Showing posts with label birth control. Show all posts
Showing posts with label birth control. Show all posts
Wednesday, March 14, 2012
Tuesday, March 13, 2012
Tuesday, March 6, 2012
Am I presenting a straw man of O'Reilly's views?
Fox News covers contraception as is required by New York law (and most other states). Therefore according O'Reilly's logic, he is paying for all the women at Fox News, New York, married and unmarried, to have sex.
It is hard to believe that Jesus believes that every married or unmarried woman who uses contraceptive birth control pills that are connected to an insurance mandate is being paid to have sex.
Am I presenting a straw man of O'Reily's views?
Non-contraceptive purposes for birth control pills
While the primary reason for using the birth control pill is contraceptive, more than half of users rely on the pill for some other medical need.
MANY AMERICAN WOMEN USE BIRTH CONTROL PILLS FOR NONCONTRACEPTIVE REASONS
One-Third of Teen Users Rely on the Pill Exclusively
for These Purposes
The most common reason U.S. women use oral contraceptive pills is to prevent pregnancy, but 14% of pill users—1.5 million women—rely on them exclusively for noncontraceptive purposes. The study documenting this finding, “Beyond Birth Control: The Overlooked Benefits of Oral Contraceptive Pills,” by Rachel K. Jones of the Guttmacher Institute, also found that more than half (58%) of all pill users rely on the method, at least in part, for purposes other than pregnancy prevention—meaning that only 42% use the pill exclusively for contraceptive reasons.
The study—based on U.S government data from the National Survey of Family Growth (NSFG)—revealed that after pregnancy prevention (86%), the most common reasons women use the pill include reducing cramps or menstrual pain (31%); menstrual regulation, which for some women may help prevent migraines and other painful “side effects” of menstruation (28%); treatment of acne (14%); and treatment of endometriosis (4%). Additionally, it found that some 762,000 women who have never had sex use the pill, and they do so almost exclusively (99%) for noncontraceptive reasons.
Menstrual-related disorders and irregular periods are particularly common during adolescence. Not surprisingly, the study found that teens aged 15–19 who use the pill are more likely to do so for non-contraceptive purposes (82%) than for birth control (67%). Moreover, 33% of teen pill users report using oral contraceptive pills solely for noncontraceptive purposes.
“It is well established that oral contraceptives are essential health care because they prevent unintended pregnancies,” said study author Rachel K. Jones. “This study shows that there are other important health reasons why oral contraceptives should be readily available to the millions of women who rely on them each year.”
Other hormonal methods such as the ring, patch, implant and IUD offer the same types of noncontraceptive benefits as the pill; however, this analysis was limited to oral contraceptive pills, because the NSFG did not ask about other hormonal methods. Given this limitation, the author suggests that the number of women relying on hormonal contraception for reasons other than pregnancy prevention is almost certainly higher than the 1.5 million estimated in this study.
For more information on the noncontraceptive benefits of the pill, click here “Beyond Birth Control: The Overlooked Benefits of Oral Contraceptive Pills.” [1]
- 18% of women use birth control pills
- 14% of users, about 1.5 million women, rely on birth control pills for only non-contraceptive purposes
Monday, March 5, 2012
Sandra Fluke Primer
No one would know her name if Rush had not called her a slut, round heal, and a prostitute who needed condoms in the sixth grade, could barely walk because of too much sex, and needed to post sex tapes online so that taxpayers could watch. Also, apparently Mr. Limbaugh believes the more sex you have the more birth control pills you need. Like condoms?
Here is a quick primer:
Sandra Fluke's Speech to Congress Did I misread Fluke's testimony? Most of it seemed devoted to the 58% of birth control pill users who depend on the pill for something other than contraception.[1] Her main allegation was that students should not have to prove to Georgetown that their treatment does not conflict with Jesuit morals. She alleged that students who needed medication could not get it. This allegation, founded or unfounded, seemed to make up the bulk of the testimony.
Rush Limbaugh Isn’t the Only Media Misogynist Limbaugh is right, there is a double standard. Kirsten does a great job pointing that out.
Sandra Fluke's Speech to Congress Did I misread Fluke's testimony? Most of it seemed devoted to the 58% of birth control pill users who depend on the pill for something other than contraception.[1] Her main allegation was that students should not have to prove to Georgetown that their treatment does not conflict with Jesuit morals. She alleged that students who needed medication could not get it. This allegation, founded or unfounded, seemed to make up the bulk of the testimony.
