World without blood, world without tears

Maclean’s : The end of the period

In 2006, a new oral contraceptive called Anya, developed to “put women in control of when or if they want to menstruate,” is expected to hit the Canadian and U.S. markets. Manufactured by Collegeville, Penn.-based Wyeth Pharmaceuticals — and currently pending approval by Health Canada — Anya is the first low-dose birth control pill designed to be taken 365 days a year, without placebos (the hormone-free sugar pills taken at the end of every 28-day cycle). Early findings report that Anya is just as effective in preventing pregnancy as traditional oral contraceptives (98 per cent). And as an added bonus, since Anya provides a steady stream of hormones, it promises to quash a woman’s usual cyclical fluctuations, virtually wiping out all the irksome symptoms of PMS.

“irksome” symptoms, indeed.
Imagine how they they must be for women.

(Apropos our in-party discussion of “rabbits and menstruation” – I.’s research and Wikipedia say that only primates menstruate; rabbits have “estrus”).