. - Bill Fri, 08 Apr 2011 11:36:49 +0100 http://www.thecatholicthing.org/columns/2011/pink-ribbons-a-the-mother-of-all-causes.html#comment-6500 Sally: you raise a good point. It is possible that someone who never takes any of these risks will still develop breast cancer -- just as it is possible that someone who takes all of these risks will not get breast cancer. Erika: you're right about breastfeeding. thanks for highlighting it. That's one reason I chose that quote from Dr. Grossman, which refers to nursing / breastfeeding. - Matt Fri, 08 Apr 2011 07:33:49 +0100 http://www.thecatholicthing.org/columns/2011/pink-ribbons-a-the-mother-of-all-causes.html#comment-6497 Excellent! I have not read Pink Ribbon Blues but I've heard of her and what she thinks about the whole 'pink' thing and wholeheartedly agree that it's become more of a commercial than a 'cause'. Unless of course the cause is to get people to buy something. I really appreciate what you did by going a step further as I feel these causes, not just the breast cancer one, that aim to raise $ for 'awareness' and 'research' fall tragically short of the point--common sense prevention. The problem of course is that no one wants to stop and think about abortion or contraception possibly adding to this breast cancer epidemic or any other hormonally-based cancer/disease. The world acknowledges that 'reckless sex' can lead to cervical cancer and such but stops short at suggesting that people practice self-control and choose abstinence...instead 'safe sex' and injecting girls (and now boys) with a vaccine are the world's solution. One critique: You mentioned the abortion and contraception links but you yourself hit a blind spot by failing to mention breastfeeding's magical breast cancer prevention powers. I can't link anything here but there's a wealth of information about this that's worth looking into. In my opinion, I feel the sexual revolution has also played a huge role in persuading women to forgo breastfeeding. If you can understand the adverse effects of synthetic hormonal drugs in a woman's body over time or the devastating effects an abrupt end to a pregnancy can have on a woman's body, it's easy to think about what the possible negative effects of ignoring breasts full of milk for a bottle of convenient formula could have on the body parts that our society hold so dear. - Erika Marie Fri, 08 Apr 2011 04:27:17 +0100 http://www.thecatholicthing.org/columns/2011/pink-ribbons-a-the-mother-of-all-causes.html#comment-6492 Well done on an interesting and informative article, it is so difficult to get people to take on board that as well as being wrong abortion and contraception have long term damaging concequences.I do have to point out though that the breast awareness campaign does save lives in that it does encourage people to check lumps and go for mammograms, when my Mum had breast cancer (having had children in her 20's whom she breastfed and always following church teaching) she Knew to go to the doctor straight away and make sure things were sorted out. Equally because of my family history plus the fact that I had my first child at 31 (I didn't meet my husband until I was 30) I made a fuss about having a mammogram when I was 43 -and a good job I did! I was diagnosed with DCIS an early form of breast cancer which the excellent team at my local hospital sorted out quickly and efficiently. Oh and this was after 11 years worth of breastfeeding. My point is that while I agree wholeheartedly that prevention is better than cure and we need the medical profession and the general public to learn about and understand the links between abortion,contraception and breast cancer there is still a need to educate women to check for lumps, go for mammograms and get medical help at the first sign of trouble. - Sue B Fri, 08 Apr 2011 01:01:18 +0100 http://www.thecatholicthing.org/columns/2011/pink-ribbons-a-the-mother-of-all-causes.html#comment-6491 Speaking as a breast cancer survivor who had and nursed 5 children and STILL had Stage II breast cancer by age 36, can I just point out that we should not jump to conclusions or generalize about people's lives? - Sally Thu, 07 Apr 2011 17:27:40 +0100 http://www.thecatholicthing.org/columns/2011/pink-ribbons-a-the-mother-of-all-causes.html#comment-6490 In reply to Bill's comment. If I am interpreting your comment correctly, Bill, you are implying that this Catholic doctor was using artificial contraception to delay pregnancy? I don't know why she felt the need to do that when there is a perfectly Church approved method to postpone pregnancy called Natural Family Planning. This is completely healthy, 99% effective and very easy to learn. A Catholic doctor in the pro life movement is in a perfect position to educate women about the benefits of using natural methods to postpone pregnancy, live in good conscience with what the CC teaches, and not have to be a hypocrite. Dr Mary Martin who opened up an NFP only practice in Oklahoma City and promotes the Billings Ovulation Method is one such pro life doctor who changed her mind about OCP's after her priest challenged her to prove that oral contraceptives were not abortifacients. She has never looked back and has a thriving OB/GYN practice. - Finola Thu, 07 Apr 2011 15:16:35 +0100 http://www.thecatholicthing.org/columns/2011/pink-ribbons-a-the-mother-of-all-causes.html#comment-6489 This is well done, Mr. Hanley. The problem is subtle. A professional woman will admit that she was married for x years before her first child was born. This was deliberate as the cost and time constraints of getting her M.D. came first. She admits she took a gamble vis a vis cancer but she wanted to be a doctor and a very good doctor she became. She is a Catholic, She is in the pro-life movement. She exists. In order to not be a hypocrite, she focuses on the effects of abortion and leaves the contraception issue to others.Other than being in the pro-life movement, she told me that she is very typical of female professionals today. - Bill Thu, 07 Apr 2011 13:26:58 +0100 http://www.thecatholicthing.org/columns/2011/pink-ribbons-a-the-mother-of-all-causes.html#comment-6488 Thank you, Louise, for your helpful reply... Patrick: As you keep digging, you might also look up Dr. Joel Brind and Dr. Angela Lanfranchi…they have done work in this area and have made helpful resources available, which should help answer some of your questions...Matt - Matt Thu, 07 Apr 2011 11:15:24 +0100 http://www.thecatholicthing.org/columns/2011/pink-ribbons-a-the-mother-of-all-causes.html#comment-6487 Patrick, Since I have read and agreed to the terms of usage, I can't give you the website address of a site dedicated to these topics, but if you do a Goggle search for "abortion, breast cancer", you will be richly rewarded. - Louise Thu, 07 Apr 2011 09:02:09 +0100 http://www.thecatholicthing.org/columns/2011/pink-ribbons-a-the-mother-of-all-causes.html#comment-6486 Interesting article, but could you perhaps provide more references for evidence of contraceptive use and abortion increasing risk of breast cancer? There is a link to the study about having children early, and a Mayo clinic study is mentioned regarding contraceptive use (any link for that?), but nothing for abortion. I know this is not a formal scientific paper and that you are mainly trying to make an ethical point, but I for one would be interesting in digging a little deeper here as I had never heard of any of these connections to breast cancer, although they are hardly counterintuitive. - Patrick Thu, 07 Apr 2011 04:34:23 +0100