November 19, 2024

Let's Talk About Birth Control

*Hold on to this email so you can reference it in the future*.*Plus a recipe for pancakes*.

NB: Too Loud & Too Old is pro-abortion and pro-birth control. If you found this by chance or through a friend, welcome!! 

Hi Bestie!

Grab that cinnabon iced coffee and let's get busy with saving ourselves.

The first concern about birth control is to ensure that people can still get it next year. For this newsletter, I'm talking about everything that isn't a condom. Condoms are great, but I don’t want to think about the GOP taking those off the shelves right now, though I'm sure it will. You need to decide what's right for you, of course. Planned Parenthood has a comprehensive website covering the many options available.

The GOP is coming for your pills (Paul Ryan was in 2016 and that's how I ended up where I am now. That link is about insurance coverage, but he wanted it scrapped entirely, and of course, I can't find a source now); Project 2025 wants to gut all of it, starting with the Affordable Health Care Act (which JD Vance wants to scrap — I saw it on TV, and now I can only find fact checking about "Trump saving Obamacare," and am so glad that I'm a toy journalist, not a political reporter), so stock up on it now.  

People are reportedly getting replacement implants and IUDs early. The whisper network is recommending a year's supply of pills. Why a year? Probably for shelf-life. Is getting a year's supply easy? Not really! While many doctors prescribe three months at a time, most insurance providers deny access.

This is too bad because a study found that a year's stock of birth control lowers healthcare costs and prevents unwanted pregnancy. A decent start might be NURX, though the service does not usually prescribe a year at a time. Without insurance, pills are about $15 per pack, and Nurx is easy to use. (I've used Nurx which offers a wealth of other services.)

Worth considering while you plan a stockpile is BMI.

BMI is a made-up construct, but since dense breast tissue (pretend I said that drunk) can easily send a person to obese territory, worth considering. (This is the only time to consider BMI.) Many birth control methods are less effective with a high BMI; a study found that birth control pills are more effective when the dose is stronger and the pills are taken straight through. (Pills are effective for about a year after manufacture and their effectiveness after a year varies.)

I've had several conversations with medical providers about the implant, which I loved when I first got it in 2018. They've noticed that they are less effective after two years, though they are supposed to be removed after five years. The implant is not said to see a difference in its effectiveness based on weight. Neither is the shot, which Planned Parenthood promised to always offer (how though), and its effectiveness does not appear to be impacted by a person's BMI.

Those aren't the only pills to stockpile; abortion pills by mail and Plan B are legal, so it's best to horde while you can. We're spread between California, Maryland, and New York, where we can order those without repercussion, but if the police are giving false signals to dogs in postal centers, we need to act now. (Abortion pills don't have a smell!)

Unfortunately, Plan B, which is not birth control but emergency contraception, is less effective after 155 lbs. This doesn't appear widely known, and the FDA decided it didn't need a warning label to this effect in 2016. 69 percent of women are over 155 lbs, so it seems like they should maybe do something about making the pill more effective. ella is recommended up to 195 lbs. Planned Parenthood notes that getting an IUD within five days can works as emergency contraception. This sounds horrible.  

The IUD is effective regardless of weight, which is good. There is a movement for pain management during insertion; most medical providers don't recommend it to anyone who hasn't already given birth (AND NEITHER DO I).  

Stock up on what you can: pills, Plan B, ella, and abortion pills. (Mifepristone is effective regardless of weight.) If you don't need them, someone else will. Texas is trying to ban websites and surely other states are not far behind! These are just some of the sites to get abortion pills: aidaccess.org, heyjane.com, Plan C, and Just the Pill.

Groove is in the heart! (Slide whistle!)

Finally:

• Turn off location services on your phone.
• Use a VPN.
• People are recommending an end-to-end encryption messaging service. I found a deposition from an insurrectionist online, and I can tell you that the government already has your messages on Signal, but you do you!
• If you have a period, stop tracking it digitally.
• If you have a women's wellness appointment, use a nearby address for maps and calendars.
• Filling out this ACLU petition the Biden admin will certainly ignore can't hurt either.
• Tell your friends.
• Tell the NSA I said hi and I'm sorry I'm not more interesting.

SELF CARE CORNER

This sucks, doesn't it? Here is my favorite pancake recipe.  

Pumpkin Ricotta Pancakes

Ingredients

1 1/2 c, all purpose flour

2 Tbsp brown sugar, firmly packed

2 tsp baking powder

1 tsp salt

1 1/3 c 2% milk

3/4 c canned pumpkin

1/2 c ricotta cheese

Pumpkin spices to taste (ginger, allspice, a little black pepper, cinnamon, nutmeg, and cardamom)

Combine the flour, brown sugar, baking powder, and salt in a small bowl. You can add the spices here, or get wild and beat it into the second bowl: In another bowl, whisk eggs, milk, pumpkin, and cheese. Stir into dry ingredients just until moistened.  

Drop batter by 1/4 cupfuls onto a greased hot griddle, turning when bubbles form on top. Cook until the second side is golden brown. Adding chocolate chips is optional but encouraged. Serve with brown butter.

Buy the $50 plant! "The nursery itself felt like some kind of good will bastion: pride flags intermingled with Christmas trees, everyone cheerfully stocking shelves, a woman with green hair carrying various plants around, a man who looked like he fell out of a Wyoming Chevy dealer commercial opening the door for us, and the wet comforting air of cared-for plants."

