Birth Control Sparking National Controversy
Jillian Curtis, Staff Writer
The all—male panel testifies at the women’s birth control hearing.
image via the Washington Post
As the 2012 Presidential elec
tions draws closer, many contro
versial political issues are garner
ing national attention. However,
in addition to discussing the state
of the economy, foreign affairs,
and homeland security, politicians
are also dealing with a variety of
social issues involving the use of
birth control.
The debate over birth control
began when President Obama an
nounced a new policy that would
require companies to provide
contraceptive coverage to their
employees without co-pays or ad
ditional costs. This policy would
provide women with free birth
control from their employers.
After the announcement was
made, there was immediate oppo
sition to the policy. Many Catholic
organizations were angered over
the policy because they do not
promote the use of birth con
trol and felt it went against their
religious views to subsidize con
traceptives for their employees.
Conservatives agreed and called
the new policy an “attack on reli
gious freedom.”
Many Meredith students agreed
with this view, believing the is
sue to be about the importance of
birth control not about religious
freedom.
“If an organization run by a
church has a moral objection to
birth control, which the Catholic
church does, then the government
has no right to mandate them to
pay for something that they find
objectionable. It’s a matter of the
church being forced to do some
thing,” stated student Brookie
Babcock, 2014.
After the opposition to this
new policy was voiced, President
Obama revised the legislation and
announced that religious institu
tions would not be required to
provide birth control to employees
if it was against the company’s re
ligious beliefs. Instead, insurance
companies would be responsible
for providing the employees with
' free birth control.
In a press conference on Febru
ary 10, 2012, President Obama
announced, “Religious organiza
tions won’t have to pay for these
services and no religious institu
tion will have to provide these
services directly. Let me repeat:
These employers will not have to
pay for or provide contraceptive
services, but women who work at
these institutions will have access
to free contraceptive services just
like other women” (ABC News).
Dr. Benko, Meredith ethics
professor, believes that this isn’t a
matter of religioiis freedom at all.
“This law is no different than
telling employers that they have
to pay their employees the fed
eral minimum wage. What if an
employer said that, for religious
reasons, they don’t want to hire
or promote women or minorities?
No one would defend that and no
one should defend this,” asserted
Dr. Benko. “If an employer gets
federal dollars then they have to
abide by federal laws. If they don’t
want to abide by federal laws they
should give up their federal dol
lar.”
£C
It’s easy to laugh
and make jokes
about a panel of
men discussing
women’s birth
control. It’s just
not funny.”
However, the debate over birth
control did not stop there. Follow
ing President Obama’s revisions
to the policy, many conservatives
were still distressed. They decided
to debate the issue by having a
panel of five men. When women
attempted to testify in favor of
the policy, they were denied. As a
result, many representatives left
the meeting in a form of protest.
Before walking out. Rep. Caro
lyn Maloney (D-N.Y.) asked the
chairman: “What I want to know
is where are the women? I look
at this panel and I don’t see one
single individual representing
the tens of millions of women
across the country who want and
need insurance coverage for basic
preventive health care services,
including family planning. Where
are the women?” (NY Daily News).
A number of Meredith students
and faculty share Rep. Maloney’s
views and were outraged at the
all— male panel.
“It’s easy to laugh and make
jokes about a panel of men dis
cussing women’s birth control. It’s
just not funny,” stated Dr. Benko.
“What students should be worried
about is the compromise. Those
who are advocating for restrict
ing access to birth control are not
going to get everything they want,
but they are going to get some
thing,”
The issue of birth control has
also been a hot topic among Re
publican presidential candidates.
Rick Santorum, one of the leading
Republican candidates, has strong
beliefs against contraception,
though he does think it should be
legal. Many women were outraged
when Santorum’s sponsor, Foster
Friess, publicly declared, “You
know, back in my days, they’d
use Bayer aspirin for contracep
tives. 'The gals put it between their
knees, and it wasn’t that costly,”
(Washington Post).
In addition to the birth control
debate, there have also been many
recent developments in politics
centered around women’s issues.
Planned Parenthood is still be
ing scrutinized, although there
was a national outcry when Susan
G. Komen withdrew its support
of Planned Parenthood. Several
states are also pursing advanced
abortion laws which require trans-
vaginal ultrasounds and coun
seling sessions. It is important
to keep an eye out for women’s
issues in politics and to watch for
future developments.
IN THIS ISSUE...
State &: Local: Meeting with the Mayor, Economic Recovery, How Not to Get an Interview
Arts & Entertainment: Style Stalker, Costume Designer: Jordan Jaked, Rebecca Rants on Tanning, Ask Gigi
Campus Life: Meredith Autism Program, Confessions of a Student Teacher, Vagina Monologues, Letters to the Editors
Opinion: The Case for Chris Brown, Gender Variant Clothing Ban, Whines and Gripes