# Why is the Obama administration fighting so hard to legally restrict access to contraception? **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [May 1, 2013, 11:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-the-obama-administration-fighting-so-hard-to-legally-restrict-access-to-contraception/657270 "2013-05-01T23:42:53Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 7
**Author:** ![Voyager](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/voyager/32/133_2.png) [@Voyager](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Voyager)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2013, 7:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-the-obama-administration-fighting-so-hard-to-legally-restrict-access-to-contraception/657270/121 "2013-05-03T19:28:57Z")
> [@BigT](#): > > No one wants them to have kids. What we want is for them to have to TELL THEIR FREAKING PARENTS instead of the government specifically creating a way for them to completely hide it from them. It’s not as if the parents won’t be able to go out and buy the freaking drug for them. Kids have been having sex since there have been kids. The issue here is what happens when they do. Consider a girl who has just had unprotected sex. Make Plan B impossible to get, and she has two choices. First, she tells her parents that she has been sexually active, which is going to be tough even in the best of families and a disaster in many. (Think she’s going to be allowed to see that boy again?) Or, she could do nothing and hope she doesn’t get pregnant. And if she does, she’ll either be stuck having the kid and disrupting her life for months at the least and forever at the worst, or having an abortion. But that is in the future. Her decision is going to be do nothing 9 times out of 10. You are also forgetting the difficulty of a girl actually buying this at a local drugstore. That will reduce the chances right there. When I was in college, in Cambridge MA, you had to ask a druggist for condoms. Not my happiest memory. That’s a right of passage boys don’t have to go through any more, at least. ---
**Author:** ![Renee\_RL](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/7c8e57/32.png) [@Renee\_RL](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Renee_RL)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2013, 4:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-the-obama-administration-fighting-so-hard-to-legally-restrict-access-to-contraception/657270/122 "2013-05-06T16:00:44Z")
> [@Der\_Trihs](#): > > Because he’s a right winger, not a liberal and not a moderate despite all the Republican frothing at the mouth about how he’s some socialist/communist. I guess you don’t know what a rightwinger is! ---
**Author:** ![Renee\_RL](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/7c8e57/32.png) [@Renee\_RL](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Renee_RL)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2013, 4:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-the-obama-administration-fighting-so-hard-to-legally-restrict-access-to-contraception/657270/123 "2013-05-06T16:12:39Z")
For crying out loud Obama fights for women’s rights. How is he trying to deny access to contraception for women? ---
**Author:** ![Renee\_RL](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/7c8e57/32.png) [@Renee\_RL](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Renee_RL)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2013, 4:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-the-obama-administration-fighting-so-hard-to-legally-restrict-access-to-contraception/657270/124 "2013-05-06T16:15:24Z")
> [@Voyager](#): > > Kids have been having sex since there have been kids. The issue here is what happens when they do. > > Consider a girl who has just had unprotected sex. Make Plan B impossible to get, and she has two choices. First, she tells her parents that she has been sexually active, which is going to be tough even in the best of families and a disaster in many. (Think she’s going to be allowed to see that boy again?) > Or, she could do nothing and hope she doesn’t get pregnant. And if she does, she’ll either be stuck having the kid and disrupting her life for months at the least and forever at the worst, or having an abortion. But that is in the future. > > Her decision is going to be do nothing 9 times out of 10. > > You are also forgetting the difficulty of a girl actually buying this at a local drugstore. That will reduce the chances right there. When I was in college, in Cambridge MA, you had to ask a druggist for condoms. Not my happiest memory. That’s a right of passage boys don’t have to go through any more, at least. I have a deep concern about plan b. I was a sex Ed teacher in NYC for years and my fear is girls won’t insist on condoms because “the boys don’t like them” and then they will become more susceptible to STDs. The pill is also expensive so poor girls will be burdened with unwanted pregnancies. It is a real slippery slope. ---
