Turning Back the Clock
Paulie Brading
In May 2010, women and men celebrated the 50th anniversery of an FDA Advisory committee to approve the use of the first birth control pill. Today 98% of American women use birth control as some point in their lives. The Pill put women in control of their bodies and their lives. These days woman have an array of choices including the hormonal patch, vaginal ring, and new injectibles.
One of the oldest references to birth control comes from the Bible. In the book of Genesis men are called upon to practice coitus interruptus, known as the withdrawal method. Fast forward to pre-industrial America when Charles Goodyear began producing condoms and diaphragms made from vulcanized rubber. Margaret Sanger, well into her 80's underwrote the research necessary to create the first birth control pill. In 1965 The Supreme Court ruled that married couples had the right to use birth control as protected in the Constitution as a "right to privacy." In 1972 The Supreme Court legalized birth control for all citizens of the country regardless of marital status.
Here we are again. Gingrich, Romney and Santorum are racing to turn back the clock. The farce and fuss of religion's banning birth control is just crazy. 80% of American Catholic women were using the pill back in the 80's for goodness sake. This fake religious war on birth control and choice is the old bait and switch tactic we've seen so many times before.
Don't under estimate the brainy outspoken women of the 21st century. When they mail in their ballots in November, they will fill the bubble beside Obama's name. After all he has two smart daughters and one brainy wife. Betty Friedan must be rolling over in her grave,
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7:09 p.m.
Feb 9, '12
"You go girl!" I remember protesting for Women's Rights back in the 60's and 70's and I'm a guy. I often wonder what happened to my so called "Free Love" generation?
7:51 a.m.
Feb 10, '12
Well, you got to give them props! They are consistent in their mission to turn the clock back. They want to set labor back to the 19th century (not 20th) when we had child labor, sweat shops, and no minimum wage or overtime.
7:53 a.m.
Feb 10, '12
Apparently the GOP has cut a deal (well constructed and planned ahead of time according to today's NY Times )where the Vatican gets to dictate what health care American women get to have in our country. And the GOP may now nominate Rick Santorum who thinks any form of contraception is evil and should be banned. Don't blame this on the Catholic laity, they all use birth control (98%). It's being done by old men in red hats, the same guys who protect pedophiles.
9:36 a.m.
Feb 10, '12
Excellent news conference. Women get their free contraceptive health care. Now the Roman hierarchy and their partners the GOP can rail away, but are revealed for what they are, women haters trying to rally their base of bigots. They are losing on this issue: Fox News poll: "61 percent of voters approve of the requirement, while 34 percent disapprove. "
11:04 a.m.
Feb 10, '12
Paulie, thanks. We need to make it clear how this connects to extremist anti-abortion politics and how all of it is about controlling women's bodies & lives.
Patrick, the Young Americans for Freedom, David Stockmans etc. were there all along.
Bill, I guess the Catholic Church is out front on this but the extremist views on contraception as abortion are held by many Protestants too.
3:40 p.m.
Feb 10, '12
Chris, not by mainline Protestants, (Methodist, Presbyterian, UCC, Episcopal,etc.)but by the fundamentalist Evanglicals.
4:07 p.m.
Feb 10, '12
Paulie: Genesis does not "call upon" men to practice this form of birth control. The person who practices it is "displeasing" to God who in fact kills him. Just a point of clarification. Genesis 38:8-9. PBS is generally a good source of reference (your sentence is found, word for word, on the American Experience website regarding "The Pill") but it's always good to do some follow up on a source before borrowing their thought.
Full disclosure: I'm a practicing Catholic who's not about to point a finger at any man or woman practicing artificial birth control. I have enough problems of my own.
11:28 a.m.
Feb 15, '12
There's really no way to know if God killed Onan (along with his brother Er) because of Onan's "Onanism"--usually defined as masterbation and/or coitus interruptus. Read literally, God killed Onan because Onan disobeyed the order of his father, Judah, to "sleep with his [dead] brother's wife . . . and raise up issue for his brother." Onan famously "spilled his seed on the ground" instead (New English Bible translation). Then he got killed by God as his brother had been before him (Genesis 5-11). A great way to read Genesis is in Genesis Illustrated by R. Crumb (Norton 2009).
12:56 p.m.
Feb 12, '12
With the administration accommodation on this there is a broad majority favoring universal access to birth control including the more moderate Catholic groups, like Catholic Health Care Association. Meantime the Roman bishops, the old guys with the red hats, the P.P.A. -Pedophile Protection Association, have made themselves an arm of the GOP. (Or is it the other way around?)
What we have now is an excellent platform for Dems to run on, universal access for all women to have contraceptive health care coverage, vs. the GOP, who along with the Vatican, wants to block access to contraception for American women. All in all a great move by the administration. http://www.thepeoplesview.net/2012/02/nontroversy-resolved-another-genius.html