Rush Limbaugh Isn’t the Only Media Misogynist Limbaugh is right, there is a double standard. Kirsten does a great job pointing that out.
Sandra Fluke Does Not Speak for Me This woman is apparently the female Limbaugh on this one. Why do so many people want to call Fluke names and see her in a sex tape? Also she compares Fluke, a third year law student, to a reality star who never completed college. We can now add skank and a Welfare Condom Queen to the list.
Friday, March 2, 2012
Tuesday, February 21, 2012
NPR Blog: Where are the women?
The all-male witness panel at Thursday's House hearing on President Obama's contraception insurance mandate inspired Representative Carolyn B. Maloney, a Democrat from New York, to ask "Where are the women?" A photo of the lineup quickly circulated the Internet—appearing on Twitter and Facebook feeds and landing on women's rights advocacy blogs.
Maloney's question—"Where are the women?"—is a familiar one in our office. As the debate around contraceptive coverage continues, several listeners have written with the same concerns about NPR's coverage.
The All Things Considered segment, "Week in Politics," on Feb. 10 drew the most concern. The weekly segment regularly features Washington Post columnist E. J. Dionne and New York Times columnist David Brooks. The two columnists discuss the political wave of the week and, between Dionne's traditionally liberal perspective and Brooks' conservative-leaning views, listeners generally can find something they agree with, including even a compromise.
But the difference between the two was missing when the hot subject last week was the debate over contraception coverage. As Linda Fleck of Roslindale, MA, wrote:
Now that the issue of women's right to birth control has come to the fore, I think that it is inappropriate that E.J. Dionne be allowed to speak for the left insofar as he has apparently decided to subordinate women's health concerns to Catholic dogma. Perhaps someone like Gail Collins could substitute for Mr. Dionne while this matter rages in Washington. Both points of view need to be aired (versus the current "Amen" chorus of Brooks and Dionne). Women's rights matter. Women's voices need to be heard on this issue.
She is right on one level, though this isn't to say that the two should be prohibited from addressing contraception or any other issue. Brooks and Dionne offer their opinions every Friday on whatever topics may come their way. More important, it seems to me, is to look at how this one segment fits into the whole of NPR's coverage. Did it overall commit the same sin?
Julia Ro/NPR
Our intern Stephannie Stokes reviewed all of NPR's on-air coverage of the controversy between Jan. 13 and Feb. 13. The results were gratifying. Of those interviewed and quoted, 26 were women, ranging from Catholic students to lawyers to professors. This compares to 18 men who were quoted by name. Worth noting, moreover, is that the women represented both sides of the issue, countering the assumption that all women voices would speak in favor of the administration's new policy.
The search did not include those quoted indirectly, or reporters or hosts of NPR shows.
A report recently released by ThinkProgress, a project of the left-leaning Center for American Progress, analyzed coverage on cable and broadcast news of the administration's contraception mandate. It found a grimmer picture for gender sensitivities. Of the 146 guests brought on cable news shows to weigh in on the free insurance, for example, 55 were women and 99 were men.
Airing diverse voices and views that reflect the country is critical. A diverse staff helps in gathering diverse views. The Women's Media Center, an organization that advocates for increased female representation in the media, recently released "The Status of Women in the U.S. Media 2012." The study found that women are still underrepresented in several media areas—print journalism being an immediate example.
Let me know if you see something I don't see concerning gender and NPR. Your critiques help keep NPR accountable.
Stephannie Stokes contributed to this post.[1]
Sunday, February 12, 2012
28 states require employers to cover contraception
Monday, January 16, 2012
King's Posthumous Acceptance Speech for the Margaret Sanger Award
Mrs. Coretta Scott King delivered her husband's acceptance speech on his behalf.
Before reading Dr. King's speech, Mrs. King declared, "I am proud tonight to say a word in behalf of your mentor, and the person who symbolizes the ideas of this organization, Margaret Sanger. Because of her dedication, her deep convictions, and for her suffering for what she believed in, I would like to say that I am proud to be a woman tonight."...
Family Planning — A Special and Urgent Concern
by the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr.
