No, it's not the Fox network. It's the pill.

        This is the claim of a handful of zealots who are personally opposed to oral contraception. Not content to simply refrain from using it themselves, they're demanding that it also be withheld from low-income women who visit public-health clinics in Northern Kentucky.

        Their crusade is full of illogic and distortion. Yet because politicians appoint the board of the Northern Kentucky Independent District Health Department, the board is susceptible to infiltration by ideologues. Next month, it may vote to reject, for the first time, an annual $170,000 federal grant to provide family planning in four counties.

        Let's look at the case against the pill.

        • Distortion No. 1: It causes abortions.

        This is at bottom a religious belief that should be left to individuals. But here are a few facts: The pill's main effect is to prevent ovulation. It also limits the mobility of sperm and changes the lining of the uterus.

        The pill fails about 5 percent of the time. No one knows how often fertilized eggs may be rejected due to uterine changes, but critics figure it has happened. So, they see no difference between the pill and abortion.

        Asking for evidence is “like insisting that we see all the bodies in the World Trade Center rubble before we acknowledge how many people died there,” said Richard Gautraud, a board member who will vote against family planning.

        This reprehensible remark drew loud groans from many women at the board's public hearing last week.

        • Distortion No. 2: Society is a mess due to the pill.

        Opponents link it to single parenthood, sexually transmitted diseases, poverty, child abuse and the like.

        This is silly. Any trend may co-exist with the pill, but that doesn't mean the pill caused it. I've seen no evidence, for instance, that women on oral contraception have higher rates of STDs.

        Might the opposite be true? Obtaining the pill is a responsible act; it involves submission to a pelvic exam and comes with lots of STD counseling.

        • Distortion No. 3: The pill greatly increases the risk of breast cancer.

        This is an exaggeration based on a few studies, when many more have found little or no risk. The definitive review — of 153,536 women in 25 countries — showed a very slight increase in risk of breast-cancer diagnosis among pill users. But these are young women who rarely get breast cancer, and 10 years after discontinuation of the pill, the increased risk disappears.

        • Distortion No. 4: “I don't want my tax money paying for the pill.”

        Yes, it would be nice if we could control the federal budget. For starters, I would nix the $5 million our government will spend this year on computers for Armenia.

        But this isn't the system we have. If the health board rejects the $170,000, the money will go to some other agency willing to do the job.

        The personal beliefs of a few should not be imposed on 4,600 women trying to plan their families. Please, use “my money” to give them contraceptive options.

        contact: (859) 578-5584 or ksamples@enquirer.com.

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