Tuesday, March 6, 2012

No, I Don't Want to Pay for Your Contraceptives!


It seems that you can hardly navigate the internet these days without running across a hate filled diatribe against the “evil old men” who are trying to “take my contraception from me!!!!”  It’s usually accompanied by something about how women have fought long and hard for these “rights” and how the “Roman Catholic Church needs to stay out of my bedroom.” 

The standard, unoriginal arguments show the complete lack of understanding for the actual issue that is being argued at the moment, but in the past few days I’ve seen it taken even further, with hatred being spewed at “friends” on facebook that is downright evil.  I’ve seen someone say to a friend that people who believe that contraception is wrong should be “wiped off the face of the earth” and I’ve seen incredibly disgusting rants filled with profanity and obscene references to bodily parts that would make a demon proud. 

But the previous sentence telling in itself isn’t it?  My reference to demons?  Because I very much do believe in good and evil in this world, which, according to a panel I saw on CNN last week, is quite laughable and should apparently disqualify any person for public office.  Or at the very least result in three smug men laughing hysterically that anyone could still have such antiquated notions, on national TV. 

I’ve seen calmly written paragraphs explaining why Catholics simply don’t want to pay for something they believe is morally evil and I’ve seen vitriolic rage spouted in response, spouting the same old “lies” that basically say we’re just “repressing” a “woman’s right” to “express her sexuality.” 

Last night I saw a rant by a group of women claiming to be “pro-life” who just didn’t get why these “Catholics don’t want to pay for the pill” because the lies that the pharmaceutical companies have been selling these past years have apparently been so convincing that women don’t even scan the info that comes with their little beloved packets of pills that would tell them that most pills prevent implantation, in reality preventing a newly formed life from taking hold, and causing an abortion. 

And my heart aches as I watch the progression of lies that has unfolded this past century, and because of all the lives it has claimed and all the lives that will yet be destroyed by this great evil. 

In our culture sex has been transformed in the last century, from something private and sacred, something that should be guarded and valued, to a commodity and a “right,” something that can be bargained for “power” and immediate gratification.  We believe that we can separate the act from its natural consequence, without repercussions, and when nature proves that it can’t be thwarted, we think that murder is a nice solution. 

Is it any surprise now, that when someone says they don’t want to pay for someone else to have sex, the reaction is that they should be “wiped off the face of the earth”?  Because sex has become our golden calf, the idol that so many have placed above all else, and somehow certain people have begun believe it should be a RIGHT, on par with food, water and shelter.  Our culture tells us we should live for it.  And they tell us that we can kill for it.

 I’ve also heard it the cliché “the Church should stay out of our bedrooms!” more often than I care to think of this week, spouted by “Catholics” who have likely never understood what their Church actually teaches.  And they just don’t understand that the Church isn’t “in their bedroom” but is responsible for guiding us to heaven, and trying to keep our immortal souls from committing a mortal sin, and completely severing the soul from God.

I also think it’s interesting that we can “stay out of their bedrooms” while simultaneously demanding is that we pay for their sexual preferences and contraceptives.  

The thing is, as wrong as we believe contraception is, we aren’t arguing that it should be eliminated.  We’re arguing that we shouldn’t have to violate our consciences by paying for it. 

Even on a secular level I’m disgusted with the idea of paying for The Pill.  I don’t want to pay for someone else’s cigarettes either.  I refuse to pay to destroy life, whether it’s born or unborn.  I have a problem paying for something that the International Agency for Research for Cancer, a research arm of the World Health Organization, classified as a Group 1 Carcinogen, putting it in the same class as cigarettes and asbestos.  I have a problem paying for something that causes a woman who has taken it for 5 years four times more likely to develop cervical cancer.  I’m disgusted by the idea that I’d pay for something that causes young women who’ve taken it for 4 years prior to their first birth to have an increased breast cancer risk of 52%.  And while the American Medical Association warns women that post-menopausal hormones are likely causing advanced and deadly breast cancer, they stop short of pointing out that the same hormones, at six times the dosage are given to women regularly as contraception (read the entire article, with all the sources, here). 

I’m against paying for contraceptives because I’m for women.  I’m for respecting our bodies and our souls.  I’m for not turning into a commodity that which is sacred.  I’m for not commercializing sexuality and telling our daughters that they need to be “sexy” to be beautiful.  And if someone wants to abuse their body in this way, and take enormous risks with their health, both physical and spiritual, then in our nation that is their right.  But I think they should know about the risks they’re taking.  And they certainly shouldn’t expect the rest of us to pay for it.  

18 comments:

  1. wow cam, what an amazing article and argument. you are an incredible woman of god! can't wait to read your first book.

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  2. Oh my goodness!! That was beautiful! Thank you for summing up what I have been thinking! There is evil in the world! Mary, Queen of Heaven pray for us!

