# What's the big deal about birth control? **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [September 17, 2015, 8:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-big-deal-about-birth-control/731549 "2015-09-17T08:40:53Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Joey\_P](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/919ad9/32.png) [@Joey\_P](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Joey_P)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2015, 1:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-big-deal-about-birth-control/731549/21 "2015-09-17T13:41:55Z")
> [@Ravenman](#): > > I did say “who in their **right mind** ,” which can be translated to mean the 90% of people who don’t believe birth control is morally wrong. There are, of course, single-digit percentage of Americans who deny science to make up lies about how birth control pills work. But even among Catholics, the number of people who think birth control is morally wrong is actually really small. But when they’re really loud, hold elected positions and make or uphold laws… I mean, I’m sure there a small percentage that thinks just about anything is wrong, but you don’t hear about it. The minority of people that thinks BC is wrong is a large and loud enough minority that you know it’s there and it’s in the news on a semi-regular basis. ---
**Author:** ![Ranger\_Jeff](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ranger_jeff/32/2065_2.png) [@Ranger\_Jeff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ranger_Jeff)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2015, 2:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-big-deal-about-birth-control/731549/22 "2015-09-17T14:16:43Z")
I guess there’s a vocal segment of our population who think it’s a good idea to punish women who aren’t abstinent by making them have unplanned and/or unwanted babies. ---
**Author:** ![GoodOmens](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/d26b3c/32.png) [@GoodOmens](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GoodOmens)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2015, 2:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-big-deal-about-birth-control/731549/23 "2015-09-17T14:28:12Z")
> [@septimus](#): > > I know nothing about Planned Parenthood, but I oppose attempts to mislead the public. > > I’ve heard that Planned Parenthood is in business to profit by “selling baby parts.” **Champion** , can you use your Google skills to inform us about this? > **['Sting' Videos Of Planned Parenthood Are Totally Manipulated, Forensic...](https://www.huffpost.com/entry/planned-parenthood-sting-videos-forensic_n_55df2334e4b029b3f1b1be9f)** > > Even the supposedly unedited "full" footage is misleadingly altered, experts say. For a start. The key paragraph: “The videos show Planned Parenthood doctors discussing the donation of fetal tissue after abortions – a legal practice. But the CMP edited the videos into episodes that make it look as though Planned Parenthood is selling fetal parts for profit and changing abortion methods to deliver intact specimens. The family planning provider strongly denies both charges, and five separate state investigations into Planned Parenthood have cleared the organization of any wrongdoing.” ---
**Author:** ![wolfpup](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wolfpup/32/10618_2.png) [@wolfpup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wolfpup)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2015, 2:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-big-deal-about-birth-control/731549/24 "2015-09-17T14:42:34Z")
> [@septimus](#): > > I know nothing about Planned Parenthood, but I oppose attempts to mislead the public. > > I’ve heard that Planned Parenthood is in business to profit by “selling baby parts.” **Champion** , can you use your Google skills to inform us about this? Also, according to one of the OP’s own links (the second one), 3% of Planned Parenthood’s activities relate to providing abortions. The other 97% relates to women’s health. I first heard this figure on the Bill Maher show when Wendy Davis was arguing with some conservative wingnut who, incidentally, was also going on about baby parts. It’s apparently the wingnut talking point _du jour_, to such a degree that I imagine Planned Parenthood must have an illustrated baby parts catalog one can browse. ---
**Author:** ![Slithy\_Tove](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slithy_tove/32/18248_2.png) [@Slithy\_Tove](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Slithy_Tove)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2015, 2:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-big-deal-about-birth-control/731549/25 "2015-09-17T14:44:52Z")
Well it was Passover, and you just can’t make a decent matzo without fetus. ---
**Author:** ![AK84](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/85e7bf/32.png) [@AK84](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AK84)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2015, 2:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-big-deal-about-birth-control/731549/26 "2015-09-17T14:44:56Z")
> [@Anaamika](#): > > The “obsession” with birth control stems from the fact that birth control _ **for the first time allows women to control their destinies. We don’t have to be pregnant just cause someone says so.** _ We can plan our pregnancies. :dubious: Errrr what? I am all for giving women unfettered access to free and safe birth control and information on options, but seriously, WTF? Did they not teach birds and the bees? Absent physical coercion no woman in history has gotten preggers because “someone says so” (and before you say, pressure from menfolk would be just as effective in stopping her from taking the pill as any other method). Contraception has been around for millennia. The Romans managed to drive the herb Silphium extinct because of demands for it. The pill is easy to use and (generally safe). Its also not the most reliable method around (that IUD). ---
