Women Absent from Birth Control Debate

Obama seems to be stirring it up again in Washington and getting Catholic priests all hot under the collar. President Obama latest policy calls for insurance companies to pay for contraceptives for women, but Lutheran and Baptist clergy men and and Orthodox rabbi came to the table with a Roman Catholic bishop to scold the administration for taking away the responsibility of the church and swinging it to the government. The church feels as thought its being undermined, and Representative Joe Walsh, Republican of Illinois, insisted: “This is not about women. This is not about contraceptives. This is about religious freedom." It is? 

That's really interesting, because I always thought that birth control was a woman's right to control her own reproductive system, and not the prerogative of the church to tell a woman what she could and could not do do with her own body. Rev. Dr. Matthew C. Harrison, president of the Lutheran Church, has stated that the President's proposed policy is an intrusion on Christian values. The majority of insurance companies would be required to provide coverage for birth control for all women, contraceptive drugs and devices approved by the Food and Drug Administration as well as sterilization procedures.

What is so disturbing about this issue, is that women seem to be completely absent from the conversation. As Bill Maher once said on a recent airing, speaking of the Catholic church, the decisions of contraception shouldn't be left up to "a bunch of 70 year old virgins who wear dresses to work". All jokes aside, the fact that once again, men are making decisions about women and their reproductive rights, sets us back fifty years. Women spent generations fighting the establishment, only to give up their voice for the sake of party politics.

I think what Obama is doing is honorable. He is dedication to the separation of church and reproduction, as it should be. Women shouldn't have to collaborate with their church to prevent premature child rearing. It's a decision that should be made between her and her doctor, simple as that.