Susan,

Don't you think erring on the side of caution is a good thing? In our market driven world we so often tilt the other way -- if we can make it, and sell it, and put it in our bodies, it must be okay until someone can prove by a preponderance of evidence that it causes harm. To me, that's nuts.

The idea that we should not alter natural hormonal and chemical processes in our body without a compelling reason unless and until we know the process will not result in harm strikes me as a far more appropriate way to go.

Susan,

You say: since most of us tolerate [bc hormones] at 75% just fine, why should 100% pose a significant difference?

My response: Gosh, I am not a scientist, but I could see that a complete cessation of menstrual functions could be harmful even if a 3/4 reduction is not (or does not seem to be). I can't say how the body will react. I am not going presume that the body responds to logical argument like yours.

These are things which influence my thinking.

First, both my parents died of cancer, and it makes me rather sensitive to the fact that our bodies react to our environments and our genetic makeup in unpredictable, unseen and really important ways. I am not being new age about this -- I don't suck down anti-oxidants or anything -- but I have a sober respect for the rather delicate way in which we are put together.

Second, in the early ninties I defended companies which manufactured silicone breast implants. What I learned about the process in general convinced me that we have no business relying on the drug and medical product creators to be accountable for our safety.

As a woman who loves playing the game, watching play at this level is a thing of profound beauty and inspiration.

And some of the men are wonderfully handsome, though to tell you the honest truth that didn't dawn on me until you mentioned it.

And it's such a global pagent. It is so cool to see people from all over the world together in this, almost like a shared language.

I am even grooving on the irish brogue of some of the announcers. And the nike commercial with the kids getting all these soccer stars together for a pick up game.

Sorry to gush, but it's all good for me.

Jeffrey,

I am an attorney of Anne's vintage, and I don't want to let your comments about Ann's accomplishments pass without comment. Ann was one of hundreds of successful young women attorneys coming out of top law schools in the mid eighties. Nice resume, but not really trail blazing, and not necessarily worthy of the kind of accolades you seem to want to extend to her based on credentials alone.

And here's a funny point about the Justice Department Honors program. That would have been the Meese justice department Ann went to work for. It wasn't that hot of a gig, back in the day. It was a rare breed that hungered for that sort of work --- opus dei types like Roberts and Alito, and strange rabid gals like Ann. None of the top law grads I knew while clerking on the DC circuit had any interest in the Justice department, I remember many of us deciding that we would rather die than apply. So I don't know how competitive those slots really were.

I live in a small inland northwest town, and the ads for crisis pregnancy centers have been bugging me for years. I had a few other ideas for responding.

How about expanding the telephone book ad for any legitimate family planning service to include a reference to the fact it offers real advice and services, not the like the crisis centers. In our area phone book, under abortion, there are local numbers for two crisis pregnancy centers and one 800 number for a real service provider far away. I thought that, if the real provider's ad mentioned the scam being perpetrated by some services, consumers might be a little more discriminating when they pick up the phone. You'd have to be careful, since I am sure the phone company does not permit disparagement of the competition, but I bet you could figure something out.

Fliers about how the crisis pregnancy centers are bogus. The crisis pregnancy centers have fliers up in laundromats, bus stations, all kind of places where people facing unwanted pregancies might be found. At first I though of printing up a little sticker that you could stick on all their fliers, calling their BS, but I figured you could get in trouble for defacing their fliers, and that would be no good. So then I though about an alternative flier, posted on the same board, wherever you see the crisis pregnancy center flier. I am sure they'd get ripped down in large numbers, but it might help to raise consciousness.

And all it takes will be raising consciousness. Some kind of buzz that gets through the right wing noise machine. These fake clinics trade in misleading vulnerable and uninformed people. I really think we have the power to stop that, through local actions or whatever. You don't need to win popularity contests -- it's just a matter of blowing their cover.