An article published in a respected medical journal is suggesting that because certain cancer rates are higher among American nuns than women who experience pregnancy, the Church should allow them to take birth control pills which would make them somewhat less likely to develop these cancers.

According to Phil Lawler, writing for Catholic Culture, the argument waged by two Australian researchers and published in The Lancet says that American nuns over the age of 70 experience significantly higher rates of ovarian, uterine and breast cancer compared to women who experience pregnancy. Because the pill somewhat reduces some of these cancer rates in women, perhaps the Church should consider making the pill available to nuns.

However, as Lawler points out, there are three problems with this recommendation.

First, the researchers suggest that the increased risk of cancer among childless women is related to the number of menstrual cycles they undergo. “So administering the Pill to elderly nuns, who are no longer having menstrual cycles, would be unlikely to have any effect,” Lawler writes.

Second, giving the pill to younger nuns could cause other medical problems because oral contraceptives are associated with higher risks of heart attack, stroke, high blood pressure and blood clots. “If you’re dying of a stroke in your 60s, it’s cold comfort to learn that you’re not likely to develop cancer in your 70s,” Lawler points out.

Third, if the underlying cause of the heightened cancer rates is the number of menstrual cycles, “there’s a simple and well-known way for a woman to cut down on the number of menstrual cycles in her lifetime,” Lawler writes. “Have children and breast-feed them.”

In other words, even though the Lancet authors tried to use the argument as a way to attract attention to their research, the same research also provides support for the fact that if married women had more children, they’d suffer less cancer. 

“Or put it this way,” Lawler suggests. “If you think that maybe nuns should take the Pill, you should also believe, for the same reasons, that married women definitely shouldn’t.”

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