    Katie

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  3. BRAVO, Cam! This is the best-written post on this subject I've seen thus far. I totally agree, 100%.

    On an unrelated note, I really wish we lived closer! I think we would be good friends, and our kids would get along fantastic. Maybe one day. :)

    God bless you & your family.

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  4. Put simply, I do not want to subsidize anyone's sex life.

    As to banning contraceptives, my first reaction was curiosity. I was surprised someone would have the guts to propose such a worthy venture. Imagine my disappointment when it turned out to merely be a political smokescreen.

    The nonsense sloganeering that you have quoted does get tiresome. Let's not forget my favorite: "This isn't a Theocracy!" As if that is even remotely a problem right now. Most who say that wouldn't even know what a Catholic confessional state looks like, let alone a theocracy. Then I start thinking maybe I should show them an example and this little voice in the back of my head says "you know, that ain't a bad idea" and I get this itch to raise the double eagle banner and, well, ya... probably best that I just stick to argument.

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  5. Well done - I love the cigarettes example.

    Extremely well spoke, Cam. May you be blessed a thousand-fold for your continued courage.

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  6. Well said. I wish I had your gift for expessing myself in words.

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  7. Excellent article, thank-you for posting this. I do need some clarification though, as I'm Canadian and I'm not familiar with the HHS mandate. I was under the impression that tax money was not going towards contraceptives, it was insurance money that was. Could you, or someone clairfy this for me? Again, very well written :)
    Rochelle

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  8. Hi Rochelle-

    In the US tax money goes to abortion and contraceptives already.

    You are right, the HHS mandate is about Catholic employers being required to pay for their employees contraceptive service charges. Which is kind of ridiculous since contraceptives are easily available for free to pretty much everyone (even wealthy young girls could go to a Planned Parenthood and sign a paper saying they don't want their parents to know via insurance and they'll be given packs and packs of birth control). It's really just a political move, forcing Catholic institutions to violate their consciences.

    The reason I said "I" in paying is because we live at one of the Catholic institutions that would be slammed by this if it goes through (and because as Catholics this really is about "us" and about all religious people in this country!). I hope that helps.

    To better understand how awful the mandate is you might want to check out this link too!

    http://blog.cardinalnewmansociety.org/2012/02/16/bishop-lori-and-the-parable-of-the-kosher-deli/

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  9. Thank-you for the information :)

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  10. I think this is one of the most articulately written stances against contraception. I'm not against it per se, but I do respect the right of Catholic companies to not fund it as it goes against their beliefs.

    What *really* got my dander up, though, was Rush Limbaugh's shaming of Sandra Fluke (the Georgetown student speaking in support of publicly funded contraception), calling her a "slut" and a "prostitute". It's in VERY bad taste on his part, it's offensive to women to use that kind of language, and it drowns out the more sensible voices on the conservative side of things.

    I find it interesting that on one side, it's "a risk of pregnancy" while on the other it's "open to pregnancy". I like the more positive wording :)

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  11. Well said! Perhaps post on ACWB?

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  12. I really believe there needs to be more education of women regarding effects of birth control, and the mechanisms by which it works. I'm not a Catholic. I'm simply a Christian--I don't know that I "fit" 100% with any given denomination, and that's okay with me, because denominations were created by man. I just want to fit with Christ. A few years ago, I made the choice to use Mirena after the birth of my third (?) child. I had been led by advertising to believe that b/c it contained the same hormones as the pill, it worked LIKE the pill, by preventing ovulation from occurring (stick with me). Imagine my shock when I read the package insert prior to the insertion procedure and discovered the primary action of Mirena is to make the womb inhospitable and thereby prevent implantation of a fertilized ovum! I was against tradition IUDs, b/c I knew this was how they worked, but we're led to believe that because of the hormones, Mirena works differently. Lies! I immediately refused, and went back to my less convenient pills. Only now, a few days ago, as a matter of fact, do I learn that pills also have this same effect, even if it is not considered their "primary" action. Now, I was a pill baby. It never occurred to me that this was a potential problem. I think it is mostly glossed over, and, to a great degree, hidden from the general public. We are taught that the pill prevents ovulation, thereby preventing sperm and egg from ever coming together, and life being created. And if this fails, you get pregnant. The end. Women need to know the whole truth about what we put into our bodies. If you believe women "have the right" to these things (abortions, contraceptives, etc.) you should also believe they have the right to have all pertinent information to use in the making of these decisions, and the intelligence to interpret and apply that information.

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  13. fantastically awesome amazing wonderful article!!!

    I love how our (practicing Catholics) articles on this subject are so calm and well thought out, unlike the crazed, foaming at the mouth anti-religious freedom nuts screaming that anyone who is against the mandate "hates women!"

    What malarky. I'm a woman. I don't hate women. I hate violations of my religious freedom.

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