The Struggle for Power over Women's Fertility

I told myself when I moved to the United States that I would not get involved in politics. Well, after living here for just over 6 months and with an election on the way, it's been nearly impossible to avoid the utter bullsh*t and GONG SHOW that is American politics!

The Republican race is a baffling trio of Newt Gingrich, Rick Santorum, and Mitt Romney (and Ron Paul...but it seems he's mostly out of the contest at this point). These three men are all self-described "Christians". Their behaviour remains very un-Christian, however, with Gingrich having married three times; Santorum, a Catholic, is a war-monger intent on keeping troops in Iraq and Afghanistan; Romney, despite being a Mormon, demonstrates how un-Jesus-like he is by being unconcerned for the poor.

But these men have been putting their "Christianity" in the limelight in order to win over the extreme right-wing Republicans and hardcore Christians of America. All the candidates oppose same-sex marriage (Santorum likens homosexuality to bestiality and pedophilia). Santorum is so anal (pun intended) that he goes so far to say that private sexual acts between married couples should mostly be for the purpose of pro-creation, and that the use of contraception leads to too many sexual liberties. Gingrich and Santorum oppose a woman's right to choose to terminate a pregnancy. (Super creepy aside: when Santorum's wife suffered a miscarriage, Santorum and his wife brought the dead child - Gabriel - home so their other children could "meet" it...W.T.F.?!)

What has really got my panties (white with black butterflies...someone please let Wayne Toews know...I digress...) in a twist are the efforts of the Republican party to block Obama's Affordable Care Act which basically provides birth control to women for free beginning in 2012. I do not understand why old, white, Christian men want so badly to have power over a woman's ability to control her own fertility!

Republicans want to make abortion illegal, cut funding to Planned Parenthood, make birth control illegal or highly regulated (in the case of Santorum). I was absolutely disgusted when I read a recent article where a Conservative radio host called a young university student a "slut" because she believed that birth control should be covered by health insurance at religious institutions:

www.thestar.com/news/world/article/1140095--radio-host-rush-limbaugh-labels-woman-a-slut-for-asking-birth-control-to-be-paid-for

Here's the thing: men want to have sex with women. That's a fact. Many men and women have sex outside of marriage. That's a fact. To avoid getting women pregnant, men may use a condom that they can purchase at a local drugstore. That's a fact. When a man uses a condom, he is responsibly taking control of his own fertility. Although men may purchase condoms for a small cost, free condoms can often be found at local health clinics, doctor's offices, etc. At times, however, a man and a woman (husband and wife, even) may want to have sex without a condom, but they also don't want to have a child. Or, perhaps a man and a woman may want to have sex but a condom is not available. Fortunately, a woman has an option of taking a hormone that will prevent her from becoming pregnant if she has unprotected sex. If men can take control of their own fertility, and do so for free, why are people wanting to deny this right to women?

Rick Santorum has five children. That means he has had sex at least five times without using any kind of contraception or birth control. I wonder if he has only ever had sex five times in his life. Does Rick Santorum view his wife as merely a vessel for carrying his children? Is Karen Santorum allowed to exercise control over her own fertility? (Perhaps not, as she recently had another child, at the age of 48....did they seriously plan that, or were they have unprotected sex *God forbid*?!)

I'm frustrated that I'm not expressing myself very articulately right now. My basic point is this: men and women have sex, and they don't always do it to create a child. If men can use condoms (and get them for free at times), why shouldn't women be able to obtain birth control for free, or for subsidized cost? And why are old, white men the ones who are making this decision for women?!

If by using birth control women are preventing life from starting and taking too many sexual liberties, then why should men be allowed to use condoms? Is that not also preventing life from starting? And what about having a vasectomy?!

I'm just so disgusted by this whole state of affairs! Of course this leads right into a discussion on religion, and religion + state which should be completely disallowed. Unfortunately, Rick Santorum is more than ready to drag religion back into the White House. It will be a sad day on this planet if this horse-blinder-wearing Bible-thumper ever gets into office...

http://campaignstops.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/03/01/leaps-of-faith/