Recently, the press has been filled with reports of sightings of flying saucers. While we need not give credence to these stories, they allow our imagination to speculate on how visitors from outer space would judge us. I am afraid they would be stupefied at our conduct. They would observe that for death planning we spend billions to create engines and strategies for war. They would also observe that we spend millions to prevent death by disease and other causes. Finally they would observe that we spend paltry sums for population planning, even though its spontaneous growth is an urgent threat to life on our planet. Our visitors from outer space could be forgiven if they reported home that our planet is inhabited by a race of insane men whose future is bleak and uncertain.
There is no human circumstance more tragic than the persisting existence of a harmful condition for which a remedy is readily available. Family planning, to relate population to world resources, is possible, practical and necessary. Unlike plagues of the dark ages or contemporary diseases we do not yet understand, the modern plague of overpopulation is soluble by means we have discovered and with resources we possess.
What is lacking is not sufficient knowledge of the solution but universal consciousness of the gravity of the problem and education of the billions who are its victims.
It is easier for a Negro to understand a social paradox because he has lived so long with evils that could be eradicated but were perpetuated by indifference or ignorance. The Negro finally had to devise unique methods to deal with his problem, and perhaps the measure of success he is realizing can be an inspiration to others coping with tenacious social problems.
In our struggle for equality we were confronted with the reality that many millions of people were essentially ignorant of our conditions or refused to face unpleasant truths. The hard-core bigot was merely one of our adversaries. The millions who were blind to our plight had to be compelled to face the social evil their indifference permitted to flourish.
After centuries of relative silence and enforced acceptance, we adapted a technique of exposing the problem by direct and dramatic methods. We had confidence that when we awakened the nation to the immorality and evil of inequality, there would be an upsurge of conscience followed by remedial action.
We knew that there were solutions and that the majority of the nation were ready for them. Yet we also knew that the existence of solutions would not automatically operate to alter conditions. We had to organize, not only arguments, but people in the millions for action. Finally we had to be prepared to accept all the consequences involved in dramatizing our grievances in the unique style we had devised.
There is a striking kinship between our movement and Margaret Sanger's early efforts. She, like we, saw the horrifying conditions of ghetto life. Like we, she knew that all of society is poisoned by cancerous slums. Like we, she was a direct actionist — a nonviolent resister. She was willing to accept scorn and abuse until the truth she saw was revealed to the millions. At the turn of the century she went into the slums and set up a birth control clinic, and for this deed she went to jail because she was violating an unjust law. Yet the years have justified her actions. She launched a movement which is obeying a higher law to preserve human life under humane conditions. Margaret Sanger had to commit what was then called a crime in order to enrich humanity, and today we honor her courage and vision; for without them there would have been no beginning. Our sure beginning in the struggle for equality by nonviolent direct action may not have been so resolute without the tradition established by Margaret Sanger and people like her. Negroes have no mere academic nor ordinary interest in family planning. They have a special and urgent concern.
Recently the subject of Negro family life has received extensive attention. Unfortunately, studies have overemphasized the problem of the Negro male ego and almost entirely ignored the most serious element — Negro migration. During the past half century Negroes have migrated on a massive scale, transplanting millions from rural communities to crammed urban ghettoes. In their migration, as with all migrants, they carried with them the folkways of the countryside into an inhospitable city slum. The size of family that may have been appropriate and tolerable on a manually cultivated farm was carried over to the jammed streets of the ghetto. In all respects Negroes were atomized, neglected and discriminated against. Yet, the worst omission was the absence of institutions to acclimate them to their new environment. Margaret Sanger, who offered an important institutional remedy, was unfortunately ignored by social and political leaders in this period. In consequence, Negro folkways in family size persisted. The problem was compounded when unrestrained exploitation and discrimination accented the bewilderment of the newcomer, and high rates of illegitimacy and fragile family relationships resulted.
For the Negro, therefore, intelligent guides of family planning are a profoundly important ingredient in his quest for security and a decent life. There are mountainous obstacles still separating Negroes from a normal existence. Yet one element in stabilizing his life would be an understanding of and easy access to the means to develop a family related in size to his community environment and to the income potential he can command.
This is not to suggest that the Negro will solve all his problems through Planned Parenthood. His problems are far more complex, encompassing economic security, education, freedom from discrimination, decent housing and access to culture. Yet if family planning is sensible it can facilitate or at least not be an obstacle to the solution of the many profound problems that plague him.