**Author:** ![Renee\_RL](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/7c8e57/32.png) [@Renee\_RL](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Renee_RL)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2013, 4:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-the-obama-administration-fighting-so-hard-to-legally-restrict-access-to-contraception/657270/125 "2013-05-06T16:18:46Z")
> [@Voyager](#): > > Cite? We have two daughters, and my wife has a Masters in reproductive physiology, so she is the expert in this area. What we did was to put our kids on birth control pills long before they needed them, with the excuse of regulating their periods. In that way when they did decide to have sex without our permission they were protected. Period. I rather doubt it changed anything, but it meant no scares. > > Access to contraception without our knowledge would be fine - but given that humans are human, it is much better to provide it automatically. That is really the only rational course for someone not hung up about their kids’ sexuality. Forgive me, but putting your daughters on the pill dishonestly is not good parenting in my opinion. I told my daughter if she is sexually active, I will support her in getting the pill. There is no reason to provide it automatically…it almost makes a non sexually active girl feel she is not the norm ---
**Author:** ![miss\_elizabeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/838e76/32.png) [@miss\_elizabeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/miss_elizabeth)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2013, 5:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-the-obama-administration-fighting-so-hard-to-legally-restrict-access-to-contraception/657270/126 "2013-05-06T17:13:33Z")
> [@Prejteach2](#): > > Forgive me, but putting your daughters on the pill dishonestly is not good parenting in my opinion. I told my daughter if she is sexually active, I will support her in getting the pill. There is no reason to provide it automatically…it almost makes a non sexually active girl feel she is not the norm I think it’s a great idea. They didn’t lie, they provided a cover so no one was embarrassed. Very smart, and it left no room for error. ---
**Author:** ![Human\_Action](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/ac91a4/32.png) [@Human\_Action](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Human_Action)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2013, 5:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-the-obama-administration-fighting-so-hard-to-legally-restrict-access-to-contraception/657270/127 "2013-05-06T17:14:11Z")
> [@Prejteach2](#): > > For crying out loud Obama fights for women’s rights. How is he trying to deny access to contraception for women? 😕 Did you read the OP? Obama’s Secretary of Health and Human Services overruled the FDA and prohibited the sale of morning-after pills to girls under 15 who didn’t have a prescription. A federal judge ovveruled that prohibiton, and Obama’s justice department is appealing that ruling. ---
**Author:** ![Voyager](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/voyager/32/133_2.png) [@Voyager](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Voyager)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2013, 5:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-the-obama-administration-fighting-so-hard-to-legally-restrict-access-to-contraception/657270/128 "2013-05-06T17:29:03Z")
> [@Prejteach2](#): > > Forgive me, but putting your daughters on the pill dishonestly is not good parenting in my opinion. I told my daughter if she is sexually active, I will support her in getting the pill. There is no reason to provide it automatically…it almost makes a non sexually active girl feel she is not the norm It seems to have worked okay. In any case, despite the fact that we are not the slightest bit religious, have never said that sex was bad, have said that waiting for marriage would be dumb, and have a very open relationship with our kids, they still didn’t choose to announce when they started. (Though we could guess.) Asking your daughter to announce when she is sexually active, or even more, plans to be, is asking a lot even in the best of circumstances. An admirable position but an impractical one. In any case the pill does smooth out menstrual cycles, but in any case no one was fooled. Both our kids are pretty happy with this also, and one is married and the other is about to be. No drama is good. ---
**Author:** ![Voyager](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/voyager/32/133_2.png) [@Voyager](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Voyager)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2013, 5:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-the-obama-administration-fighting-so-hard-to-legally-restrict-access-to-contraception/657270/129 "2013-05-06T17:32:03Z")
> [@miss\_elizabeth](#): > > I think it’s a great idea. They didn’t lie, they provided a cover so no one was embarrassed. Very smart, and it left no room for error. My younger one, in her early 20s now, went to the doctor and she was surprised a bit about how up she was on things. My daughter said “my mother isn’t stupid!” All credit goes to my wife. ---
