It’s okay not to menstruate

Unlike Jessica, I’m not very freaked out by the idea of birth control pills that don’t create a monthly period. Research is scant on the long-term health effects of using monthly birth control pills versus a trimonthly or no-period regimen, but we do know:

Early oral contraceptive developers selected a regimen of 21 days of active drug followed by 7 hormone-free days to mimic the average menstrual cycle. They believed such a regimen would be perceived as more “natural,” thereby making the new product more acceptable to potential users, prescribers, and the Roman Catholic church. […] Oral contraceptive users have limited endometrial buildup and do not require monthly shedding of the lining. Despite the appearance of being “natural,” the OC withdrawal bleed is medically induced and has no proven physiologic or health benefits.

I don’t see extended oral contraceptives as “treatment” for menstruation, or an implication that menstruation is a dirty thing that should be avoided. This is just another birth control option. One drawback to never getting a period is losing that monthly assurance that you’re not pregnant. And many people have, rightly, pointed out the lack of long-term research on continuous use of oral contraceptives. But that should be a health risk that women can choose to take if they’re informed by their doctor. For many women, like those who suffer from endometriosis, their periods are so painful that they’re more than willing to take the long-term risk. We shouldn’t knock “not menstruating” just because some of us aren’t comfortable with that choice.
Interestingly, there’s been research done on the costs of having a monthly period versus taking the Pill continuously. Maybe the cost of oral contraceptives (or tampons) has changed since then, but researchers found it was cheaper to menstruate monthly.
Entirely separate from the medical issue, Amanda points out that using the term “natural” to describe monthly menstruation is dangerous territory:

If you buy into the idea that it’s somehow better to bleed than to not, you’re buying into a mythology of the sanctity of feminine “naturalnessâ€? that exists predominantly to oppress women. […] But what’s critical to me is that feminists get as far the fuck away as possible from being swayed by arguments about whether or not something is “naturalâ€?. If you criticize the pill or women who resent their periods because they aren’t “naturalâ€?, you’re feeding the beast that will lead to contraception bans so that women can return to our “naturalâ€? state of having one in you and one on you at all points in time.

Agreed.