yep. it's all about turning back the clock: Contraception is Not the Solution

[cali]

Townhall.com ^ | February 26, 2011 | Kathryn Lopez

Posted on Saturday, February 26, 2011 8:47:36 AM by Kaslin

Why are Republicans waging war on contraception? It's not the first time the question has been asked, and it won't be the last. Truth be told, Republicans aren't engaging in battle on that front -- but the phrase gets close to a legitimate fight.

Congress, for its part, held an unprecedented vote in the House in February to end funding of Planned Parenthood. It's not a permanent or final vote; it was attached to a short-term move to keep the government funded. The debate in Congress was given momentum by the Live Action investigatory videos, which raised significant questions about what exactly Planned Parenthood is doing; but the rest of us need to discuss why we've let Planned Parenthood step in as a mainstream Band-Aid, throwing contraception and even abortion at problems that have much more fundamental solutions.

While women may want love and marriage, they don't expect it. Justice Sandra O'Connor wrote in the Planned Parenthood v. Casey opinion that women had "organized intimate relationships, and made choices that define their views of themselves and their places in society, in reliance on the availability of abortion in the event that contraception should fail." And why wouldn't they? Who, nowadays, encourages them to want more?

We've come to expect less for and from ourselves, and for and from one another. In part, it's the fruit of the contraceptive pill. New York magazine recently observed in a cover feature: "The pill is so ingrained in our culture today that girls go on it in college, even high school, and stay on it for five, 10, 15, even 20 years." That, of course, has had all kinds of fallout: a false sense of freedom, security. And it has ravaged women's fertility, as it seeks to mute exactly what women's reproductive power is all about.

That's why I want to turn back the clock -- to a time when we valued love and marriage and didn't expect, support and even encourage promiscuity. Life and history don't work that way, obviously, there is no actual rewind. But we do have opportunities to learn from our mistakes.

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http://townhall.com/columnists/kathrynlopez/2011/02/26/contraception_is_not_the_solution/page/full/

[Buzz Clik]

1. This is the kind in silliness you get when sexually repressed people lecture you on sexuality:

"That (the pill), of course, has had all kinds of fallout: a false sense of freedom, security. And it has ravaged women's fertility, as it seeks to mute exactly what women's reproductive power is all about."

All that bad stuff? Women's fertility has been "ravaged"? I see.

[vixengrl]

2. It's weird, how social conservative women think--

K-Lo, Phyllis Schafly, Maggie Gallagher--it's as if they want to lump all women together and say, "You poor dears, here's what you should really want."

"Expecting more" for a a woman anyone can mean expecting that with or without a partner, you are valuable, independent, have self-respect and can make your own choices. This looking back to a time when we valued "love and marriage" (goes together like a horse and carriage, eh?) quite ignores that when we do look back, marriage was not an equal proposition for women. How many women expected less and stayed in marriages for reasons of economic or social stigma, or "for the children"?

And it's more than a little demeaning to women who don't seek out a partner or who look at a phrase like this: And it has ravaged women's fertility, as it seeks to mute exactly what women's reproductive power is all about and think "WTF?" (It's not a power. It's a function. And if I wanted a power, I think I'd have picked flying.) And it strike me as ableist re: women who would choose to have a baby who might have difficulty. "Sniff...." she's saying. "if only you hadn't taken the pill all those years ago." Seriously K-Lo--screw you.

This kind of "Aw, weren't the old times so good for us ladies?" stuff grinds my gears. She can totally have my copy of The Feminine Mystique if she promises to read it. Contraception isn't a "solution" but a tool us mature ladies use so we can....live our lives and accomplish the goals we want. Like we're people, or something.