Thought of the Day

Filed in National by on February 9, 2012

Rick Santorum is a Catholic. Mitt Romney is a Mormon. The GOP is picking a fight with the President about the Catholic Church’s desire not to provide health insurance for their employees that includes coverage for birth control. I wonder if Rick Santorum’s recent success is connected….

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  1. puck says:

    The Church is kind of like the Democratic Party: a liberal rank-and-file, with a conservative leadership.

    Anyway, if Catholic organizations want to ban contraceptives from their employee health plans, they do have an option: give up the taxpayer money.

    The whole contraceptives-in-employer-health-plans issue is yet another argument for single-payer.

  2. Jason330 says:

    This idea that you don’t have to pay for things that you find morally abhorrent should be applied to wars.

  3. V says:

    it is REALLY irritating to see a bunch of male politicians and pundits argue about whether or not women who work for places like schools and hospitals should be able to (if they want) get BC covered by their employer’s insurance. Also male democratic senators, please shut up.

    If the woman is a devout catholic who chooses to not use contraception, that is her choice to not do so, but if you’ve got someone working for you who is not catholic she should be able to buy it if she wants like any other employer.

    Also, what if you’re on BC for some non-contraception reason? I was put on it at 15 for debilitating pain that mandated me to leave school early, crawl in a ball, and take tons of aspirin hoping it would be gone when i woke up. I took it for YEARS before contraception was even an issue. I had a friend who was put on it because her body went haywire and she had her period for two straight months. like 60 days. What about those people?

  4. pandora says:

    V, Those people are cursed!

    The only thing these men know about BC is it pertains to sex. Women’s health? Not so much. It’s always about sex with these guys.

  5. socialistic ben says:

    Men dont like to think about icky things like 60 long periods… or the fact that women would take BC for any reason other than to have anonymous sex with gorgeous men of other ethnicities. I think that is the heart of the issue.

    one other musing….. and i cant stress enough how little this actually maters to me… and also stress that i know of all the other medical reasons for “birth control pills” (or patches, rings, shots, Ts) that don’t involve sex…. so please just recognize this for the pseudo devils advocate type m
    musing this is. OK? everyone sufficiently disclaimed?

    Why cant MEN get birth control covered? Ive always taken it as a matter of fact that if i dont want to impregnate someone, i should take responsibility for it. Now, i realize condoms only serve one (well, 2) purpose(s) But let’s say you are in a situation where the woman cannot, for whatever reason, take BC… or chooses not to because of it’s associated risks? (stroke, lowered sex drive, fertility problems,) I know there are lot’s of places to get free condoms, and TRUST me, it’s a small part of my monthly budget, so my personal expense isnt really my issue here (maybe “small” wasnt the best word to use there) It is however, a thought…..

  6. puck says:

    When I was a teenager my mother had a hysterectomy and was prescribed birth control pills for hormonal control. Years later after she had passed away, my father and I were cleaning out a cabinet, and we found one of the pink clamshell containers. He asked what it was, and I told him. My elderly father drew himself up, got all red in the face, and said “Your mother NEVER used birth control pills!” We never spoke of it again.

  7. pandora says:

    I’m all for covering male birth control. Free condoms for everyone!

  8. Joanne Christian says:

    Men can’t get birth control covered, because gas stations don’t want to deal w/ insurance companies :)!!!

    No, seriously–you bring up a good point SB–and I think the OTC nature of condoms, like alot of medicines etc., probably is the preclusion for coverage. Vasectomies, yes. Spermicidal foams and jellies and condoms and Saran wrap, no.

  9. anon says:

    I would never buy condoms from a gas station. No telling how long they’ve sat there, in what conditions (extreme heat/cold), etc. Drugstores only.

  10. pandora says:

    I was really hoping that this contraception nonsense would go away. No such luck. Every media person is all atwitter over it.

    And puck’s story is classic.

  11. Venus says:

    What would be further classic, is that pink clamshell was used before the hysterectomy and Dad wasn’t aware of that either.

  12. socialistic ben says:

    I think it should stay in the conversation.
    from a political standpoint, it is a losing argument for the Right….. the longer tey have to say they hate birth control and women should be lucky we let them vote ( I made that part up) the better it will be for progressives when votin’ time comes
    from a societal standpoint, i think it is an opportunity to show that there are other reasons to take (forgive me for not knowing medical names) the pill…or whichever method you choose…. btw, from a male perspective, the ring is not preferable. if you can safely go another route you might wanna consider.
    from a debate junkie standpoint, it’s a fun argument to have and one that opens the door to all sorts of 8th grade humor… which is my favorite kind.

