# Birth Control Foe in Charge of Family Planning **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [October 17, 2007, 9:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/birth-control-foe-in-charge-of-family-planning/423095 "2007-10-17T21:47:54Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 12\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![SnakesCatLady](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/4af34b/32.png) [@SnakesCatLady](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SnakesCatLady)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2007, 2:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/birth-control-foe-in-charge-of-family-planning/423095/61 "2007-10-19T14:03:20Z")
What gets me is the “fertility is not a disease” comment. If you are a working woman, single or married, an unplanned pregnancy can be just as financially and emotionally draining as a disease. While it is rare, some women do actually die from it. And comments about “choice” aside, I don’t know of one woman who has decided to get pregnant so she could go have an abortion. Even when it is the best choice for the situation the woman is in, it is a heart-rending decision for most women. I don’t know why this administration wants to remove the “planning” from “family planning” - to make it more difficult for women to be responsible for their fertility. ---
**Author:** ![buttonjockey308](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/bcef8e/32.png) [@buttonjockey308](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/buttonjockey308)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2007, 4:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/birth-control-foe-in-charge-of-family-planning/423095/62 "2007-10-19T16:38:40Z")
[QUOTE=SnakesCatLady] I don’t know why this administration wants to remove the “planning” from “family planning” - to make it more difficult for women to be responsible for their fertility. [/QUOTE] I think you just answered your own question. ---
**Author:** ![Sitnam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/6a8cbe/32.png) [@Sitnam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sitnam)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2007, 7:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/birth-control-foe-in-charge-of-family-planning/423095/63 "2007-10-19T19:15:19Z")
There is no question in my mind that pregnancy isn’t a disease so a semantic argument is pretty strong against insurance companies paying out for birth control pills. This is also no question in my mind that women less likely to be financially stable enough to support kids are the ones most likely to have them. Therefore I conclude all young women and poor older women should have it subsidized by the government somehow and the reasoning can simply be ‘an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure’, which I don’t believe anyone can honestly contradict. ---
**Author:** ![born\_too\_late](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ba9def/32.png) [@born\_too\_late](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/born_too_late)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2007, 8:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/birth-control-foe-in-charge-of-family-planning/423095/64 "2007-10-19T20:35:00Z")
The irony here is that ‘ideological’, ‘moral’ politicians insist that abortion is murder and then refuse to have any regard for these unwanted children once they’re born (re: the recent veto on child healthcare/insurance, the death-penalty debate, etc., etc.). There’s either lucrative profit at someone else’s expense involved somewhere, or mind-boggling stupidity. Either way, it’s not good. Hypocrisy, greed, and deliberate ignorance is the new american dream. ---
**Author:** ![Sofaspud](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/8491ac/32.png) [@Sofaspud](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sofaspud)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2007, 11:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/birth-control-foe-in-charge-of-family-planning/423095/65 "2007-10-19T23:04:45Z")
[QUOTE=Revenant Threshold] I like that she’s a foe. More political appointments should go to supervillains. “ **Hahahaha!** Whimper beneath the mighty boots of **Abstinencia**!” “Not so fast, evildoer! Birth Control Man (and his ever-ready sidekick Rubber Johnny) shall foil your despicable plans!” [/QUOTE] _shatter_ I am _so_ using those as soon as I reopen my City of Heroes account. Bwah hah hah! ---
**Author:** ![Carol\_Stream](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/c2a13f/32.png) [@Carol\_Stream](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Carol_Stream)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2007, 5:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/birth-control-foe-in-charge-of-family-planning/423095/66 "2007-10-20T05:47:49Z")
[QUOTE=miss elizabeth] Comprehensive medical care is for commies. [/QUOTE] Nobody is against comprehensive medical care. But the federal government is not required to provide it to their employees, any more than private employers are. It’s a benefit. And entitlements are for commies. 😛 ---
**Author:** ![Miller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miller/32/481_2.png) [@Miller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miller)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2007, 6:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/birth-control-foe-in-charge-of-family-planning/423095/67 "2007-10-20T06:27:31Z")
[QUOTE=Sitnam] There is no question in my mind that pregnancy isn’t a disease so a semantic argument is pretty strong against insurance companies paying out for birth control pills. [/QUOTE] Only if you take the rather odd position that all medical care is disease-related. ---
**Author:** ![elucidator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8edcca/32.png) [@elucidator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elucidator)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2007, 6:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/birth-control-foe-in-charge-of-family-planning/423095/68 "2007-10-20T06:27:47Z")
By God, I think she made a funny! ---
**Author:** ![Unauthorized\_Cinnamon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/bc8723/32.png) [@Unauthorized\_Cinnamon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Unauthorized_Cinnamon)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2007, 7:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/birth-control-foe-in-charge-of-family-planning/423095/69 "2007-10-20T19:21:56Z")
Yes, pregnancy is not a “disease.” If you follow my posts on the subject, you already know that I abhor the traditional OB/GYN approach to pregnancy as pathological. However, that does not change the fact that pregnancy is an immediate threat to the productivity, health, and even life of the woman, when compared to remaining non-pregnant (or even compared to early abortion). Pregnancy is a huge risk factor for many conditions that are considered fair game for health insurance. Just off the top of my head: diabetes, nausea, fatigue, insomnia, constipation, hemorrhoids, excessive urination, backache, headache, heartburn, skin tags, and edema. And that is for a normal, healthy pregnancy! ---
**Author:** ![jayjay](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jayjay/32/6765_2.png) [@jayjay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jayjay)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2007, 7:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/birth-control-foe-in-charge-of-family-planning/423095/70 "2007-10-20T19:48:21Z")
[QUOTE=elucidator] By God, I think she made a funny! [/QUOTE] You have a more generous mind than I do, my friend… ---
**Author:** ![elucidator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8edcca/32.png) [@elucidator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elucidator)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2007, 7:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/birth-control-foe-in-charge-of-family-planning/423095/71 "2007-10-20T19:55:30Z")
Baby steps, **JayJay** , baby steps… ---
**Author:** ![Sitnam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/6a8cbe/32.png) [@Sitnam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sitnam)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2007, 5:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/birth-control-foe-in-charge-of-family-planning/423095/72 "2007-10-22T17:54:45Z")
[QUOTE=Unauthorized Cinnamon] Yes, pregnancy is not a “disease.” If you follow my posts on the subject, you already know that I abhor the traditional OB/GYN approach to pregnancy as pathological. However, that does not change the fact that pregnancy is an immediate threat to the productivity, health, and even life of the woman, when compared to remaining non-pregnant (or even compared to early abortion). Pregnancy is a huge risk factor for many conditions that are considered fair game for health insurance. Just off the top of my head: diabetes, nausea, fatigue, insomnia, constipation, hemorrhoids, excessive urination, backache, headache, heartburn, skin tags, and edema. And that is for a normal, healthy pregnancy! [/QUOTE] Yeah, I thought of this as I walked away from the computer lab yesterday (the biggest reason I keep comming in here is ‘cause this place makes you think). I’ve got nuthin’. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/birth-control-foe-in-charge-of-family-planning/423095.md?page=3)