Jim Bob Duggar Claims Birth Control Pill Caused Michelle’s Miscarriage
Uh oh. The ’19 Kids & Counting’ patriarch, Jim Bob Duggar, sparked controversy when he claimed that his wife Michelle’s birth control caused her to have a miscarriage after their first child.
Jim Bob Duggar, 49, is the father of 19 children with his wife of 30 years, Michelle Duggar, 47, but their family views on birth control have always been pretty strict. In a recent interview, Jim Bob claimed that he and his wife firmly believe it was the short period of time she spent on birth control that caused her body to “abort” one of their unborn children.
Jim Bob Duggar Thinks Birth Control Can Cause Miscarriage
Now we know why the Duggar family is so anti-birth control and contraception.
At the 2014 Values Voter Summit in Sept. 2014 in Washington, D.C., Jim Bob was interviewed the The Friddle Show to discuss his pro-life views and his efforts to involve other conservative christians in politics and voting.
That’s when he decided to reveal that his wife, Michelle, was once on birth control during the early years of their marriage. Unfortunately, he also believes it was her time on birth control that caused her miscarriage of what would have been their second child.
“When Michelle and I first got married, we got married pretty young. She was 17, I was 19, and we thought we would eventually have 1 or 2, 3 children, but we weren’t ready for children right away. So she went on the birth control pill, and it was on that until about 3 and a half years into our marriage, and then […] she ended up going off the pill. We had our first son, Josh. Then she went back on the pill,” Jim Bob explained.
Take Our Poll“And then something we didn’t know is that the pill can actually allow women to get pregnant, but then it can be aborted. That’s what happened with Michelle.”
Jim Bob then went on to explain that he and Michelle started to examine the situation and even spoke to a Christian doctor who “confirmed” their beliefs. The religious couple also looked at scripture about having children, which is when they realized that they would stay away from contraceptions and have as many children as God would allow them to have.
While it’s wonderful that Jim Bob and Michelle embraced the idea of having as many children as possible, Salon revealed a 1995 medical study which completely disproves Jim Bob’s claims that birth control can cause miscarriages or “involuntary abortions.”
Then of course there is the Columbia Health’s Go Ask Alice! column which once wrote, “Continuing to take the birth control pill before or after a pregnancy is confirmed will not abort the fetus. Oral contraceptives don’t cause miscarriages because they do not have any effect on a fertilized embryo. Birth control pills — generally made of estrogen and progestin (synthetic progesterone) — essentially prevent pregnancy by inhibiting ovulation and/or causing the cervical mucus to thicken. It is also unlikely that taking the pill will have any effect on fetal development.”
So tell us, HollyMoms — Do you agree with Jim Bob on this topic, or do you think he’s misinformed? Comment below with your thoughts!
Tell us, HollywoodLifers —
— Lauren Cox
Follow @Iaurencox
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