**Author:** ![ITR\_champion](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/c67d28/32.png) [@ITR\_champion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ITR_champion)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2015, 2:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-big-deal-about-birth-control/731549/27 "2015-09-17T14:55:39Z")
> [@tomndebb](#): > > The article to which you linked does not quite say what you claimed it said. Not a good start to this thread. > To quote the article: While the “strict sense” is not met, the fact that they provide both the referrals and information about funding indicates that they do–for women who do not have primary care physicians–“provide” the ability to get the screenings. Obama was at least as accurate as the organziation that challenged his remarks that relied on nit picking. I said that Planned Parenthood does not provide mammograms. The article that I linked to says that Planned Parenthood does not provide mammograms. ---
**Author:** ![ITR\_champion](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/c67d28/32.png) [@ITR\_champion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ITR_champion)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2015, 2:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-big-deal-about-birth-control/731549/28 "2015-09-17T14:59:03Z")
> [@Snowboarder\_Bo](#): > > Cite please? I searched for the word “access” in that .pdf and found only one usage, on page 50 of 54 (Appendix II: Definitions of Terms): > There is no other use of the word “access” in that report. So far you seem to be batting 0 for 2 (.000) in your OP. It is actually possible to read a report, rather than merely searching for a word within it. From p. 15 of the report I linked to: “Contraceptive use in the United States is virtually universal among women of reproductive age.” If virtually all women use birth control, than obviously virtually all women can access birth control. The report also contains a survey of reasons why women who didn’t use birth control chose not to do so; lack of access wasn’t even mentioned. ---
**Author:** ![ITR\_champion](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/c67d28/32.png) [@ITR\_champion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ITR_champion)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2015, 3:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-big-deal-about-birth-control/731549/29 "2015-09-17T15:04:31Z")
> [@AK84](#): > > Up to half of the population at any time might take the pill. Only a small fraction will take even the most common prescription drugs. > > Can you not see why that might cause birthcontrol to be more thoroughly funded? I’m not grasping your argument at all. First of all, you say “up to half of the population at any time might take the pill”. Huh? While you might not know it from listening to Democratic Senators, there are plenty of women and girls who don’t use the pill, either by being to young or old to get pregnant, or not sexually active, or simply choosing not to. According to the CDC report I linked to, 17% of women in the relevant age range use the pill. Second, there’s no reason why the level of funding for a medicine would be tied to the percentage of the population that uses it. Statins are used by tens of millions of Americans. So are anti-depressants. But the coverage requirements for those are no different from medications that are rarely used. ---
**Author:** ![Ravenman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ravenman/32/2929_2.png) [@Ravenman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ravenman)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2015, 3:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-big-deal-about-birth-control/731549/30 "2015-09-17T15:05:33Z")
> [@ITR\_champion](#): > > It is actually possible to read a report, rather than merely searching for a word within it. From p. 15 of the report I linked to: “Contraceptive use in the United States is virtually universal among women of reproductive age.” If virtually all women use birth control, than obviously virtually all women can access birth control. The report also contains a survey of reasons why women who didn’t use birth control chose not to do so; lack of access wasn’t even mentioned. But surely you can concede that a clinic that has more than 800 locations in the United States and four million annual visits related to contraception is a significant part of access to birth control, right? ---
**Author:** ![ITR\_champion](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/c67d28/32.png) [@ITR\_champion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ITR_champion)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2015, 3:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-big-deal-about-birth-control/731549/31 "2015-09-17T15:07:40Z")
> [@steronz](#): > > Teen pregnancies are bad for society, as are unplanned pregnancies in general when the parents aren’t ready, either economically or emotionally, to raise a child. It’s a problem that disproportionately affects women, causing them to drop out of their education track early (be it in high school or forcing them to earn income instead of going to college or grad school). Suggesting young people try abstinence has one of the worst track records of any idea ever. Birth control works. If birth control is easy to access, then society gets better. And you might think that being able to go buy affordable birth control is good enough, but young people are idiots. Birth control needs to be stupidly easy to obtain. It’s one of the greatest bargains for society, and that’s why we’re obsessed with it. > > I really don’t understand the right’s war on birth control. I get that you don’t want to pay for anyone else’s stuff, because your money is sacred, but in the long run it’s going to save everyone money. And yeah, none of these little attacks on birth control are a huge deal in their own right. But the evidence is pretty unambiguous. Societies in which parents delay having children until later in life are _so much better_ than societies in which people have lots of kids starting at an early age that I really can’t see why there’s a debate. Widespread use of effective birth control is one of the single greatest things a country can do to elevate itself in global rankings. Why the war against it? I’m not aware that there is any war against it. Could I have a cite for that? ---
