No More Bad Cramps Ever?

Linda Johnson for AP reports "Menstruation Is Fast Becoming Optional" … The first continuous-use birth control pill, Lybrel, likely will soon be on the U.S. market and drug companies are lining up other ways to limit or eliminate the period. Most doctors say they don't think suppressing menstruation is riskier than regular long-term birth control use, and one survey found a majority have prescribed contraception to prevent periods. Women have been using the pill for nearly half a century without significant problems, but some doctors want more research on long-term use. … The period is "way over-romanticized," says Linda Gordon, a New York University professor specializing in women's history and the history of sexuality. "It doesn't take long for women to go from being excited about having a period to feeling it's a pain in the neck," said Gordon, author of "The Moral Property of Women: A History of Birth Control Politics in America."