Hi there Sling Shot folks,
I’m eagerly awaiting my very own copy of the 2005 Slingshot Organizer. A friend of mine got an organizer early, and showed me the section on Emergency Contraception. I was really excited to see that you included this information, since it is one of my personal favorite medical topics. I did notice that some of your information was debatable if not inaccurate, and I wanted to let you know.
In the section on the pharmaceutical forms of emergency contraception (EC), there were two things that I noted:
- You state that EC prevents implantation of a fertilized egg. Actually, we don’t know exactly how EC works – it may prevent sperm from moving through the uterus to the tubes, it may prevent ovulation or fertilization directly, or it may prevent implantation. Some people take these distinctions very seriously – they make the difference between EC being an acceptable form of contraception, or an unacceptable form of early abortion. Because you only mention the prevention of implantation, some people may not use EC based on their political or religious beliefs.
- You state that anyone who has contraindications to using oral contraceptives should not use EC. Actually, since EC is only used once, and does not expose a woman to long-term hormones, the ONLY generally accepted contraindication to using EC is current pregnancy.
- Finally, there is a great EC resource available, at “1-888-not2late” – people can learn of health care providers in their area who will prescribe EC.
Thanks again for including EC info in the Slingshot Organizer – it is really important information that can make a huge difference in people’s lives. If you ever want/need a medical consultant or reviewer I’d be more than happy to help out. I am a family physician MD, newby herbalist and street medic. In solidarity, eowyn rieke
Slingshot response: We’re grateful for the update on ways to get EC and when you can take it. We believe that all forms of safe birth control are acceptable and that only a woman (with her doctor) can decide what’s right for her. All the ways EC may work prevent implantation, which is when an abortion becomes medically necessary. Thanks for your input!
A message on the Slingshot voicemail box . . .
hey who wrote the roadkill [inaudible – article?] The same people who drive the cars are the same people with eyeballs in their head that got their license because they’re eyeballs work and they’re the same people who are looking at the beast. You actually do computers and you don’t do cars? What the fuck is wrong with you people?! [phone slammed down]
Dear Slingshot:
I need to throw in an alternate response to the previous Slingshot article on road kill. I am a vegetarian and an animal lover and the idea that I could see a dead critter as my next pair of pants is too much. I have worked for years to buck myself up enough to remove sweet smashed and bloodied beings from the middle of the road, off the manmade surface — the death strip — back to the earth where they can decompose and go back into it, as the closed circle always does. It is hard but it’s an opportunity to apologize to them for my part, to pay respect to their sweet bunny souls, and to save other critters. Very often other animals will be killed because they are smelling or eating the critter in the road. It’s the very least I can do, being a human after all. But doing the very least just won’t do!
— Bunny lover