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Today is the 42nd anniversary of the legalization of birth control in America. And while 81% of voters (see link below), male, female, red state or blue state believe in access to birth control and medically accurate sex education in public schools, listening to the leaders of this country you'd think sometimes most Americans think sex is a crime and birth control should be outlawed. Why? The agenda of a few radical activists seems to have corroded the brains of many politicians in Washington, DC.
At a briefing today to command support for the the bipartisan Prevention First Act (that would require health plans, including Medicaid, to offer the same level of coverage for contraceptives as for other prescription drugs and services. It would also mandate comprehensive sex education in schools and access to emergency contraception for rape victims and is in front of the House now) women's rights leaders shared incredulity that polls show most Americans believe access to birth control is a basic human right and a normal value, because since the 1980's, public policy would indicate otherwise. Recently, the Bush administration has poured billions into funding "abstinence only education," which doesn't work, while cutting family planning funding.
With huge respect to the feminist icons who helped bring us what rights we have today, why are you so incredulous? Maybe it's because these leaders are all of a certain age. Ask younger women who've come of sexual age in an increasingly conservative nation, and I don't think they'd be so shocked. Rather, many young year old women are just used to shelling out big bucks for the pill, or praying they won't need emergency contraception or an abortion...if they even know it's available, since there is so little money spent on awareness.
Eleanor Smeal and her comrades fought, then enjoyed a brief period in which Americans' values about sexuality were vaguely in line with politicians. Not so any more.
Dr. Susan Wood, who became a hero to many sane people when she resigned as assistant commissioner for women’s health at the Food and Drug Administration to protest the FDA’s politically-driven "foot-dragging in approving emergency contraception, said most people were surprised when they learn that policymakers are opposed to birth control. “Then they become outraged,†she said.
That's why the Prevention First Act matters: it funds better education and access to birth control for all Americans. This reduces the need for abortions. Please keep tabs on this bill, contact your leaders if relevant.
From the press release:
Rep. Louise Slaughter (D-NY), chair of the House Committee on Rules and a pro-choice champion, noted that conservatives are undermining Americans’ access to family planning information and services through “conscience clauses†that allow pharmacies to refuse to dispense contraceptives; funding for abstinence-only sex education; and opposition to emergency contraceptives and stem cell research. Many insurance companies do not cover the costs of family planning, she said, causing great hardship to poor women.
Links to polling: www.BirthControlWatch.org: According to the BirthControlWatch.org poll, between half of voters and six in ten strongly agree that to achieve equality women must have access to birth control, that health insurance plans that cover prescription drugs should also cover birth control, and that the federal government should provide funding for birth control for women with low incomes.
