Women Are Not “Pork”

[Joanne98]

by Ruth Rosen

Responding to President Obama's request, House Democrats cut a provision from the stimulus package that would expand contraceptive family planning for Medicaid patients-usually poor women and girls.

Why did this happen?

For years, reproductive justice activists have argued that the religious right's real agenda is not just to eliminate abortion, but to end the historic rupture between sex and reproduction that took place in the 20th century.

I understand why that rupture is unsettling. Ironically, I was on my way to lecture about Margaret Sanger in my history course at UC Berkeley when I heard the news. Sanger was vilified for wanting to give women the choice of when or whether to bear children. In short, she challenged all of human history by proposing an historic rupture between sexuality and the goal of reproduction. But if reproduction ceased to be the goal, sexuality might become yoked to pleasure.

That is the legacy the religious right has fought against, and it's that agenda that cut funding for family planning.

House Minority Leader John Boehner (R-OH) said, "How you can spend hundreds of millions of dollars on contraceptives? How does that stimulate the economy?"

Well, here's the answer. Consider the teenage girl who's sexually active. What happens to the economy when she bears a child without the means to support it? Conversely, what happens when she finishes her education, enters the labor force, earns a salary, and pays taxes? Do we want an unemployed poor woman to have more children than she can already feed, or do we want her to have access to contraception, get her life back on track, and hopefully find work instead of raising another child she cannot afford at this time?

http://www.commondreams.org/view/2009/01/29-1

[cali]

1. no,but the stimulus bill was probably not the right place for this

and I know you'll hate this news, but Obama has reiterated his support for the cut legislation and said he'll address it shortly.

[Why Syzygy]

4. Viagra is in the bill.

It's important enough to have working equipment to cause pregnancies, but not to prevent.
Yes. Let's hear what President Obama has to say about that discrepancy.

[Tartiflette]

5. Politics

I subscribe to the theory posited that there were provisions in the bill that were deemed to be negotiable, in order for Obama to show good faith and act out on his promise to rise above partisanship. This was one of thiose - the viagra question is not really relevant, as it was not selected as contentious by teh republicans (I think). As noted above, he will come back to this issue, and his actions thus far are anything but anti-women, notably in the removal of the global gag rule.

[Why Syzygy]

7. Eggsactly. It's okie dokie to play politics with women's bodies and lives. nt

[Tartiflette]

8. Actually, you could apply that question to everything

In the past eight years, there have been partisan politics played needlessly with a whole range of issues, way beyond women's lives and bodies (but of course, this is one of the clearest differences between repubs and democrats, and I don't mean to minimise this in any way) with little regard to the welfare of the nation. It's the republican playbook. I stand by my comment that this will be a pro-woman administration (but perhaps not as pro-woman as you, or even I might like to see), although only time will prove that right or wrong.

[Why Syzygy]

10. Yeah. I'm pretty tough.

I hang with the officials who want citizens to have the same health benefits as they do.

[wryter2000]

19. Welcome to DU

:hi:

[BrklynLiberal]

21. The hypocrisy is awe-inspiring.

Provide support for men to be able to have sex, but do nothing to help the women who have to deal with the consequences of it.

[Why Syzygy]

23. It's sickening.

The premise of thought required to make those kind of decisions are chilling.

[BlancheSplanchnik]

15. if the President says he supports the cut legislation

and will address that shortly, then I feel relieved.

I never got liar vibes from him, and his recent skewering of the jerks who insist on working against us, the people, reinforces my trust.

The viagra thing...geez....that's bizarre..... must be there to keep those pigs happy.
(and no, all men are not pigs, just some--the kind who need their *ahem*, bacon *ahem* stroked just so they feel safe knowing those damned laydeez won't get any pie before they've had their 3 helpings.... )

[Why Syzygy]

2. duh!

Men's ambitions to rule women only proves how weak they are.

[stray cat]

3. you could change the noun and cover most other projects as well

There are many good things I could do with my money but I only have so much money so some really good things don't get funded

[Demeter]

6. No, But Some Men Are Pigs

[Tartiflette]

9. I was tempted to be offended

..but then I thought of Rush and Dick Armey and realised that I couldn't disagree

[Name removed]

11. Deleted message

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[Name removed]

12. Deleted message

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[Karenina]

16. Oh dear... I DO have a chill pill in my bag!

;-) :loveya:

[Hugin]

25. Ah, Demeter...

You're my "Hero of the Day".

:lol:

[Doctor_J]

13. Hmm....

Looks pretty porcine to me.

[BlueMTexpat]

14. Unfortunately, too many RWers think of women as little more than chattel.

It's not too far to make the leap to "pork."

And yes, whether Viagra is considered to be controversial or not, why is it OK for Viagra to be covered in this bill but contraception not? Goose and gander after all.

Or is that too many equal rights for more than half of US citizens?

[wolfgangmo]

17. IF there are no poor desperate single mothers out there..

.. then who will Boner troll for? He needs people poor and desperate or he won't be able to abuse anyone. One can only imagine what kind of twisted porn is on his hard drive.

[wryter2000]

18. They're calling everything pork

It's their new strategy. I saw one of them (blonde named Crowley) on a PBS Sunday show referring to the weatherstripping proposal "pork." I don't know how in the world they can claim that giving homeowners money to weatherstrip their houses is pork. The can argue (wrongly, imho) that it's not an intelligent use of money, but it ain't pork.

[BrklynLiberal]

20. I believe that the anti-abortion, anti-contraceptive movements were,

and still are, thinly veiled attempts to control women. It goes along with all the other fundamentalist...of all types...beliefs.
One of the basic tenets that all fundamentalism in the world has, is the domination of women by men.

I think that the excuse of the "rupture of the connection between sex and reproduction" may be just another cover story for
the domination and devaluation of women.

[Froward69]

22. Ill take the 5th

on this one, anything I say WILL be used against me... he he "Pork":yoiks:

[depakid]

24. Another sell out to Republicans- with ZERO in return

A big fat LOSE/LOSE -just like every other effort to pander to the right.