The Illogic of Planned Parenthood
Okay, the title of my post probably got your blood boiling before you even clicked the link. Please understand where I am coming from. I am strongly pro-choice. I strongly support Planned Parenthood's mission. I have given it money in the past. I've marched for NARAL. Nonetheless, this complaint it has been raising since the advent of ED drugs is absurd. I have yet to hear a rational explanation of the equivalency between, say, Viagra and birth control when it comes to insurance coverage.
The ability to have sex and the ability to prevent conception are two very different things. To have a valid claim of discrimination, Planned Parenthood would have to be looking at a situation where either there was a drug that would allow women to have sex (overcoming/stopping pain or any other obstacle there might be) that insurance would not cover or, where insurance chose to cover birth control for men, but not women.
It is true the ED drugs allow some men to have intercourse who would not otherwise be able to do so. They then, with the consent of their partner, may end up fathering an unwanted child, if the two of them chose not to use birth control. He may then abscond. This is both unfair and immoral behavior (the absconding, not the sex), but it has nothing to do with insurance coverage. But, there is a very easy answer that is entirely in the control of the woman. She can (wisely) say, "I don't care if you do have Viagra, I don't won't to get pregnant and so you must provide a condom." She can put it entirely back on the man. If not, say "no". Anything after that is rape. I doubt there is a man alive who would entirely forgo sex rather than use a condom.
Please understand that I think it is the height of foolishness that insurance doesn't pay for birth control. I have a friend who is having a difficult, but intended, pregnancy that involved pre-natal surgery. She noted with an ironic laugh "These are going to be quarter million dollar babies, but the insurance company won't pay for birth control. How stupid is that?"
I absolutely think that insurance should pay for birth control, but I despise the intellectual dishonesty of making birth control and ED drugs equivalents. Now, I will hold open the possibility that there is an honest argument to made for it. The problem is I have never heard Planned Parenthood, NOW, NARAL or any feminist writer spell it out. So, if you disagree with me, do me the favor of spelling it out.
The ability to have sex and the ability to prevent conception are two very different things. To have a valid claim of discrimination, Planned Parenthood would have to be looking at a situation where either there was a drug that would allow women to have sex (overcoming/stopping pain or any other obstacle there might be) that insurance would not cover or, where insurance chose to cover birth control for men, but not women.
It is true the ED drugs allow some men to have intercourse who would not otherwise be able to do so. They then, with the consent of their partner, may end up fathering an unwanted child, if the two of them chose not to use birth control. He may then abscond. This is both unfair and immoral behavior (the absconding, not the sex), but it has nothing to do with insurance coverage. But, there is a very easy answer that is entirely in the control of the woman. She can (wisely) say, "I don't care if you do have Viagra, I don't won't to get pregnant and so you must provide a condom." She can put it entirely back on the man. If not, say "no". Anything after that is rape. I doubt there is a man alive who would entirely forgo sex rather than use a condom.
Please understand that I think it is the height of foolishness that insurance doesn't pay for birth control. I have a friend who is having a difficult, but intended, pregnancy that involved pre-natal surgery. She noted with an ironic laugh "These are going to be quarter million dollar babies, but the insurance company won't pay for birth control. How stupid is that?"
I absolutely think that insurance should pay for birth control, but I despise the intellectual dishonesty of making birth control and ED drugs equivalents. Now, I will hold open the possibility that there is an honest argument to made for it. The problem is I have never heard Planned Parenthood, NOW, NARAL or any feminist writer spell it out. So, if you disagree with me, do me the favor of spelling it out.
