Kellie Powell (![[info]](http://l-stat.livejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif){kind=small} wednesdayview) wrote,@ 2006-02-14 13:31:00 |
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The Continuing Fight for Free Choice
Ninety years ago, a woman named Margaret Sanger was arrested and sent to jail for telling women about diaphragms. According to Ellen Chesler's book "Woman of Valor: Margaret Sanger and the Birth Control Movement in America," Sanger spent a month in jail, but the experience only strengthened her resolve to teach women how to use diaphragms. She even taught diaphragm use to the women she was with in jail.
All throughout history, people have wanted to be able to decide if and when to have a child. Contraceptives have been used in one form or another for thousands of years. Today, 98% of American women have used some form of birth control during their lifetime, according to a 2005 report by the Guttmacher Institute.
Yes, women have put on their shoes and come out of the kitchen. But the fight for birth control continues. Unfortunately, 40 years after the Supreme Court struck down a law banning birth control, there are still many traditionalist, conservative, and fundamentalist individuals and groups trying to block women's access to contraception.
Some of the most vocal opponents of abortion are also opponents of birth control measures and sex education programs that would prevent unintended pregnancies and reduce the need for abortions.
February 13-19 is National Contraceptive Awareness Week. Contraception is not only a woman's issue. It is not only an issue for people who are sexually active. Contraception is an important issue for anyone who wants every child in our country to be a wanted child.
There are a variety of contraception issues and disputes that deserve national attention.
According to NARAL, women have been waiting 1826 days for the FDA to approve emergency contraception, or the "morning-after" pill, for over-the-counter purchase.
In a decision the General Accounting Office (GAO) called "highly unusual," the FDA ignored the recommendations of two of its own advisory boards, and the opinions of outside experts - in declining to make EC available for over-the-counter purchase.
Joseph B. Stanford, who was appointed to the FDA committee by (who else?) George W. Bush, refuses to prescribe the birth control pill, saying it's "incompatible with Christian values."
Apparently, the opinions of medical health professionals are not going to be as important in determining the reproductive freedom of American citizens as the religious convictions of a few powerful men.
Even if a woman receives a prescription from her doctor for emergency contraception, renegade pharmacists across the country are refusing to fill legal, valid prescriptions for birth control.
If states decide that a pharmacist can refuse to fill a prescription for birth control, what will stop pharmacists from refusing to fill any other prescription. Some religions forbid the use of anti-depressants, some religions forbid the use of antibiotics. Most followers of these religions do not become pharmacists. They don't become pharmacists because pharmacists must accept that they have an obligation to fill prescriptions, even those they might not approve of.
Access to birth control also depends on affordability for many women. While most insurers generally cover prescription drugs, not all insurers cover prescription contraceptives.
Today, fewer than half of all states have laws ensuring that private
insurance companies treat prescription birth control the same as other prescription drugs.
Some insurance providers cover Viagra – but not birth control. You have to wonder - are any women working for them?
But the government hasn't only denied women access to contraception, it has also been working to eliminate women's access to information about contraception. At the federal and state level, money is being given to "abstinence-only" education, which often gives young people misleading - or just plain false - information about sex, pregnancy, and diseases.
Opponents to comprehensive safer-sex education claim that talking about birth control encourages teenagers to have sex, obviously forgetting the fact that teenagers really don't need any encouragement.
Comprehensive sexual education does not encourage teenagers to have sex. It encourages teenagers to consider the risks associated with sex, and to take precautions if and when they decide to have intercourse. Taking away young people's access to such important information only puts them in danger.
It's time to demand that the parties interferring with women's healthcare be held accountable. Resources are available on the web that make it easier than ever for citizens to make their voices heard. If Margaret Sanger could spend a month in jail for this belief, you can spend five minutes standing up for choice.
Ninety years ago, a woman named Margaret Sanger was arrested and sent to jail for telling women about diaphragms. According to Ellen Chesler's book "Woman of Valor: Margaret Sanger and the Birth Control Movement in America," Sanger spent a month in jail, but the experience only strengthened her resolve to teach women how to use diaphragms. She even taught diaphragm use to the women she was with in jail.
All throughout history, people have wanted to be able to decide if and when to have a child. Contraceptives have been used in one form or another for thousands of years. Today, 98% of American women have used some form of birth control during their lifetime, according to a 2005 report by the Guttmacher Institute.
Yes, women have put on their shoes and come out of the kitchen. But the fight for birth control continues. Unfortunately, 40 years after the Supreme Court struck down a law banning birth control, there are still many traditionalist, conservative, and fundamentalist individuals and groups trying to block women's access to contraception.
Some of the most vocal opponents of abortion are also opponents of birth control measures and sex education programs that would prevent unintended pregnancies and reduce the need for abortions.
February 13-19 is National Contraceptive Awareness Week. Contraception is not only a woman's issue. It is not only an issue for people who are sexually active. Contraception is an important issue for anyone who wants every child in our country to be a wanted child.
There are a variety of contraception issues and disputes that deserve national attention.
According to NARAL, women have been waiting 1826 days for the FDA to approve emergency contraception, or the "morning-after" pill, for over-the-counter purchase.
In a decision the General Accounting Office (GAO) called "highly unusual," the FDA ignored the recommendations of two of its own advisory boards, and the opinions of outside experts - in declining to make EC available for over-the-counter purchase.
Joseph B. Stanford, who was appointed to the FDA committee by (who else?) George W. Bush, refuses to prescribe the birth control pill, saying it's "incompatible with Christian values."
Apparently, the opinions of medical health professionals are not going to be as important in determining the reproductive freedom of American citizens as the religious convictions of a few powerful men.
Even if a woman receives a prescription from her doctor for emergency contraception, renegade pharmacists across the country are refusing to fill legal, valid prescriptions for birth control.
If states decide that a pharmacist can refuse to fill a prescription for birth control, what will stop pharmacists from refusing to fill any other prescription. Some religions forbid the use of anti-depressants, some religions forbid the use of antibiotics. Most followers of these religions do not become pharmacists. They don't become pharmacists because pharmacists must accept that they have an obligation to fill prescriptions, even those they might not approve of.
Access to birth control also depends on affordability for many women. While most insurers generally cover prescription drugs, not all insurers cover prescription contraceptives.
Today, fewer than half of all states have laws ensuring that private
insurance companies treat prescription birth control the same as other prescription drugs.
Some insurance providers cover Viagra – but not birth control. You have to wonder - are any women working for them?
But the government hasn't only denied women access to contraception, it has also been working to eliminate women's access to information about contraception. At the federal and state level, money is being given to "abstinence-only" education, which often gives young people misleading - or just plain false - information about sex, pregnancy, and diseases.
Opponents to comprehensive safer-sex education claim that talking about birth control encourages teenagers to have sex, obviously forgetting the fact that teenagers really don't need any encouragement.
Comprehensive sexual education does not encourage teenagers to have sex. It encourages teenagers to consider the risks associated with sex, and to take precautions if and when they decide to have intercourse. Taking away young people's access to such important information only puts them in danger.
It's time to demand that the parties interferring with women's healthcare be held accountable. Resources are available on the web that make it easier than ever for citizens to make their voices heard. If Margaret Sanger could spend a month in jail for this belief, you can spend five minutes standing up for choice.