The Onion bought Infowars.

I recommended last week you download Tetris in my last newsletter. I downloaded Tetris on my iPhone and I hate it. You can't play it offline, it has a ton of ads, and it's bloated. I just want to play Tetris! There are two options for the Nintendo Switch, Tetris 99 which is free, and Tetris Forever, which is $34.99. TBD how I feel about either of those. (Tetris 99 is also online and not...normal.)

(I do recommend Finch, which is like self-care Tamagotchi. If you download that, I have a friend code.)

An accidental compliment I received was "you'll be missed" to a party I wasn't invited to. (I didn't say, "I wasn’t invited," because I had no business being invited to that gathering! I don't know the host! I just said I wasn't going. I was having soup at one of your apartments!)

Always your friend (don't forget me when I'm jailed),

Katherine

ADDITIONAL READING

Five Things You Can Do Right Now, Abortion Every Day

'What Happens Under a National Ban?' and Other Post-2024 Questions, Abortion Every Day

SOURCES

Baker, Carrie N. “Abortion Pills in Your Medicine Cabinet? Advance Provision Medication to End Early Pregnancies.” Ms. Magazine, 4 Feb. 2022, msmagazine.com/2021/12/14/abortion-pill-end-early-pregnancy-at-home/.

David, Eden. ABC News, ABC News Network, 9 July 2019, abcnews.go.com/GMA/Wellness/research-shows-women-year-supply-birth-control-pills/story?id=64200833.

“How to Take Care of Yourself (Part 2).” RSS, Too Loud and Too Old, 9 Nov. 2024, buttondown.com/KatherineMHill/archive/how-to-take-care-of-yourself-part-2/.

Meisler, Hallie. “All the Ways Project 2025 Wants to Undermine Birth Control Access.” National Women's Law Center, 31 Oct. 2024, nwlc.org/all-the-ways-project-2025-wants-to-undermine-birth-control-access/.

Miss Contraceptive, Big Mouth, www.youtube.com/watch?v=thWp1SWi52s. Accessed 18 Nov. 2024.

“Obese Women Need Higher or Continuous Dose for Oral Contraceptive Success.” Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, www.nichd.nih.gov/newsroom/releases/011415-podcast-obesity-contraception. Accessed 18 Nov. 2024.

Parenthood, Planned. “Birth Control Methods & Options: Types of Birth Control.” Methods & Options | Types Of, www.plannedparenthood.org/learn/birth-control. Accessed 18 Nov. 2024.

Ryan, Erika, et al. “How the Onion Came to Own the Website Infowars.” NPR, NPR, 14 Nov. 2024, www.npr.org/2024/11/14/nx-s1-5191781/how-the-onion-came-to-own-the-website-infowars.

Sole-Smith, Virginia. “Abortion Is a Fat Rights Issue.” Abortion Is A Fat Rights Issue, Burnt Toast by Virginia Sole-Smith, 10 May 2022, virginiasolesmith.substack.com/p/abortion-is-a-fat-rights-issue.

Tong, Noah. “Insurers Not Covering 12-Month Contraception Supply as Required: Study.” Fierce Healthcare, 26 Sept. 2024, www.fiercehealthcare.com/payers/insurers-not-covering-12-month-contraception-supply-required-study.

Toohey, Ellsworth. “Cops Use Drug-Sniffing Dogs to Detect Abortion Pills.” Boing Boing, 17 Oct. 2024, boingboing.net/2024/10/17/cops-use-drug-sniffing-dogs-to-detect-abortion-pills.html.

“Unfortunately, Birth Control Pills Do Expire.” Planned Parenthood, www.plannedparenthood.org/blog/unfortunately-birth-control-pills-do-expire. Accessed 18 Nov. 2024.

Valenti, Jessica. “Five Things You Can Do Right Now.” Jessica.Substack.Com, Abortion, Every Day, 6 Nov. 2024, jessica.substack.com/p/five-things-you-can-do-right-now.

Valenti, Jessica. “Ten Actions Dems Can Take to Protect Abortion before Trump Takes Office.” Jessica.Substack.Com, Abortion, Every Day, 15 Nov. 2024, jessica.substack.com/p/ten-actions-dems-can-take-to-protect.

Valenti, Jessica. “Texas Bill Would Ban Pro-Choice Websites.” Jessica.Substack.Com, Abortion, Every Day, 16 Nov. 2024, jessica.substack.com/p/texas-bill-would-ban-pro-choice-websites.

Valenti, Jessica. “‘what Happens under a National Ban?’ and Other Post-2024 Questions.” Jessica.Substack.Com, Abortion, Every Day, 9 Nov. 2024, jessica.substack.com/p/what-happens-under-a-national-ban.

What's the Weight Limit for Plan B?, www.plannedparenthood.org/learn/ask-experts/whats-the-weight-limit-for-plan-b. Accessed 18 Nov. 2024.

Willingham, Emily. “Paul Ryan, Here Are Some Nitty-Gritty Details about Birth Control.” Forbes, Forbes Magazine, 14 Nov. 2016, www.forbes.com/sites/emilywillingham/2016/11/13/paul-ryan-here-are-some-nitty-gritty-details-about-birth-control/.