Three News Stories that Don't Bode Well

Mikaela says:
Quick news flashes:

The Arctic icecap has shrunk this summer past what could normally be expected from seasonal trends. The climate experts studying the change say that shift is hard to explain without attributing it in part to human-caused global warming. I'm sure the Bushies will try.

Paxil has been found to increase the likelihood of birth defects if taken in the FIRST TRIMESTER of pregnancy. I don't know about you, but this makes me incredibly nervous. It is all too easy to not even know you're pregnant for the first 6 weeks. Think about that: Six weeks of ingesting a drug known to cause birth defects! As though you weren't depressed enough before, you're gonna be even more depressed when you find out what you've done to welcome your child into the world. Yet the same conservatives who believe life begins the second the egg is fertilized will NOT support a ban on the drug that could cause harm to the very same fetus. And they certainly wouldn't approve of terminating the pregnancy if one did find out too late. That's good logic, isn't it?

A drug commonly prescribed for youth to treat the dubitable attention deficicit disorder actually causes suicidal thinking in children and adolescents.

We know the drug industry has a powerful lobby, and we know that these corporations will fare well with a White House, Congress, and Supreme Court all controlled by a conservative party that sides with business against the consumer, business against the global environment. In the case of these drugs, they'll be siding with profit over the health, safety, and wellbeing of pregnant mothers and children.

Please be advised.

I think we need to add THAT to the drugs' warning labels.