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Tuesday, March 6, 2012

"Back-Alley Vasectomies?"

Those are Rush Limbaugh's words after he heard that Missouri State House member Stacey Newman, a Democrat, frustrated with recent legislative debates over birth control and reproductive health, is proposing to more closely regulate vasectomies.

I got that link from a blog post at the Althouse blog.  She titles the post with a 1916 quote from H L Mencken:
Puritanism: The haunting fear that someone, somewhere, may be happy.
It would seem that Democrats are having a hay day with this birth control issue.  First we had George Stephanopoulos ask Candidate Mitt Romney about birth control, which Gov Romney told him was a non-issue.  That answer made sense to me.  My Faith says use of artificial birth control is a sin.  That said, it has been decades since SCOTUS has ruled that it is legal to purchase such items and they have come out from under the counter.

Then, the Administration issued new guidelines on paying for birth control, which ignited a lot of dissension from religious leaders—First Amendment and all that.  Just recently the President of the Senate, Mr Joe Biden, was quoted by The Hill as saying:
"The fact of the matter is, the ultimate resolution to this problem is where it should have been in the first place," the vice president said.  "I was the one that was tasked to meet with the National Conference of Bishops, and others and Cardinal [Tim] Dolan, to talk about this."
But, even so, some pressed on, like former Speaker Nancy Pelosi.

I would like to state, before I continue, that two of the words chosen by Mr Rush Limbaugh, last week, to describe the young woman who testified to a rump session of the Rep Issas committee, arranged by former Speaker Nancy Pelosi, Ms Sandra Fluke, a student at Georgetown Law School , were unacceptable in polite company and, in fact, brought embarrassment to many of us who otherwise thought that Ms Fluke was over the top in her testimony.  As it turns out, Mr Limbaugh was even more over the top.

Ms Fluke testified that birth control was costing her $1,000 per year or $3,000 over her three years at Georgetown University Law School.  The question Ms Fluke put to the rump subcommittee before which she testified was why some institution (Georgetown) shouldn't pay for her birth control while she was in law school.  With the nation trillions in debt, Ms Fluke wants to create another mandate for spending.  This was presented in terms of women's health, a current Democratic Party theme for warding off the evil Republicans this year.

Over at the Althouse blog, Tim summed up the economics of this, as explained to us before Ms Fluke got involved, by Secretary of Health and Human Services, the Honorable Kathleen Sebelius:
Birth control is too expensive and too complicated for individuals to purchase, so we'll make health insurers cover it, free of charge.  And for those of you concerned about this increasing the cost of your insurance, don't worry.  Birth control is cheap and simple, so this won't increase premiums at all.
As for Ms Fluke, unless she has special problems, $3,000 for three years of birth control is way over the top.  The number is closer to $9 per month, or $324 for three years.  If Ms Fluke is normal and if no one tells my wife, I will cover Ms Fluke's birth control expenses for the three years.

But, the final issue isn't paying for her birth control, but Ms Fluke's reaction to the apology by Mr Limbaugh.  I heard the apology.  Seemed like a pretty good one to me.  I thought, listening to it, that perhaps Mrs Limbaugh had explained to Rush how the cow ate the cabbage.  However, Ms Fluke is not accepting the apology.

I guess if she has already dismissed Mr Limbaugh as a jerk, rejecting the apology is one way to play it, and accepting it, with her own spin, is the other.  The second makes her seem like the bigger person, although she should avoid beers in the Rose Garden with Mr Limbaugh and the President and Veep.

On the other hand, if he really hurt her, rejecting the apology and nursing this wound will not go well for her over the long run.  She might consider talking to her spiritual director.

But, back to the national level issue, it seems to me that the Democratic Party operatives, or perhaps it is the Cook County Contingent, have managed to create out of nothing a major issue that they hope to wield to separate women from the Republican candidates.  They are doing an excellent job.  The Republicans have yet to regain their footing.