**Author:** ![miss\_elizabeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/838e76/32.png) [@miss\_elizabeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/miss_elizabeth)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2013, 6:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-the-obama-administration-fighting-so-hard-to-legally-restrict-access-to-contraception/657270/130 "2013-05-06T18:03:15Z")
> [@Voyager](#): > > My younger one, in her early 20s now, went to the doctor and she was surprised a bit about how up she was on things. My daughter said “my mother isn’t stupid!” All credit goes to my wife. Tell her I said, “Good job!” 😉😛 ---
**Author:** ![Renee\_RL](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/7c8e57/32.png) [@Renee\_RL](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Renee_RL)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2013, 11:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-the-obama-administration-fighting-so-hard-to-legally-restrict-access-to-contraception/657270/131 "2013-05-06T23:28:01Z")
> [@miss\_elizabeth](#): > > I think it’s a great idea. They didn’t lie, they provided a cover so no one was embarrassed. Very smart, and it left no room for error. Yes they did lie. They told them it was to regulate their periods. ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2013, 11:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-the-obama-administration-fighting-so-hard-to-legally-restrict-access-to-contraception/657270/132 "2013-05-06T23:32:26Z")
> [@Prejteach2](#): > > Yes they did lie. They told them it was to regulate their periods. The pill does that, though. ---
**Author:** ![Renee\_RL](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/7c8e57/32.png) [@Renee\_RL](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Renee_RL)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2013, 11:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-the-obama-administration-fighting-so-hard-to-legally-restrict-access-to-contraception/657270/133 "2013-05-06T23:36:19Z")
> [@Human\_Action](#): > > 😕 Did you read the OP? Obama’s Secretary of Health and Human Services overruled the FDA and prohibited the sale of morning-after pills to girls under 15 who didn’t have a prescription. A federal judge ovveruled that prohibiton, and Obama’s justice department is appealing that ruling. I don’t agree with that, but there are millions who do. Obama has fought for planned parenthood and for birth control to be covered under health insurance, why is it if we disagree with something he does it negates all he has done for women. Remember his fist bill? The Ledbetter act? ---
**Author:** ![Renee\_RL](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/7c8e57/32.png) [@Renee\_RL](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Renee_RL)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2013, 11:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-the-obama-administration-fighting-so-hard-to-legally-restrict-access-to-contraception/657270/134 "2013-05-06T23:41:32Z")
> [@Voyager](#): > > It seems to have worked okay. In any case, despite the fact that we are not the slightest bit religious, have never said that sex was bad, have said that waiting for marriage would be dumb, and have a very open relationship with our kids, they still didn’t choose to announce when they started. (Though we could guess.) Asking your daughter to announce when she is sexually active, or even more, plans to be, is asking a lot even in the best of circumstances. An admirable position but an impractical one. In any case the pill does smooth out menstrual cycles, but in any case no one was fooled. Both our kids are pretty happy with this also, and one is married and the other is about to be. No drama is good. There are always condoms if they didnt want you to know. I understand what you did and I am glad it worked. ---
**Author:** ![Voyager](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/voyager/32/133_2.png) [@Voyager](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Voyager)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2013, 12:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-the-obama-administration-fighting-so-hard-to-legally-restrict-access-to-contraception/657270/135 "2013-05-07T00:17:34Z")
> [@Prejteach2](#): > > There are always condoms if they didnt want you to know. I understand what you did and I am glad it worked. I’m not trusting anyone else’s kid. But that make me wonder what fathers of boys should do. My first idea is to leave a supply of condoms in a fairly easy to get to place, to make it easy for the kid to steal some even on the hope of needing them. Even if you don’t use them. And never, never count them. Anyone with experience with this? ---
