@guerrillarain "Hormonal medication" maybe? That's broad, would also pull in HRT, maybe thyroid stuff etc depending on the audience's understanding of the word "hormone".

More narrowly, "artificial progesterone" which is the active component of most hormonal contraceptives.

But if you really need people to accurately report their medications, "birth control" should still be included as a cue, people are weirdly context-dependently forgetful.

@guerrillarain ... though there are alternative hormonal birth control methods that use different mechanisms. Like, the Romans drove a plant extinct that probably suppressed progesterone production, thereby preventing implantation & pregnancy.

@guerrillarain Not sure if this is how you mean but, "health reasons" ?

@bhtooefr Yeah! I thought about that too but ran out of characters so i cut that bit out.

"Hormonal menstrual cycle modification" is definitely better.

@guerrillarain It's a bit long and unwieldy, though. But, it's accurate and talks about things other than the contraceptive aspects.

@alice I always forget about it tbh since it's just like planted there and has a localized effect so unless my doctor says "birth control" or "uterus", it completely slips my mind.

@guerrillarain @alice I can still feel mine

after 4 years

no forgetting

@guerrillarain @alice more seriously

I feel like birth control is one of the most common actually useful bodymods and we do it a disservice by calling it it birth control

but calling it a "hormonal regulator" or whatever more serious language seems more like either something people do post menopause or hormonal transition

(reposted 'cause my use of the word "actual" was bugging me)

@Zaiaku The pill is just a digestible hormone (I think it's very similar if not the exact same pill that trans women use when they begin transitioning) that has the effect of altering the cycle for cis women.

so modification is probably a good avenue to take with it, yeah.

@guerrillarain Fair enough. So HCM. Shorter and I think it gets the idea across.

@guerrillarain thanks for this discussion. just a short mark: "altering the cycle for cis woman" erases some trans people again. "altering the menstrual cycle" would be better.

@knittingsquirrel you're right! Thanks for that! I didn't catch it.

@Aggy_C Didn't think about it. I was just kinda musing out loud...