article club on point

News of the recent Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) mandate caught my attention this morning when sound bites from Morning Joe traveled down the hallway from our TV. This post isn't about my political or personal views on the matter but rather sharing that this has been a topic of interest among a number of different groups for quite some time.

Images found via Google image search and courtesy of The Economist and Examiner.com

Recently I started an Article Club with a few friends. The idea behind Article Club came from the blog A Cup of Jo. The purpose of meeting is to connect and network among a group of young women with similar interests and lifestyles. We all have really busy lives and don't have the time to commit to reading a book each month, instead we choose one to two articles discussing relevant topics of interest. Sometimes the themes can be controversial and the conversations that develop can be heated yet polite - all thanks to strong personal views, which makes a much more interesting evening all together!

December's article club featured a piece from The Economist titled "Nuns and Contraception: Praying for the Pill". You can now imagine my instant intrigue surrounding the HHS mandate.

Rereading The Economist's article this morning brought to light a foreshadowing of the mandate... "The church has already won an exemption for women who work for a church, but it also wants to keep coverage from women who work for any Catholic institution, even if the women in question are not Catholics and the institution has a secular purpose, such as a school, say, or hospital."

Author C.H. goes on to cite studies showing correlation between menstruation cycles and cancers of female reproductive organs. Nuns specifically, due to their celibacy, have more menstruation cycles than child bearing women and thus run a higher risk for developing cancers, particularly breast, uterine, or cervical. But where does the pill come in? Regulating hormone levels through oral contraception shows significant decreases in the risks of cancer and mortality rates.

It's an interesting argument and a fine line to balance between Church and State. I'll certainly be following the topic to find out how it develops and settles.