  13. pandora says:

    It’s not going away. It’s getting worse.

    In English, this means that no entity has to cover birth control in a health plan if it can point to a religious reason for not doing so. And the entity itself is not required to have any religious affiliation. It could just be a plain old corporation. That means that if the middle-aged white guy who runs your company is religiously opposed to birth control, he can have it stripped out of your insurance plan—even if his Viagra is still covered. You could wake up the next morning and find you’re paying full price for drugs that you once got for free or at much-reduced prices.

    May I point out that Rubio was married in 1997 and only has 4 children. Either he and his wife are using BC, or there’s no lovin’ going on his house.

    This is the plan folks. Can’t wait to to see the woman’s vote this fall.

  14. puck says:

    “May I point out that Rubio was married in 1997 and only has 4 children.”

    Which is consistent with Church-approved methods of contraception.

    I wish I could remember which comedian I heard say something like: “I come from a family of nine children, each the product of a different method of contraception.”

  15. V says:

    So if there’s a jehovah’s witness medical center they’re alllowed to deny blood transfusions right?

    The polls are showing overwhelming public support for this one and 28 states (including us, did you know we were one of the top 5 catholic states in the country?) already mandate this. Why are we talking about this?

    Oh wait, so those slutty sluts can’t go out and slut around by having sexy slutty slut sex with our non-slutty men and then not be punished for their sluttines with children they can’t care for. I remember now.

  16. socialistic ben says:

    since we’re talking about Rick Santorum…. think he has a shot at De? i mean, our dear chuckelheads nominated COD! they have voted for the anti-sex candidate before.

    V, you didnt use the word “slut” enough. 🙂

  17. cassandra m says:

    Here’s one more thing: the Church (and others) already provide this coverage in the 28 states where they are mandated to do so (pdf).

    So this is about Catholic Bishops getting into the culture war in a particularly crass way. And the killer is that this isn’t being reported as part of the story. They already do this, gang! In a majority of US states, no less. So they are trying to portray themselves as somehow being victimized by this administration, when they’ve been complying with state-by-state requirements for years.

  18. socialistic ben says:

    now you’re getting into state’s rights, cass…… that one seems to be a winable argument for conservatives. there are enough Nimbys so say…. well, I live in a state where this wont effect me, what’s on E! ? think about how much it takes to wake people up in this country… i’d like to stay away form anything that could be used as an argument to lul them back to sleep. not that you dont have a good point.

  19. cassandra m says:

    The largest Catholic University in the US offers a contraception benefit.

    So much for the so-called war on religion. They’ve been undermining their own argument for years.

  20. Truth Teller says:

    puck

    Yes puck they should live by the golden rule which states those that have the gold make the rules. If you don’t want to follow the rules don’t take the gold. the bishops instead of worrying about what goes on in folks bedrooms ( that’s the repuk’s job) and pay more attention to what their priest were doing with children

  21. V says:

    ok i just heard a hannity clip that liberals are participating in “class warfare” and “eugneics” (!!!) by asking all employers to provide birth control. We apparently want to control to poor population.

    1. we can’t make “poor people” take BC. I dunno about you but i dont feel like calling Wilmington poor ladies a-m each night to make sure they’re taking the pill at the same time every day.

    2. don’t low income people when they vote (because usually they are too busy working unglodly hours for no money or tending to their kids) tend to vote democratic anyway?

  22. V says:

    Fun fact: apparently HHS’s Kathleen Sebelius is a Catholic.

  23. socialistic ben says:

    V, so was evil abortionist, John Kerry…. and Coat-hangar Joe. All they have to do is say “well, they arent a REAL Catholic” and the argument is over.

  24. socialistic ben says:

    im starting to come around on Obama’s decision here.
    I think i allowed myself to get absorbed by the imediate narrative of “obama folded again” Then i remembered the media is a gigantic lazy failure.
    This will still have to be paid for. insurance cartels arent going to suddenly realize the morale imperative of making sure women (or anyone) have easy access to health care. someone, somewhere is going to have to pay for it. I think what it does, as has been explained to me by the nice folks here, is take away the direct effect on old frats… er um churches…. and lets the insurance companies decide if its worth risking the cost of unplanned pregnancies and other health issues that BC can treat, or simply cover it. It also does force the GOP to take the stance of being anti-pill. so yeah. I retract my leafteabaggerism from yesterday

  25. Insurance companies don’t decide – they are mandated to provide contraception free of charge. It’s a great decision.