Roundup: Everyone Has an Opinion

Rewire strives to bring you the best and latest in reproductive health news.  But I'll admit it I can't leave an editorial or a letter to the editor unread. Sometimes there are opinions so good they just have to be shared. These are NOT those kind.

Here at Rewire, we strive to bring you the best and latest in
reproductive health news.  But I’ll admit it – I like opinions, too.  I
can’t leave an editorial or a letter to the editor unread. Sometimes
there are opinions so good they just have to be shared.

These are NOT those opinions.  These are the other kind…

"Never Trust a Man to Do a Women’s Job"

I
often like to tease that women are the superior sex.  But it’s just a
joke.  Usually.  But even I won’t go as far as this writer, discussing the possibility of male hormonal birth control:

"The same quantity of men would lie about being on the pill as do
about about pulling out," [Ravi Somaiya of Gawker] wrote. "Men would forget to take the pill
in the same numbers that they forget to buy condoms."

So basically: Don’t trust a man to do a woman’s job. He will lie
with the intent of getting into your pants, forget about BC at the same
rate at which he forgets about your anniversary, and leave you with an
itchy poochacha and, perhaps, an illegitimate child.

Dear
beloved male readers, have no fear.  I know you can manage the supreme
responsibility of taking a pill a day.  And if I can’t trust you enough
to do so, there’s no way I’d have sex with you anyway.

 

"Enlisted Women Should be Forced to Be on Birth Control"

 

Talk
about trust issues.  This woman not only agrees that pregnant women in
the military should be court-marshalled, but that to make sure it isn’t
a problem,
all should be forced to use Depo Provera while serving.

 

If women wish to join the military, they must be just as willing to
go to war for their country as any man. Women cannot expect to have
equal rights with men if they use reproduction as an excuse to get out
of their duties. Women can join the military and have children, but
when they are in combat zones, the only thing they should be doing is
their job as soldiers. Separate but equal is not equal.

Unfortunately, the older I get, the more realistic and cynical I
have become. I realize that no matter how much you try to explain to
them that they are doing more harm than good for women’s rights by
copping out on the menfolk, they won’t listen. They’ll cry and moan
about their rights to breed, totally neglecting the fact that they are,
first and foremost, soldiers.

Last time I checked, a soldier’s body was not his or her own.
Legally, it’s government property, which means the government dictates
to a soldier what they can and cannot do with his or her body. While
this policy has resulted in some very unfortunate incidents, such as
the Edgewood experiments, it is supposed to ensure that soldiers are
regulated so they can perform their duties as needed.

So, since I can’t talk sense into the people who signed up for the
job, I have a suggestion for their boss instead: Change the policy.
Instead of punishing soldiers for war-zone pregnancy, make it mandatory
for all women soldiers to be on birth control. And not just any birth
control; make sure it’s Depo-Provera, a type of birth control given by
injection. If we can’t rely on women soldiers to keep their pants on,
we can’t rely on them to take a pill every day, now can we? Not to
mention the fact that, for the legitimate women soldiers, being in a
combat zone isn’t the best place to remember to take a pill every
single day. The Depo-Provera shot, on the other hand, is only needed
once every three months. Every soldier is required to get a dozen shots
before they go over there anyway, so just add this to their round of
inoculations. Problem solved.

Obviously,
the real solution is to demand that women in the military have
hysterectomies before they are shipped out.  I assume that comes in her
next article.

"Health Care is Not a Right, It’s a Privilege, Says Privileged People"

They often think if they say it enough, people will believe it’s true.  But this Letter to the Editor writer is a little more mixed up than most.

There is nothing in our U.S. Constitution that says everyone is
entitled to health care. Forcing people to buy insurance is
unconstitutional and threatening them with fines and or jail terms is
socialistic.

Everyone
in America had or has the same basic rights as I do. That is, the right
to a public education; if they do not pursue it, it is not my duty to
supply benefits to them.

I
am pro-life and do not want my taxes paying for abortions. There are
many forms of contraception on the market, with condoms being the
cheapest. If people do not use birth control, I do not want my taxes
paying for their bills, home, food, etc.


So,
you don’t want your taxes paying to support people who can’t afford to
feed and house their children.  And you don’t want your tax dollars to
pay for anything that might prevent them from getting pregnant.

Everyone understand?

Mini Roundup: Was that too much nonsense?  How about some news from Utah?  Nearly 3% of the Utah women having abortions in the state had already had five or more prior births.  And sex ed brings together strange partners.

 

January 14, 2010

Stupak:
How to heal health care reform
The Detroit News

N.
Illinois
pro-life
dinner to benefit 40 Days for Life campaign
Catholic News Agency

Don’t
be ‘squeamish’ about talking about sex

Greenville News

Brown’s
failure
Boston
Globe

Unlikely
group teams up on sex education
Salt Lake Tribune

Health
care not anyone’s right
Montgomery Advertiser

One
in three newborns in Philippines ‘unwanted’
AFP

Enlisted
women should be required to take
birth control

Kansas State Collegian

Casey,
Pitts at center of
abortion compromise
Allentown Morning Call

Illegal
abortion
clinic raided in suburb
Independent Online

 

January 13, 2010

The
Facts on
Abortion and
Health Reform
Huffington
Post

Top
Democrat Working With White House For
Abortion Funding in Health Care
LifeNews.com

Judge
opens jury process in
abortion slaying case
Forbes

Mississippi
Lt. Governor records phone message on anti-
abortion amendment
MiamiHerald.com

Knights
of Columbus rally members to oppose federal funding of
abortion
Catholic News Agency

Fla.
Gov. Crist Takes More Conservative Stance On
Abortion Rights In GOP
Medical News Today

Two
sides of abortion debate take to Main Street
Los Altos Town Crier

Barack
Obama Meets With Key Democrats on Pro-Abortion Health Care Bill
LifeNews.com

Palin
Pushes
Pro-Life
Policy On In Touch Cover
Air America (press release)

Heading
to the nation’s capital
The Catholic Spirit

Key Pro-Life
Democrat Bart Stupak Considers Run for Governor in Michigan
LifeNews.com

Pro-Life
Organizations to Donate to for Haiti Earthquake Relief Efforts
Lifesite

PETA
Joins Houston’s
Pro-Life Debate
PETA (press release)

Adoption-Link:
Creating families
Windy
City Times

Report:
12 percent increase in AI/AN teen birth rates
Indian Country Today

State
pays for ‘misinformation’ about reproductive health
Minnesota Independent

Breaking
the Generational Cycle of Shame About Sex
Ethiopian Review

Why
Does Republican Senate Candidate Scott Brown Hate Rape Victims
AlterNet

Why
Women Can’t Rely On Male
Birth Control

YourTango

Family
planning
backers threaten to block other bills
Manila Standard Today

Retired
Mansfield doctor urges
family planning clinic rethink
Mansfield Chad

A
Quiet Admission Speaks Loudly About
Abortion and Breast Cancer
LifeNews.com

Abortion
Doctor Killer Allowed to Use ‘Necessity Defense’
ABC News

Number
of
abortions
among Utah women drops slightly
Salt Lake Tribune

Groups
to protest Houston’s newest, largest
abortion clinic in the nation
KENS 5 TV

Time
short for organizers of
abortion notification intitiative
Anchorage
Daily News

College
Closes to Protest
Abortion at March for Life
Catholic Online

Pelosi’s
archbishop slams her rationale for supporting
abortion

Catholic News Agency

Trial
Begins in Killing of
Abortion Doctor
New York Times

Jury
Selection Ongoing in
Abortion Slaying Trial
New York Times