**Author:** ![ITR\_champion](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/c67d28/32.png) [@ITR\_champion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ITR_champion)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2015, 3:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-big-deal-about-birth-control/731549/32 "2015-09-17T15:10:26Z")
> [@Ravenman](#): > > Guy says that birth control pills aren’t a big deal. “You’ve come a long way, baby.” > > Anyway, whether you’re pro-choice or pro-life, I think an important part of the calculation on birth control pill policy is this: > > 1. Make birth control and EC easier to get and reduce the number of unwanted pregnancies and abortions, Everyone in the USA has been able to get birth control for decades; I linked to a CDC report in the OP which says so. Yet we’ve had tens of millions of abortions over those same decades. Plainly the claim that birth control will prevent abortions is not true. ---
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2015, 3:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-big-deal-about-birth-control/731549/33 "2015-09-17T15:12:59Z")
> [@Ravenman](#): > > But surely you can concede that a clinic that has more than 800 locations in the United States and four million annual visits related to contraception is a significant part of access to birth control, right? I’m not sure that the OP is calling for the defunding of PP, but it would be helpful if he clarified his stance on that issue. And, if he’s calling for defunding (by the government) does he still believe that, as a privately funded organization, PP still is an important part of reproductive care for women. ---
**Author:** ![andros](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e480ec/32.png) [@andros](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/andros)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2015, 3:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-big-deal-about-birth-control/731549/34 "2015-09-17T15:13:29Z")
> [@ITR\_champion](#): > > I’m not aware that there is any war against it. Could I have a cite for that? You realize [that’s](http://www.huffingtonpost.com/news/gop-birth-control/)a [rhetorical](http://www.sacbee.com/opinion/editorials/article26983570.html)[device](http://www.salon.com/2015/05/11/the_new_war_on_your_birth_control_how_big_pharma_and_hobby_lobby_types_put_iuds_out_of_reach/), [right](https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/rachel-maddow-the-gop-war-on-birth-control/2012/02/10/gIQAbZ734Q_story.html)? And that no one is literally suggesting people are lined up with tanks and rifles? ---
**Author:** ![andros](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e480ec/32.png) [@andros](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/andros)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2015, 3:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-big-deal-about-birth-control/731549/35 "2015-09-17T15:15:21Z")
> [@ITR\_champion](#): > > Plainly the claim that birth control will prevent abortions is not true. The abortion rate continues to decline. No one is suggesting that universal access to birth control will eliminate all abortions. ---
**Author:** ![steronz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/steronz/32/11765_2.png) [@steronz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/steronz)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2015, 3:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-big-deal-about-birth-control/731549/36 "2015-09-17T15:20:20Z")
> [@andros](#): > > You realize [that’s](http://www.huffingtonpost.com/news/gop-birth-control/)a [rhetorical](http://www.sacbee.com/opinion/editorials/article26983570.html)[device](http://www.salon.com/2015/05/11/the_new_war_on_your_birth_control_how_big_pharma_and_hobby_lobby_types_put_iuds_out_of_reach/), [right](https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/rachel-maddow-the-gop-war-on-birth-control/2012/02/10/gIQAbZ734Q_story.html)? And that no one is literally suggesting people are lined up with tanks and rifles? Most Republicans (including, presumably, ITR Champion) will of course claim that they have no problem with birth control itself, but then they go ahead and propose all sorts of legislation that will make birth control harder to get. They’ll then say that they’re not \*trying \*to make birth control harder to get; rather, they’re proposing bills that will lower taxes by eliminating unnecessary services, or “protect religious liberty” (scarequotes required), or to protect the legal rights of fetuses and zygotes which they think are people. And then they wonder why Democrats, who find all of those reasons so terribly unconvincing, focus on the birth control aspect. Boggles the mind. ---
**Author:** ![Lightnin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lightnin/32/180_2.png) [@Lightnin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lightnin)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2015, 3:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-big-deal-about-birth-control/731549/37 "2015-09-17T15:20:21Z")
> [@ITR\_champion](#): > > Everyone in the USA has been able to get birth control for decades; I linked to a CDC report in the OP which says so. Yet we’ve had tens of millions of abortions over those same decades. Plainly the claim that birth control will prevent abortions is not true. Hey, you know, above, when I said, “Freely available birth control is the single best way to cut down on abortions”? “Cut down” means “reduce”, not “_prevent_”. But hey, you’re really knocking that strawman around really well. ---
