Does the Current Administration Want to Control Our Bodies?
Is that why it's called birth CONTROL? help.
Should we rename birth control? To birth mind-your-business. Or birth nunya. Or something that would stop numerous conservatives in DC from crawling up our uterus’?
Seriously.
While the debate over abortion is well-documented, the BTS agenda of the Trump admin when it comes to birth control is less documented.
It started to come to light earlier this month when, according the the NY Times, “the White House argued that one reason for ending Obamacare’s birth control mandate is that it could promote ‘risky sexual behavior’ among women and teens." Under these regulations of the 55 million women with access to free birth control, hundreds of thousands of women would lose the benefits afforded to them under the Affordable Care Act.
So let’s talk numbers. More than 99% of women aged 15–44 who have ever had sexual intercourse have used at least one contraceptive method. Of the contraceptive methods, the pill and female sterilization have been the two most commonly used methods since 1982.
According to the fact sheet from the Guttmacher Institute, four of every five sexually experienced women have used the pill. More so, the pill is the method most widely used by white women, women in their teens and 20s, never- married and cohabiting women, childless women and college graduates.
You get the point. We use the pill. We like the pill. We like not getting pregnant. It’s not as wild or raucous as that “risky sexual behavior” quote would lead conservatives to believe. In fact, access to contraceptives has shown teens to engage in less risky sexual behavior.
And yet, last week, while we were distracted by [enter any number of horrors here] a leaked memo revealed that Trump and his administration intend to cut family planning funding and encourage women—including teenagers—to abandon birth control in favor of the rhythm method.
We wish this was about Janet Jackson.
(One more Rhythm Nation gif for prosperity.)
But it's not. It's still nasty tho.
Said memo was leaked to Crooked, and according to their reporting, “Each of the document’s repeated references to fertility awareness, including as a preferred remedy for teenage pregnancy, can be found in subsections that identify DPC staffers Katy Talento and Alexandra Campau as points of contact for OMB officials. Talento, a former adviser to Sen. Thom Tillis (R-NC), attracted the attention of the health news service STAT earlier this year, after Trump selected her to help shape the administration’s health policy, for expressing ‘strong rhetoric against birth control and abortion.’ In a January 2015 article for the right wing website The Federalist, Talento suggested that “chemical birth control” is “causing miscarriages of already-conceived children,” and, “breaking your uterus for good.”
Science.
Speaking of, here’s a little info on the rhythm method, in which women try to avoid pregnancy by tracking their ovulation. According to Planned Parenthood, these methods are about 76% effective. In other numbers, ““24 out of 100 couples who use FAMS will have a pregnancy each year.”
Talento has to be a hack! You might think. She's not. She studied epidemiology at Harvard (which certainly doesn't make her a vagina expert). Her first job, according to her LinkedIn was as a research instructor at Georgetown University Medical Center, where she helped oversee an unspecified NIH-funded study. She then worked at the Whitman-Walker Clinic, which provides services for HIV/AIDS patients, before moving onto politics. Why would a woman with an extensive scientific background call for such measures?
Why the call to take away our BC?
It’s certainly pre-historic and it has very little to do with your uterus breaking. Or deviant sexual behavior. But a conservative agenda that women should not enter into sexual relations before marriage. This is not politics as usual.
We say, my body, my choice. My Control.
MORE FROM OUR BLOG
Links From Our Group Chat: Birth Control Rollbacks and Pumpkin Spice Disaster
This week had us like, ugh.
The past week has been rough. Filled with tears and unanswered questions. Anger and disbelief. Our nation experienced mass tragedy, for which we have no answers. The White House took a major swipe at birth control. And Hollywood d-bags got exposed for what the are: d-bags. Where's the good news? We're announcing our next city tomorrow, because we forge ahead. Stronger together.
Ah, the turning of the leaves. The churning of stomachs. At least, that's what this pumpkin spice disaster caused at a high school, where two kids ended up in the hospital thanks to some pumpkin spice scent. Anyone wanna grab a Starbucks?
Unlike those Walmart whistling smiley face rollbacks, this Roll Back is NOTHING is smile about.
McDonalds is breaking into uncharted vegan territory.
Say hey to these senators offering their "thoughts and prayers," and then call them.
Gloria Allred does not approve of her daughter representing this creep.
Want did you read up on this week? Anyone want to share some good news in the comments?
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Why This TV Powerhouse Is Joining the Board of Planned Parenthood
Female anatomy.
Photo credit: Dove.
This morning, ELLE.com exclusively revealed the news that Shonda Rhimes – creator of Grey’s Anatomy, Scandal and How to Get Away with Murder – will join the national board of Planned Parenthood and speak for one of the most trusted health care providers in America.
In an interview with ELLE.com, Rhimes and Cecile Richards, Planned Parenthood Federation of America’s President, discuss their new partnership.
Shonda Rhimes on her reaction to Cecile Richards inviting her to consider a role on the Planned Parenthood national board:
“When someone you really admire … calls on you to serve, you say yes. The fact is that women’s health is under fire right now. And so to me, it feels like it’s important to help fight back. I just want to be of service. And I’ll do that any way I can.”
On why Richards reached out to Shonda:
“Shonda was already serving on the board out in Los Angeles, and she’s been a great supporter for a long time. But what she brings not only to this board, but frankly to the world is her commitment to lift up the stories of people who don’t always get heard, whether it’s in the way she talks about LGBT issues or women’s reproductive health care or [the way she] centers people of color on television. To me, the most important work we can do at Planned Parenthood is make sure that the voices of all those folks are heard, particularly in this political environment. And there’s just no one better at utilizing the power of storytelling than Shonda Rhimes.”
Rhimes on representatives and cable news pundits positioning Planned Parenthood as a “woman’s issue”:
“I'd put it this way: There are a lot of men who run things. And so for them, if it's not about them, it's considered an ‘other.’ I think the point of our country, our planet, the reason we're all here, one of the best things that we can do is be concerned about something even when it doesn't concern us. That's the whole point. The fact that I've never had to use a Planned Parenthood, the fact that I've never been in need of medical services I couldn't afford or didn't have access to, doesn't mean I shouldn't be concerned about the fact that other women don't have that access … When you help make people healthier, it makes the nation healthier, it makes the world healthier, it makes the economy healthier.”
Rhimes on the relative lack of “backlash” to Olivia Pope having an abortion on-screen:
“I don't know that I was surprised. But I think that the studio and the network were surprised that there wasn't a backlash. Yes, as we've all become more educated and aware, I think people have developed very different opinions over what is "controversial" and what's not … In this scene we were portraying a medical procedure that is legal in the United States of America. I wasn't sure what everybody was so concerned about. I was accurately portraying a medical procedure that the Supreme Court says people are allowed to have. I wasn't going to pull any punches. It's been a long time since Roe v. Wade, and I do think [most people] are able to have respect for other people's choices. Most people, I think, have accepted that it's not up to them to control other people's choices, except, it seems, when it comes to Washington, D.C., where everyone has an opinion about people's uteruses.”
Richards on what we can expect from Rhimes in this new role:
“The best thing we can do is just channel the enormous creative energy and storytelling ability that Shonda Rhimes already has to do our work even better. And she couldn't be joining us at a better time. When so much basic health care is under attack, as we saw just a few weeks ago, as a room full of men negotiated away maternity benefits for women, it's never been more important for people's stories to be told … Shonda has always been unapologetic about speaking truth to power. She does it every Thursday night. We're just incredibly grateful that of all the ways she could be spending her time, she's committed some of it to Planned Parenthood.”