Government Does Not Belong In Birth Control

I am a conservative. That should come as no shock to anyone who either knows me or reads this site. I believe in fiscal conservatism (which this administration has failed in) and I believe that the government should have an extremely limited role in our lives. I think that we do not pay taxes but rather that they are extorted from us by a mob known as the IRS on orders from the mob boss, the Congress. I believe that the government has no business taking our money and building bridges in Alaska, buildings named after Robert Byrd in West Virgina, or is spending that money in a myriad of pork projects to bring home the bacon, so to speak, at election time. Another thing the government does not belong in is our reproductive processes.

The federal government does not belong deciding whether a woman may have an abortion. Abortion is not mentioned in the US Constitution and is therefore an item left to the states. Another thing they should not be doing is providing birth control. I personally have no problem with birth control and I often wish that the parents of some people I meet had practiced birth control early and often. The fact is though, it is not the place of the government to provide birth control. I believe that every woman should have access if she wants it but it should be paid for by insurance or out of pocket.

Harry Reid and Hillary Clinton (two people whose parents should have practiced birth control, preferably through sterilization) are out pandering for votes by making the government brokers for birth control by ensuring low-income women have access to it and that insurance companies are required to provide it. If the government wants to tie receiving Medicare funds to birth control access that is their business but forcing a private business to carry a particular class of medication is anti-business. Additionally, who is going to pay for the birth control? Probably the same people that pay for every damned thing that is designed for “low-income” people and that is the US taxpayer.

I think it is a crime that every time we turn around some program is being devised to allow our money to redistributed for the people on the low end of the poverty scale. I realize that society has an obligation to take care of people but programs are often devised and implemented with no consideration to making the situation better. people are paid welfare and given food stamps to sit at home and do nothing. Often the poor people receiving these services are women who have many children from a number of men, men who run in and out of womens lives as often as they are in and out of prison. One only needs top watch all the “who is my baby’s daddy” shows on day time TV to realize what kind of people our tax dollars support.

This is not to minimize the fact that there are truly poor people who are married and have stable homes. These folks are in need but are probably not receiving the attention as the crack addict squirting out babies for “her” check. With this Reid-Clinton plan we will have the classic horse and water conundrum. We can offer and provide birth control pills but we can not make people take them. Perhaps we can come to a more equitable arrangement and tie several of these give away programs together. How about we use Norplant or Depo Provera and we require women on welfare to get those medications before they get the check. This would be easier to maintain than taking a pill and we could have regular check-ups to ensure health (just prior to the shot).

NARAL and this Reid-Clinton bill make the case that if an insurance company covers Viagra then it should cover birth control. They want equality in contraception The NARAL page describing the bill actually reads:

(1) Guaranteeing Equal Insurance Coverage for Birth Control: This section is modeled on the Equity in Prescription Insurance and Contraceptive Coverage Act from the 108th Congress. Health-insurance plans that cover prescription drugs should cover prescription contraception equally. The Reid-Clinton Prevention Amendment sets aside funds to pay initial costs in achieving contraceptive equity. If insurance plans cove, Viagra, they should cover women’s birth control.

Viagra is not a birth control drug. It is a drug to treat erectile dysfunction. It is illogical to compare them. If they stated that if Viagra is covered then you must cover medication to prevent vaginal dryness and make sex easier or more enjoyable for a woman then it would make more sense. If there was a male BCP and they made the connection then it would make sense. This whole argument is like saying if an insurance plan covers a woman getting an abortion then it must cover a man getting hair restoration. They are unrelated items. Actually, if you think about it, erectile dysfunction is birth control so treating it takes birth control away from men!

I agree that there should be more choices but the government should not be required to provide the funds for this. I am tired of hearing the whining about women not being taken care of as well as me, blah, blah. Every insurance I have ever had has covered BCP and men are not the only people who can buy condoms. They are inexpensive and guess what, women can buy them too.

So there we have it. If an insurance company does not provide BCP then shop around. If you can not shop around buy condoms. If you are “low income” then forced birth control in the form of Norplant or Depo Provera should be the only things taxpayers have to foot the bill for.

Source 1: Times Union (this looks like a request to support legislation from last year or before)
Source 2: NARAL (this is from 2005)

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One Response to “Government Does Not Belong In Birth Control”

  1. Schatz says:

    I’d just like to add that many insurance carriers that HARD WORKING people like myself pay for will not cover birth control expenses (although they do often cover abortion procedures — but that is another post). So I have a real problem with the government providing birth control measures when non-dependence-card users have to pay for it out of their own pocket right along with the taxes covering the pills for the non-working (should not be having children if you can’t affored them) people.