**Author:** ![John\_D\_Adamo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ed8c4c/32.png) [@John\_D\_Adamo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_D_Adamo)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2015, 3:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-big-deal-about-birth-control/731549/38 "2015-09-17T15:24:14Z")
> [@Anaamika](#): > > Well I am one of those 30 percent that got my birth control and other health care from PP when I was too young and poor to afford anything else. PP is more than just birth control; it’s a judgment-free zone where you know they will give you birth control - sell it to you, whatever - and totally accept that you need it. They will not snicker, or make comments or even worse, tell you you don’t need it. > > At 39 I don’t give a shit what people say and buy anything I need. At 20, hell no, I needed PP. > > The “obsession” with birth control stems from the fact that birth control for the first time allows women to control their destinies. We don’t have to be pregnant just cause someone says so. We can plan our pregnancies. I think this, more than anything, is what gets Republicans in a tizzy, and I pretty much think that all of this complaining is an effort to get women back into the homes, making babies and taking care of them, instead of standing out in their fields, speaking out. > > One more thing. I feel like people always look to the well-off white women when they are speaking about this. Your wife is on all of those drugs - I take some daily pills, too. She has health insurance. I have health insurance. And now there’s Obamacare. > > Is it so hard to look at the minority women who are working at McDonald’s or a diner or really wherever they can get work and realize until very recently they didn’t have health care? It was always tied to their jobs and quite often even if they had it it was bare bones. I went quite a few times without health care - like when I was a temp worker, for example. I had money then, but I still went to PP. > > Hell you can’t tell me there aren’t poor white women working at these places who still have no money. > > **Shodan** and others are great proponents of “rules” in life. One of their rules, which I agree with, is “don’t have children until you can afford it”. To do this, though, you need to have everyone have access to birth control and we need to 100% legitimize it. No calling Sandra Fluke a slut because she wants some. > > Republicans make no sense. On the one hand they are spitting invectives about all of the welfare moms and their umpteen babies. On the other hand they are trash-talking anyone who wants birth control and limiting access to birth control left and right. On the third hand they demonize abortion! But abortions will only go down with education and birth control! Very eloquently said. PP makes a megaton of difference for young women in America. The extreme vast majority of what the organization handles are women’s health issues (not abortions). The targeting based on a super edited video by both Congress and in the debate last night is in very poor form. ---
**Author:** ![Merneith](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/57b2e6/32.png) [@Merneith](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Merneith)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2015, 3:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-big-deal-about-birth-control/731549/39 "2015-09-17T15:30:25Z")
> [@AK84](#): > > :dubious: > _ **Absent physical coercion** _ no woman in history has gotten preggers because “someone says so” (and before you say, pressure from menfolk would be just as effective in stopping her from taking the pill as any other method). Emphasis mine. Honestly, I think you’ve just disqualified yourself from participating in this discussion. > [@](#): > > Contraception has been around for millennia. The Romans managed to drive the herb Silphium extinct because of demands for it. Silphium was an abortificant. (Probably. We’re not entirely sure what plant it was) And any way, it’s extinct so - no, it hasn’t been around for centuries. And that’s ignoring that herbal abortificants are dangerous drugs that frequently cause death from blood loss. Herbal abortificants are not safe to use as routine birth control. On top of that, abortion was illegal in most historic post-roman societies. People who practiced herbal medicine were often attacked as witches. There is nothing about the history of abortion that matches the safe and effective method of birth control pills. > [@](#): > > The pill is easy to use and (generally safe). Its also not the most reliable method around (that IUD). The IUD is safe _today_; it wasn’t safe at the time that the BC pill was reaching mass popularity. There can be no doubt about the social impact of birth control pills in enabling women to freely and privately plan their family development. Likewise, there can be no doubt as to the existence of pushback from conservatives who want to prevent women from leaving their historical social role as the second sex. ---
**Author:** ![wolfpup](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wolfpup/32/10618_2.png) [@wolfpup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wolfpup)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2015, 3:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-big-deal-about-birth-control/731549/40 "2015-09-17T15:47:12Z")
> [@ITR\_champion](#): > > I said that Planned Parenthood does not provide mammograms. The article that I linked to says that Planned Parenthood does not provide mammograms. But is that a useful and honest description of the situation, or is it maybe rather egregiously misleading in the style to which we’ve become accustomed to hearing from the social conservative fringe? What would happen if a woman would benefit from a mammogram and/or other breast cancer screening and went to Planned Parenthood for assistance? Well, let’s see, they do breast cancer screening via breast exams and ([in their words](http://www.plannedparenthood.org/learn/womens-health/breast-cancer-screenings/)) “Planned Parenthood doctors and nurses teach patients about breast care, connect patients to resources to **help them get vital biopsies, ultrasounds, and mammograms, and follow up to make sure patients are cared for** with the attention they need and deserve”. Their referral services to mammogram clinics are the same as those provided by the Susan G. Komen Foundation and the American Cancer Society, and they also help low-income patients get coverage for mammograms and other screening and diagnostic services. Why, yes, in fact, on the truthiness scale of fantasy the “don’t provide mammograms” statement is right up their with the Plannned Parenthood illustrated catalog of baby parts with free shipping. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-big-deal-about-birth-control/731549.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-big-deal-about-birth-control/731549.md?page=3)