Abstinence Clearinghouse

Press Release: Monthly Periods Are Not a Disease
by Communications
[5.23.2007]

Big-Pharm company Wyeth recently received approval for a drug which halts a woman's period.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
May 23, 2007
Contact: Joel Haubenreich
Phone: 605.335.5568

Monthly Periods Are Not a Disease

WASHINGTON, D.C.—A new drug recently approved by the FDA promises to eliminate women’s monthly periods. Pharmaceutical company Wyeth received official approval of the drug “Lybrel” on Tuesday. Lybrel is designed to be taken in pill form, and is a daily regimen.

A drug to halt a woman’s monthly period has no apparent medical value. The primary motivation for Wyeth’s efforts seems to be profit. The company has projected annual sales as upwards of $250 million.

“I am astounded,” said Dr. Glen Ridder, medical advisor of the National Abstinence Clearinghouse. “A woman’s period should not be treated like a disease, or as a symptom of a disease. It is a natural part of their female reproductive system—how are women to take this news? Why are they being told there is something wrong with them, and that they need drugs to fix it?”

The monthly period is an external sign of hormonal changes within the body. The hormones involved in these menses also affect the brain, bones, and the skin. It is yet unclear what sort of long-term effects interrupting periods will have.

The International Herald Tribune quoted Linda Andrist, a health coordinator at Boston’s MGH Institute of Health Professions, as saying, “We don’t want to confront our bodily functions anymore. We’re too busy.”

“This business is cause for great concern in our society,” said Leslee Unruh, President of the Clearinghouse. “Without proper respect for her own body, a woman is doomed to reject the beauty of her person, and society can expect to continue to see sexism and misogyny flourish.”

The National Abstinence Clearinghouse is a non-profit organization focused on abstinence-until-marriage education.

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