As a final note, my middle brother, Lance, who sometimes comments here, has been bugging me for two days about this post and when it is going up.  He is the one who, for Christmas, donates money to some United Nations activity, in my name.  In response, for his recent birthday I told him I was donating money to the Scott Brown campaign in his name.

Regards  —  Cliff

  It appears that Ms Fluke applied to and accepted admittance to Georgetown Law School fully understanding the position of the Roman Catholic Church on the issue of artificial birth control and that Georgetown was and is a Roman Catholic institution.  It has been suggested Ms Fluke picked Georgetown so she could pick a fight.  On the other hand, Law Professor Ann Althouse tells us that such students are the ones most prized by law schools, smart and with an edge.

5 comments:

lance said...

Do we know why she and others are taking birth control? Could it be that it is to help regulate their health? Is that a sin as well?

And as to the matter or vasectomies, why did the Bishops wait for a women's issue? Where has their outrage been in the past for religious freedom when it comes to insurance paying for men's procedures?

The Right, including the Bishops, but not necessarily all Catholics, are making themselves so amusing in this whole thing. It can only help Obama, and the Chicago operatives really don't have to do anything other than to just watch and grin at the implosion. The fact that all the candidates have to kow tow to Rush is what is frightening.

C R Krieger said...

We don't know why she is taking birth control pills (I am assuming that pills may be to regulate certain problems, something an IUD wouldn't accomplish, nor would the use of prophylactics.)  If it was other than for the major design purpose, birth control, wouldn't it be straight forward to say so?

Are vasectomies paid for by health insurance?  Never had one, don't know.

As for the poor Bishops, I think it is unfair to classify them as being part of the "Right".  They are not always on the "Right", whatever that means.  But, as I noted and as Lance notes, the Chicago Operatives are doing a splendid job right now.  My question for Lance is, was George Stephanopoulos part of the plan, or just a happy accident?

Regards  —  Cliff

C R Krieger said...

Bill Maher tweets re apology.

Hat tip to Althouse.

Reards  —  Cliff

Renee said...

Lance, No not a sin, but the idea women has to suppress her reproductive system in the name of her health is not good health care.

Unbeknownst to the Georgetown law student who testified on the issue of her Catholic College to cover contraception, over at the Georgetown Institute of Reproductive Health they been doing a lot of medical research on women's health all without contraception.

Even working with the federal government to educate and teach non-contraceptive family planning.

http://www.irh.org/?q=content/fam-project

Here is a policy brief... how Natural Family Planning actually creates gender equity, because both have to be informs. The burden is not on the woman.

The Catholic Church (some who would think ironically) has been doing more for women's reproductive health then Planned Parenthood.

The Church gives women knowledge, the government gives them a mandated pill.

http://www.irh.org/sites/default/files/FAM_Project_Brief_Gender%20Equity%208.5x11_0.pdf

Anonymous said...

Ms. Fluke is a "professional" rabble rouser. She has a long history of "speaking out" and thus, her appearance before the sham House hearing was no Fluke. In fact, the scheduled witness was, at the last minute, told not to show up. He was disinvited as the Democrats who put up the kangaroo committee found a better media darling in Ms. Fluke.

That she does or doesn't take or need BCP is a red herring. Sadly, and purposely, THAT has become the issue, NOT the real issue which is government overreach and dictates in matters quite personal.

BTW, she could have simply gone to Planned Parenthood and they would have given her all the BC apparatus she needed. Having said that, it wasn't her that was the case in point, but some unnamed and perhaps imaginary friend who had some medical need for BCP's to cure some medical issue. Using that argument, one can further extend that the government should provide free medications for other medical issues as well. In that vein, this can be seen as a scaffold for the implementation of a completely controlled government health system funded in its entirety by tax dollars.

This entire issue is simply one more act in the endless and nauseating political theater that has become Washington DC and threatens to strangle any meaningful actions by those elected to represent us.