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“Where they have burned books, they will end in burning human beings.”


Thursday, March 16, 2006

But Do They Still Fund Viagra?

In a not at all shocking move from the state that brought us "Christianity is Our Offical Religion", Missouri has moved to ban state funding for contraception:

An attempt to resume state spending on birth control got shot down Wednesday by House members who argued it would have amounted to an endorsement of promiscuous lifestyles.

Missouri stopped providing money for family planning and certain women's health services when Republicans gained control of both chambers of the Legislature in 2003.

[snip]

"If you hand out contraception to single women, we're saying promiscuity is OK as a state, and I am not in support of that," Phillips, R-Kansas City, said in an interview.

I'm not married. (Not yet--that's coming in October.) I've been on the pill for several years. I wasn't promiscuous, except by some folks incredibly strict standards on what constitutes promiscuity (i.e. having a boyfriend and sometimes having sex with said boyfriend). I'm going to continue to be on birth control for the forseable future. And frankly? I don't make a lot of money, but I'm lucky enough to have a really good prescription program. (But I'm doubtful that's going to last.)

So yeah--this hits home. The the bill is entirely centered on single women--not on single men, who are apparently not having sex with the single women. Who they're having sex with, I don't know, except for the gay men. But the misogyny isn't very shocking.

But there are even some pro-life people who see this move as foolish:

Others, including some lawmakers who described themselves as "pro-life," said it was illogical for anti-abortion lawmakers to deny money for contraception to low-income people who use public health clinics.

"It's going to have the opposite effect of what the intention is, which will be more unwanted pregnancies and more abortions," said Rep. Kate Meiners, D-Kansas City.

Exactly. Ultimately, this punishes the poor for having sex. Wealthy people, people with high paying jobs, good health insurance, they don't have to worry about this. They can pay (or have their insurance companies pay) without difficulty. It's the poor who are getting screwed with this. Why? Man, I can't figure that out beyond the rich hating the poor, or thinking the poor are lazy and stupid and don't deserve sex. Yeah, that sounds childish, but I can't figure it out, unless this is a stepping-stone towards outlawing contraception altogether. (At which point the rich will still just import their medication from Canada...)

More stupidity:

"State taxpayers should not be required to subsidize activities they believe are immoral or unethical, relating to contraceptives or abortions," said Larry Weber, executive director of the state Catholic Conference.

Look, I'm sorry, but the last people who should be talking about sexual morality is the Catholic Church.

You know, I'll take you up on that when states no longer funds things like Chastity Awareness Week, which I find to be offensive.

Folks, we're talking about birth control. This is where we're headed. It won't be overnight, and it doesn't have to happen if we get off our collective asses and do something about it. But if we sit by and say "they'd never do that!", then just wait--the crazies will always to worse.

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posted by Mary, 2:45 PM

Tuesday, March 14, 2006

Don't Stand So Close To Me
Or,
Boy, I'm Glad I Went Out and Bought Some Masks

So bird flu is back in the news:

The LA Times story says the estimated deaths could be between 209,000 to 1.9 million for the US. That's a pretty wide estimation, so I don't know what to do about it.

So here's the thing--is this all crazy? Are people just freaking out because we're a adrenaline-addicted nation? Is this just another example of people thriving on disaster? Or are we really in the path of the Dans Macabre? Are we ripe for another Black Death?

Or should I just put down the box of Chunky Soups, get my head out of the Middle Ages, and go ride my bike?

'Cause at this point, I just don't know.

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posted by Mary, 2:45 PM