The big test. Remember, I mentioned The Big Test. The big test didn't happen on Saturday, as we so anxiously hoped (and were told). We had a speaker at school Saturday. It was on STD's, now officially referred to as STI's - because, hey, we gotta be PC and calling an infection a disease isn't OK anymore. Why we care so much, I'm not sure.
So the lecture was good, except that the woman giving it was very pro-Planned Parenthood, pro-Plan B (the "Emergency Contraception" morning-after pill), and even tried to tell our class that the "American Council of Catholic ArchBishops", which isn't even what it's called (it's the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, for Pete's sake, but I didn't tell her that), had approved the use of Plan B for rape victims. Really. Oh yes, I have documentation on it, she tells us. "Really. I'd like to see it," I told her.
Then she went on to say the reason they approved it was because it's not an "abortifacient". Which is interesting. I asked her what she considered an abortifacient. She said that Plan B will do nothing if you already have an implanted embryo. Therefore, it depends on your definition of "pregnancy". It was pretty obvious in her mind that a sperm and an egg joining don't constitute life.
When I pressed her a little more on the issue, she said it works by changing the uterine lining so that implantation cannot occur, affecting sperm motility, and maybe by stopping ovulation. So I asked what happens if you give this to a woman and the sperm has already made it to the egg and fertilized it. She said what I knew was coming....the embryo can't implant. When I pressed a little more, she wasn't really sure that any one had condoned its use, just that it helps to tell women that they're not "killing" a baby if they take it, because "it won't hurt an implanted embryo". Because she was a guest of my instructor's, and we were in a class (with a limited time-frame), I kinda left it there and kept my comments to my classmates until we broke for lunch.
Please don't think I'm trying to say that women who are raped are doomed to carry the child of their rapist. She was talking not just about that issue and use of Plan B, but the use of Plan B in her midwifery practice for any woman who wants it, raped or not, AND then she added that the Church has approved it (which it hasn't). I am just venting at my irritation that she took the liberty to try and inform my class that if their Catholic patients ask you can tell them it's OK - 'cause it's not.
I would never turn my midwifery practice into a place that advocates for the culture of death. I can't believe that this information was included in our lecture.
The rest of the information was, well, informative. I haven't seen so many gross pictures of STD's since the 7th grade. Ewww.
Then the test was today. And how did I do? Do you wanna know? I ACED IT. Yep. There was a whole bunch of stuff on there that we didn't even bother to study, and I still aced it. I am feeling quite proud of myself. Btw, the test was an accumulation of ALL the information we learned about over the last 6 months. It's the first test we've had, so I was a little nervous. It was probably 18 pages long (I think that's what she said).
So I celebrated. I went out for lunch with a classmate, came home, and promptly took a nap. The nap continued until my hands woke me up 'cause they were aching. Thursday cannot come too soon.
~H
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