It seems any criticism of the pill is likely to be drowned
out in the anti-contraception and anti-choice noise. A new book by Jane Bennett and Alexandra Pope, titled The
Pill: Are You Sure It’s For You?, reexamines the pill from a pro-choice angle.
Sophie Morris, in her review of the book in the Daily Mail, offers a fascinating dissection of what most of
us have come to think of as fundamental to our reproductive rights:

"In short
the benefit of having sex without the fear of pregnancy (or the hassle of
romance-killing condoms) is sold as a fair trade off to any of the many
side-effects shared by various brands of Pill – weight gain,
irritability-depression, anxiety, anger, loss of sex drive, migraines not to
mention rumoured links to breast cancer and fatal blood clots."

My girlfriend and I struggled to find a pill that worked
well when it became apparent that the one she was using caused debilitating,
mood-altering side-effects, but one that we could also afford. None are covered
by her insurance. After a few difficult months of experimenting, we finally
settled on Yaz, but not without wondering if maybe it would have been a lot
safer and easier to just use condoms instead.

I’m curious what you might think. Given all the side
effects, should we rethink the pill as a default contraceptive?