The Issue of Free Birth Control

One of the worst parts of Rush Limbaugh’s argument—and there were many—was the implied irony of it. Say birth control had no medical value to a girl and was strictly used for the prevention of pregnancy. One could infer the following from Limbaugh’s comments: he’d rather not offer females free access to birth control through insurance and instead would be willing to pay for the children of the girls that did end up getting pregnant, because without access to birth control that is what will happen.

John Stewart’s portrayal of the matter was humorous, and I think the satire worked so long as the viewer had a basic awareness of the issue. However, just like the panel in Washington a few weeks ago concerning this very subject, it was majorly men discussing an issue that pertains to women, and since men do not take birth control, it seemed nonsensical to me. How can a group of men stand up and claim to understand the value of birth control to a woman? No matter how much research has been done, it is biologically impossible to understand, just as it would be for a female to understand the value of Viagra to a male. Society has put such a taboo on the word because of its connotations: if someone is taking birth control, that must mean he or she is having sex regularly. That’s where the issue becomes confusing to me—if more and more young girls are having sex, there should be no question in doing all that is possible to prevent pregnancy, especially since they will continue to have sex with or without protection.

I think the idea of free birth control is a pretty revolutionary concept, if only because of what it could prevent. But I don’t think it will last long—public outrage is pretty intense, and the election year works in favor of the Limbaughs and Catholic Churches out there that are appalled at the very idea. Perhaps if there were more people out there like the female physician featured for less than thirty seconds in Stewart’s show, people would be more educated about the issue, and there would be far less disdain for what Obama is trying to do.