So here I am. The waters have retreated and I’m standing on dry beach, and all these new people are standing around and near me. I’m being welcomed, and it all seems very friendly. I want to let my guard down. I really do. But damn, folks, it’s HARD.
Recently, I had a conversation with Chris about birth control. We all know that “just don’t have sex” doesn’t work, and hasn’t worked since before written history. I was explaining that to me, it just makes sense that if you want a low abortion rate (which I do), then the answer is to have effective, inexpensive, low side-effect birth control. Preferably, you want several types, too, so that people have choices, and so that men and women both can be involved in being responsible.
I pointed out that there are many people on the Right who advocate eradicating both abortion AND birth control, and I want to know why. Why is that so important, to remove birth control from people? It makes no sense to me.
I admit, I may have said to Chris that a good portion of unwanted babies (via rape and incest, for example) all have come about because of men. Women don’t rape men and then get upset over getting pregnant (or there are so few that I’ve not only never read about it, I’ve never even heard a whisper about it) and become so emotional that they require an abortion. That makes men the problem. This is, of course, a grand simplification of the issue and removes franchise from women, which is not cool. But the idea is there, and it’s not a wrong idea, it’s just that it’s too vague as currently stated. Chris’s response was, of course, that men who commit incest or diddle little girls should be fed through a wood chipper on low speed, feet first, wearing a tourniquet. I heartily agree with him on that one.
But that doesn’t address the birth control issue. The worst part is, I don’t even really know how to ask the question, or what to say to get a reasonable (ie truthful, meaningful, statistically relevant) answer. How many people on the Right are interested in legislating or otherwise taking away the right to use birth control? This is not a question about paying for it, by the by. I know there’s insurance issues and all that. That’s not a part of what I’m after here. For the purposes of this line of questioning, you can assume that everyone pays up front cash for their birth control. How do I find out whether the Left is correct about this issue?
Now, I know some of you are going to say, “The Left opened their mouths, therefore they’re lying.” You’re probably correct. But HOW are you correct? And how correct are you? I have personally heard enough Right leaning politicians make negative commentary about birth control that I know there’s a nugget of truth in there. Is that all it is? A handful of malcontents that the rest of the party just ignores? Or is it more of a grass roots movement that might, under the right circumstances, catch fire and burn me and mine?
What makes all this even worse, for me, is that Plan B (which is a type of abortion, let’s be blunt and honest here) is being equated with birth control. They are not the same. I do not have an issue with Plan B, or how it works, but it’s not birth control in the way that most people mean it (ie the Pill, condoms, spermicide, IUDs, etc.). And since I’ve mentioned it, many of the anti-abortion groups are also incredibly anti-IUD. Of course, many of those are also anti-birth control as well.
I just don’t understand a lot of this. I realize some of my confusion may be because of my Left viewpoint, but I really am trying to understand. If you want less pregnancies, you either stop having sex, or you use birth control. Those are the only two options, folks. Am I missing something?
In the history of the universe as we know it, stopping having sex has never worked. Statistically speaking, it’s one of the worst failures on record. In case you would like stats on that, here’s some information:
- Funding for Abstinence Only Education (Nat’l Library of Medicine)
- Abstinence Only Education and Teen Pregnancy Rates (PLOS One)
- Abstinence and Abstinence Only Education (Journal of Adolescent Health)
That leaves us with birth control. Yet the loudest voices out there are the ones that are yelling to get rid of birth control, AND to stop abortions and teen pregnancies and and and…
It’s just not logical.
The squeaky wheel always gets the grease. The loudest voices are always heard more than the quiet ones. I understand that. And I understand that the Right doesn’t decry people under its umbrella as much as the Left does, when people get “out of line” so to speak. I have to ask, though… If many of those on the Right are in support of birth control and against abortion, why aren’t at least a few of those people picking up a bullhorn and letting everyone know?
Some of the problem is that the Left does a lot of the reporting. They want the Right to look bad, so they focus on the (presumably) few that are making noise about banning birth control. This makes the Right look bad, and the Left is happy. Usually when it’s something like this, though, where it’s the reporters that are causing it, I can look around and find news from the Right that has information that’s much more balanced or nuanced or just plan sane. But I can’t find it. It’s been suggested to me that this is a matter of “no one on the Right cares about it and therefore we don’t talk about it, so when the Left reports on it, we sound like we don’t care.” Basically, it’s not something that the Right focuses on and so there’s no “party line,” but it sounds like the Right is all about banning birth control when the Left lights it up. I don’t know. Again, this is really confusing to me.
Birth control is of interest to everyone. Where abortion can be clearly pointed at as a question of morals (no matter when, at SOME point that egg and sperm unite and become a baby), birth control actively prevents the egg and sperm uniting. Both men and women (should) have an equal interest in birth control. It’s a legitimate health issue. It’s safe, which we know after almost 100 years of pretty much constant use. Why isn’t this a party prerogative, or at least something that’s discussed as a valid method to lower the abortion rate? I know for me, every time someone says they want to stop abortions, I suggest that they use birth control or stop having sex, because both those things stop abortions effectively.
I’m happy that Trump has definitively said that he personally supports early abortions (which he declined to define, but said that Florida’s six week ban was a bit too short a time because many women don’t know they’re pregnant at the six week point), that he will always support whatever’s needed for those who’ve suffered rape or incest. That isn’t speaking for the party, though. Trump, if he wins, is going to be in office for four years. What about the folks that come after him? I need to know what they’re thinking, and they’re just not speaking about it.
Someone, please, use a bullhorn and talk to me (if not everyone else left of you) about this topic.
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