The Negro constitutes half the poor of the nation. Like all poor, Negro and white, they have many unwanted children. This is a cruel evil they urgently need to control. There is scarcely anything more tragic in human life than a child who is not wanted. That which should be a blessing becomes a curse for parent and child. There is nothing inherent in the Negro mentality which creates this condition. Their poverty causes it. When Negroes have been able to ascend economically, statistics reveal they plan their families with even greater care than whites. Negroes of higher economic and educational status actually have fewer children than white families in the same circumstances.
Some commentators point out that with present birth rates it will not be long before Negroes are a majority in many of the major cities of the nation. As a consequence, they can be expected to take political control, and many people are apprehensive at this prospect. Negroes do not seek political control by this means. They seek only what they are entitled to and do not wish for domination purchased at the cost of human misery. Negroes were once bred by slave owners to be sold as merchandise. They do not welcome any solution which involves population breeding as a weapon. They are instinctively sympathetic to all who offer methods that will improve their lives and offer them fair opportunity to develop and advance as all other people in our society.
For these reasons we are natural allies of those who seek to inject any form of planning in our society that enriches life and guarantees the right to exist in freedom and dignity.
For these constructive movements we are prepared to give our energies and consistent support; because in the need for family planning, Negro and white have a common bond; and together we can and should unite our strength for the wise preservation, not of races in general, but of the one race we all constitute — the human race. [1]
by the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr.
Recently, the press has been filled with reports of sightings of flying saucers. While we need not give credence to these stories, they allow our imagination to speculate on how visitors from outer space would judge us. I am afraid they would be stupefied at our conduct. They would observe that for death planning we spend billions to create engines and strategies for war. They would also observe that we spend millions to prevent death by disease and other causes. Finally they would observe that we spend paltry sums for population planning, even though its spontaneous growth is an urgent threat to life on our planet. Our visitors from outer space could be forgiven if they reported home that our planet is inhabited by a race of insane men whose future is bleak and uncertain.
There is no human circumstance more tragic than the persisting existence of a harmful condition for which a remedy is readily available. Family planning, to relate population to world resources, is possible, practical and necessary. Unlike plagues of the dark ages or contemporary diseases we do not yet understand, the modern plague of overpopulation is soluble by means we have discovered and with resources we possess.
What is lacking is not sufficient knowledge of the solution but universal consciousness of the gravity of the problem and education of the billions who are its victims.
It is easier for a Negro to understand a social paradox because he has lived so long with evils that could be eradicated but were perpetuated by indifference or ignorance. The Negro finally had to devise unique methods to deal with his problem, and perhaps the measure of success he is realizing can be an inspiration to others coping with tenacious social problems.
In our struggle for equality we were confronted with the reality that many millions of people were essentially ignorant of our conditions or refused to face unpleasant truths. The hard-core bigot was merely one of our adversaries. The millions who were blind to our plight had to be compelled to face the social evil their indifference permitted to flourish.
After centuries of relative silence and enforced acceptance, we adapted a technique of exposing the problem by direct and dramatic methods. We had confidence that when we awakened the nation to the immorality and evil of inequality, there would be an upsurge of conscience followed by remedial action.
We knew that there were solutions and that the majority of the nation were ready for them. Yet we also knew that the existence of solutions would not automatically operate to alter conditions. We had to organize, not only arguments, but people in the millions for action. Finally we had to be prepared to accept all the consequences involved in dramatizing our grievances in the unique style we had devised.
There is a striking kinship between our movement and Margaret Sanger's early efforts. She, like we, saw the horrifying conditions of ghetto life. Like we, she knew that all of society is poisoned by cancerous slums. Like we, she was a direct actionist — a nonviolent resister. She was willing to accept scorn and abuse until the truth she saw was revealed to the millions. At the turn of the century she went into the slums and set up a birth control clinic, and for this deed she went to jail because she was violating an unjust law. Yet the years have justified her actions. She launched a movement which is obeying a higher law to preserve human life under humane conditions. Margaret Sanger had to commit what was then called a crime in order to enrich humanity, and today we honor her courage and vision; for without them there would have been no beginning. Our sure beginning in the struggle for equality by nonviolent direct action may not have been so resolute without the tradition established by Margaret Sanger and people like her. Negroes have no mere academic nor ordinary interest in family planning. They have a special and urgent concern.
