Sunday, March 4, 2012

The only answer: I must be some kind of prostitute

I'm pretty mad about this Rush-Limbaugh-calling-Sandra-Fluke-a-slut-because-she-wants-her-health-plan-to-cover-birth-control thing.

Medical insurance is a complicated issue and I don't think anyone can argue that the system in the US is broken, broken, broken.  It's helpful to know that medical coverage became tied to employment during the wage freezes of World War II.  Because employers couldn't raise wages above their competitors, and because so many people were away fighting the war, qualified workers were scarce and benefits became a tool to lure 'em in.  Now health coverage is linked to employment, nearly intrinsically, in our minds.

Rush Limbaugh makes his living saying obnoxious things (and I might add, making uninformed arguments) and getting people to react to him.  We should not be surprised when he does this; it is his job.  He is very good at it.

But when he suggests that a fully grown woman who wants her health plan to cover birth control must be a slut or a prostitute, it really got to me. Then he said, "If we are going to pay for your contraceptives, and thus pay for you to have sex, we want something for it, and I'll tell you what it is. We want you to post the videos online so we can all watch."

I have been using some manner of birth control for nearly two decades.  I was using birth control for YEARS before I was even sexually active -- to treat an actual medical condition.  Thankfully, it worked and I stopped having terrible, terrible -- and I mean terrible -- lady-business-related problems.  That was a miracle by itself.

Thankfully, I've never been employed by a Catholic company, and so my birth control has been covered by my health plan.  But people shouldn't have to make ANY medical decision based on the opinions of their employers.  Birth control is but one of untold thousands of legitimate health care costs.  Not using birth control can cause many other health care costs, not the least of which is the birth of a live human.  The part where we're even talking about this in 2012 just boggles my mind.

If Rush would like to watch woman using birth control, he need only turn his head around and keep his eyes open.  We are everywhere.  We are using birth control all the time.

But Rush wants videos.  Should we make some?  Let's do this!

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