Newsday.com: 500 WORDS OR LESS

With men on the pill, women could lose control

BY GLENN SACKS
Glenn Sacks is a syndicated radio talk show host who lives in L.A.

April 11, 2005

Women have long lamented the unequal burden they shoulder in the area of contraception. Today, researchers are reportedly close to perfecting a male contraceptive free of side effects, easy to take and reversible. But do women really want a male birth control pill?

Power is a reward that comes with responsibility. During the Cold War, Americans complained about the money and manpower spent protecting an ungrateful world from communism. Yet, these sacrifices also helped give the United States geopolitical power, with its attendant perks and privileges.

Similarly, while women legitimately complain that biology has condemned them to bear the burden of contraception, this burden also gives women control over one of the most important parts of any human being's life - reproduction. The male birth control pill will shift much of that control from women to men. Is the following conversation far away?

Woman No. 1: "My (husband, boyfriend, significant other) is selfish. He's on the pill and won't get off. I've asked him to stop taking it, but he always says he's not ready. He just won't grow up."

Woman No. 2: "That's what the pill has given men - a right to be perpetual adolescents. It's given them veto power over women who want to have children."

Despite the stigma that will develop against men who take the pill, the pill will be a success. While most women are responsible and want to have children with a willing, committed partner, studies show that lack of reproductive control can be a major problem for men today.

For example, the National Scruples and Lies Survey 2004 polled 5,000 women in the United Kingdom for That's Life! magazine. According to that survey, 42 percent of women claim they would lie about contraception in order to get pregnant, regardless of the wishes of their partners.

Jo Checkley, the magazine's editor, is correct when she says, "To deliberately get pregnant when your partner doesn't want a baby is playing Russian roulette with other people's lives."

Joyce Abma of the National Center for Health Statistics and Linda Piccinino of Cornell University say more than a million American births each year result from pregnancies men did not intend.

The male pill will fill a genuine economic need. Child support levels are rising, generally comprising 15-25 percent of take-home pay for one child, in addition to add-ons for child care, health care and other costs.

Moreover, most men realize it's difficult to remain a part of their children's lives once the relationship with the children's mother has broken down, particularly if the children were born outside of marriage. The pill will help ensure that men have children only in the context that's best for men - a stable marriage.

The advent of the female birth control pill greatly aided women's struggle for autonomy and fulfillment. The male birth control pill will also create great changes, but these changes will not be to some women's liking. Be careful what you ask for? You might get it.
Copyright 2005 Newsday Inc.