Contraception: the new abortion
By Sean Aqui | Related entries in Abortion, Health Care, News, Religion, SexualityResearchers using federal data recently found that — surprise, surprise — abortion rates rise as contraceptive use declines, and vice versa.
Gee, imagine that. Sounds like common sense, doesn’t it? So why am I writing about it?
Because some people — relatively influential people — disagree. Some Christian conservatives are starting to jump on the same bandwagon that Catholic groups have occupied for decades: life begins at fertilization, and anything that interferes with that — or theoretically could interfere with that — is abortion. And they’re willing to use laws and government regulations to get their way. And that means targeting the pill, IUDs and other devices.
I’ve got a few opinions on the matter.
This entry was posted on Monday, May 8th, 2006 and is filed under Abortion, Health Care, News, Religion, Sexuality. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.
May 8th, 2006 at 3:38 pm
Yep, all this pro-life BS within the GOP has moved the bar further and further toward the fringe. It’s taken about 18 years, but it looks like the GOP is leaving me and not the other way around.
BTW, Limbaugh has been around for about 18 years….
May 8th, 2006 at 3:40 pm
I forgot to mention that your link isn’t working.
May 8th, 2006 at 4:14 pm
Thanks for the heads up. Link is fixed.
May 8th, 2006 at 9:12 pm
Does this surprise anybody? Not me. Not in the least.
May 8th, 2006 at 11:08 pm
Used to be this was one of the areas where Catholic Church was more dingy than the standard “Christian”.. not ‘ny more!
May 9th, 2006 at 8:57 am
The Catholic Church has been hijacked by a tiny minority of extremist Cardinals and Popes.
May 9th, 2006 at 9:31 am
Jimmy,
What do you mean by that? Are you saying that a tiny minority of extremist Cardinals and Popes have decided to start claiming that birth control is the same as abortion. Cause if so, that’s not true. Birth control has been a major no-no for Catholics since they got started. I’m assuming you were joking.
May 9th, 2006 at 9:38 am
What’s really fun about this is that birth control is not covered very well, if at all, by insurance. Why? It’s a lifestyle choice, not a medical necessity. So Viagra is covered for the gents because they have a medical problem, but the ladies can’t get their no-babies pills covered because not having a kid is merely a lifestyle choice. That’s the status quo. Now add the argument that contraception is similar to abortion. I can’t wait to see what effect that has on the situation. Awesome!
May 9th, 2006 at 12:11 pm
Meredith — what Jimmy means is that the Church has been hijacked by a tiny minority of cardinals and popes that actual believe Church doctrine, as opposed to the vast majority of priests and sisters, particularly in U.S., with no real theological difference between them and the unitarians or other, shall we say ‘moderate’, Christian denominations.
May 9th, 2006 at 3:22 pm
Actually, I was just joking. I thought it would be funny to compare Catholic doctrine to Muslim doctrine, since everyone seems to think violent jihad ideology is mutable, and “hijacked by a tiny minority of extremists” is a common phrase westerners use to describe “real” Islam.
How are we supposed to define what is real religion and what is not? There appears to be quite a few double standards out there when talking about different religions.
May 10th, 2006 at 10:07 am
I think it’s hard to compare catholicism to islam because there are no murdering sprees currently underway at the hands of catholics. Maybe go back to the Spanish Inquisition (which no one expects) . . . .
But, alas, there is no tiny majority of catholic hierarchy pulling all the strings in that religion. There are “cafeteria” catholics (I used to be one before I dropped the religion thing altogether) who pick and choose which rules they would like to follow, and they leave the ones they don’t like. This, of course, is frowned upon. In my experience as a catholic, no one thinks birth control is OK in church, but then most people go home and use it and tell their kids to use it. And, it’s true that there are many catholics who feel that the church needs an update on its policies and procedures, but I encounter just as many people who strongly disagree with that idea.
I guess the only example of “extreme” caholicism is the group that Mel Gibson belongs to (don’t know what it’s called), and I believe that their thing is to follow the rules pre-Vatican II instead of post.
May 26th, 2006 at 9:26 am
“birth control is not covered very well”
What insurance do you have? I know Blue Cross and the government plan (GEHA) both offer the generic version of the Pill for $5 a month. I’m pretty sure they have to cover it, because taking the Pill is required for some other medications that can cause birth defects (the one I know of is Acutaine (sp?)).
July 20th, 2006 at 4:14 am
Birth control pills are of great help for women who are having better family planning. These pills are used by the consult of the doctors after examining the patient. Birth control pills are prescribed to have one pill once daily before having sex.The birth control pills are better than any other prevention used for birth control.
August 6th, 2006 at 9:09 pm
I agree with Meredith. When I was on birth control, the only way I could get it covered was to get it at the health clinic. My insurance didn’t cover it and it cost me $25. That was 5 years ago. I can’t imagine what it costs now. As a women, we are required to think about all the family planning. I chose an IUD because I only had to pay for it once. This type of birth control is not right for everyone. My husband is catholic and they believe that all birth control are abortificents due to the fact they MIGHT keep a fertilized egg from emplanting in the uterus. Isn’t that the point of birth control?? I though pregnancy began once the ovum and sperm have implanted in the uterus and it tells the mothers body that she is pregnant. I am sad that the government feels that having the ability to attain an erection is more important then reducing the abortion rate. I am pro-choice in that I am pro-active in a women’s right to chose what type of birth control she needs and it be available to her. The far right has left me along time ago when they said it was ok for Pharmacists to not fill birth control due to their religious beliefs. Since when do we harm the majority for the minority who are not doing there jobs and should be fired. What ever happend to the hypocratic oath that all take in medice “Do no harm”??
November 16th, 2006 at 10:36 pm
The same guys (most likely!) who decided that it is a medical neccessity for a man to be able to have an erection might have thought things through and realized that the erection may have more opportunities for application if the woman is not scared to death of getting knocked up by it. Jeez! Kinda failed on the follow through, there…
Give the women their cheap birth control pills and everybody will be in a better mood!
And, trying to roll back the right to an abortion to earlier & earlier stages is bad enough, now some proposing that even the prevention of a sperm and an egg from getting acquainted is “abortion” is just an amazing track of “logic” to be on…
I suppose NEXT ejaculation without implantation will be considered… oh, gee…
I guess that is already categorized as a SIN in some places, huh. Hmmm.
Thank GOD I am not religious. Waaay too much intrusion on a person’s private life!
November 24th, 2006 at 6:17 am
hello evreybody :)
this is a really goos site and i would like to thank anybody and everybody who helped design and make it. It has helped me lots throughout a project i am currently doing. cheers -1-
April 30th, 2007 at 6:27 pm
S sommer, you need to get some Jesus, but i am not here to make another topic. i am here merely to say my opinion on this whole abortion thing. jacking off is pretty much alot worse than having one baby killed because it kills thousands of other potential babies( but still, who doesnt do it) and nobody is making a big deal out of that. i believe that as soon as the baby is growing there is life and it is then murder to kill the poor babe. who would kill such a defensless creature? humans. even if i wasnt religious i think i would believe this. if you didnt want to have a baby, its called condoms