Recently the subject of Negro family life has received extensive attention. Unfortunately, studies have overemphasized the problem of the Negro male ego and almost entirely ignored the most serious element — Negro migration. During the past half century Negroes have migrated on a massive scale, transplanting millions from rural communities to crammed urban ghettoes. In their migration, as with all migrants, they carried with them the folkways of the countryside into an inhospitable city slum. The size of family that may have been appropriate and tolerable on a manually cultivated farm was carried over to the jammed streets of the ghetto. In all respects Negroes were atomized, neglected and discriminated against. Yet, the worst omission was the absence of institutions to acclimate them to their new environment. Margaret Sanger, who offered an important institutional remedy, was unfortunately ignored by social and political leaders in this period. In consequence, Negro folkways in family size persisted. The problem was compounded when unrestrained exploitation and discrimination accented the bewilderment of the newcomer, and high rates of illegitimacy and fragile family relationships resulted.
For the Negro, therefore, intelligent guides of family planning are a profoundly important ingredient in his quest for security and a decent life. There are mountainous obstacles still separating Negroes from a normal existence. Yet one element in stabilizing his life would be an understanding of and easy access to the means to develop a family related in size to his community environment and to the income potential he can command.
This is not to suggest that the Negro will solve all his problems through Planned Parenthood. His problems are far more complex, encompassing economic security, education, freedom from discrimination, decent housing and access to culture. Yet if family planning is sensible it can facilitate or at least not be an obstacle to the solution of the many profound problems that plague him.
The Negro constitutes half the poor of the nation. Like all poor, Negro and white, they have many unwanted children. This is a cruel evil they urgently need to control. There is scarcely anything more tragic in human life than a child who is not wanted. That which should be a blessing becomes a curse for parent and child. There is nothing inherent in the Negro mentality which creates this condition. Their poverty causes it. When Negroes have been able to ascend economically, statistics reveal they plan their families with even greater care than whites. Negroes of higher economic and educational status actually have fewer children than white families in the same circumstances.
Some commentators point out that with present birth rates it will not be long before Negroes are a majority in many of the major cities of the nation. As a consequence, they can be expected to take political control, and many people are apprehensive at this prospect. Negroes do not seek political control by this means. They seek only what they are entitled to and do not wish for domination purchased at the cost of human misery. Negroes were once bred by slave owners to be sold as merchandise. They do not welcome any solution which involves population breeding as a weapon. They are instinctively sympathetic to all who offer methods that will improve their lives and offer them fair opportunity to develop and advance as all other people in our society.
For these reasons we are natural allies of those who seek to inject any form of planning in our society that enriches life and guarantees the right to exist in freedom and dignity.
For these constructive movements we are prepared to give our energies and consistent support; because in the need for family planning, Negro and white have a common bond; and together we can and should unite our strength for the wise preservation, not of races in general, but of the one race we all constitute — the human race. [1]
Tuesday, October 25, 2011
Blackstone on Abortion
1. Life is the immediate gift of God, a right inherent by nature in every individual; and it begins in contemplation of law as soon as an infant is able to stir in the mother's womb. For if a woman is quick with child, and by a potion, or otherwise, killeth it in her womb; or if any one beat her, whereby the child dieth in her body, and she is delivered of a dead child; this, though not murder, was by the antient law homicide or manslaughter. But at present it is not looked upon in quite so atrociousatrocious a light, though it remains a very heinous misdemesnor.
An infant in ventresa mere, or in the mother's womb, is supposed in law to be born for many purposes. It is capable of having a legacy, or a surrender of a copyhold estate made to it. It may have a guardian assigned to itq; and it is enabled to have an estate limited to it's use, and to take afterwards by such limitation, as if it were then actually bornr. And in this point the civil law agrees with ours.[1]
An infant in ventresa mere, or in the mother's womb, is supposed in law to be born for many purposes. It is capable of having a legacy, or a surrender of a copyhold estate made to it. It may have a guardian assigned to itq; and it is enabled to have an estate limited to it's use, and to take afterwards by such limitation, as if it were then actually bornr. And in this point the civil law agrees with ours.[1]
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