**Author:** ![Sateryn76](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a88e4f/32.png) [@Sateryn76](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sateryn76)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2013, 12:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-the-obama-administration-fighting-so-hard-to-legally-restrict-access-to-contraception/657270/136 "2013-05-07T00:46:44Z")
My daughter is 17, and now has her first serious boyfriend. I know she’s messed around in the past, but nothing major, and she’s still a virgin. I bought a box of condoms and put them in her vanity drawer. They’re hers now, and I would never check or count them. This, on top of years of talking about and encouraging openness about sexuality. She also knows that I will take her to the Gyno anytime she wants, with no questions asked. ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2013, 12:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-the-obama-administration-fighting-so-hard-to-legally-restrict-access-to-contraception/657270/137 "2013-05-07T00:55:46Z")
> [@Voyager](#): > > Anyone with experience with this? I stole some of my Dad’s. Now I wonder… 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![WhyNot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/c77e96/32.png) [@WhyNot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WhyNot)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2013, 1:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-the-obama-administration-fighting-so-hard-to-legally-restrict-access-to-contraception/657270/138 "2013-05-07T01:34:06Z")
> [@Voyager](#): > > I’m not trusting anyone else’s kid. But that make me wonder what fathers of boys should do. My first idea is to leave a supply of condoms in a fairly easy to get to place, to make it easy for the kid to steal some even on the hope of needing them. Even if you don’t use them. And never, never count them. Anyone with experience with this? We have a literal bucket full of condoms in the closet. My son knows they’re there (as does my daughter, but she’s eight, so she just likes to take them out sometimes and sort them by color and pretend they’re little frisbees; she knows that “these are what people use when they are ready to have sex so they don’t get germs,” but to her they’re still just fun little squishy bits of brightly colored plastic). He knows he’s more than welcome to take as many as he needs, and we couldn’t begin to count them if we wanted to. He actually uses them for easy clean up when he masturbates. _shrug_ Better than stiff gym socks! Planned Parenthood and other clinics are happy to give you as many as you’d like. Dental dams, too. (Female condoms are ridiculously hard to come by, sadly.) But yes, to answer your question, I think an unending supply of no questions asked condoms is a good idea. I don’t consider him to be “stealing” them - he’s taking them. They’re part of the household supplies, like toilet paper and toothpaste. If he were to take the last one (fat chance!), I’d appreciate a heads up so I know to get more, but that’s about it. ---
**Author:** ![Human\_Action](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/ac91a4/32.png) [@Human\_Action](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Human_Action)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2013, 12:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-the-obama-administration-fighting-so-hard-to-legally-restrict-access-to-contraception/657270/139 "2013-05-07T12:18:51Z")
> [@Prejteach2](#): > > I don’t agree with that, but there are millions who do. Obama has fought for planned parenthood and for birth control to be covered under health insurance, why is it if we disagree with something he does it negates all he has done for women. Remember his fist bill? The Ledbetter act? Who says it negates anything else he’s done? We don’t have to view politicians as wholly good or wholly bad at their jobs. This decision shifts Obama a few degrees closer to the “bad” end of the spectrum, is all. ---
**Author:** ![Renee\_RL](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/7c8e57/32.png) [@Renee\_RL](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Renee_RL)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2013, 9:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-the-obama-administration-fighting-so-hard-to-legally-restrict-access-to-contraception/657270/140 "2013-05-07T21:11:45Z")
> [@Voyager](#): > > I’m not trusting anyone else’s kid. But that make me wonder what fathers of boys should do. My first idea is to leave a supply of condoms in a fairly easy to get to place, to make it easy for the kid to steal some even on the hope of needing them. Even if you don’t use them. And never, never count them. Anyone with experience with this? As I said I taught sex Ed for years…not to worry, boys don’t have to steal them…they even buy them and wish they could use them, 😀in my sex Ed class , and all sxhools should have sex Ed, the kids were taught all about them [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-the-obama-administration-fighting-so-hard-to-legally-restrict-access-to-contraception/657270.md?page=6) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-the-obama-administration-fighting-so-hard-to-legally-restrict-access-to-contraception/657270.md?page=8)