The Non-Existent Birth Control / Contraceptives Debate

With all of the turmoil in the world a large number of people are now fixated on birth control. Ever since George Stephanopoulos asked Mitt Romney, "Governor Romney, do you believe that states have the right to ban contraception? Or is that trumped by a constitutional right to privacy?" Since that debate there's been these bizarre references to a Republican lead ban on contraception.

Now that Sandra Fluke has gone before a congressional committee, the House Democratic Steering and Policy Committe on women's health and contraception. I like how they added the "and contraception" to the end the committee name. Fluke testified that some of her fellow students at Georgetown University and other religiously affiliated institutions can barely afford contraception. She gives an example of a friend of hers, who does receive contraceptive coverage from Georgetown University because of a medically necessary condition, and says that her friend's case is rare. There is a policy in place at Georgetown University that allows for contraceptive coverage when medically necessary. So, her first example of a medically necessary usage of birth control (and it's denial) is a non-issue because her friend has contraceptive coverage. Then she goes on to say, "When you let university administrators or other employers rather than women and their doctors dictate who's medial needs are legitimate and who's are not; A women's health takes a back seat to a bureaucracy focused on policing a her body." This is absurd. The Affordable Care Act will put the federal government between a women and her doctor.

I wasn't aware of this but apparently more than half of the colleges and universities offer health insurance plans to their students. This USA Today article states, "plans range from $30 to $2,400, and the average premium is about $850, the GAO said." I wonder why this wasn't mentioned in her testimony. If these figures are correct, health insurance combined with the cost of contraceptives, at Georgetown University, could cost as much as $5550 for three years! That's more than $6,000 a year for three years if you include co-pay charges. I was able to find this out in just a few minutes, I wonder why that wasn't part of her testimony? While attending such a prestigious law university; Sandra Fluke might want to make a better case when standing in front of a congressional committee --and the entire country.

Here's the truth. This is a completely spur of the moment thing. Where were these contraceptive concerns during the health care debate? There was no sizable organized effort to promote contraception coverage during the push for health care reform. How is it that right now we hear about this? This entire contraception issue is fabricated.

The real focus of these people is to put Republicans on defense. With Republicans on defense a few things are accomplished. The Republican candidates look weak; they don't control the debate. Obama is not the focus of attention, neither is the economy, the price of gas --which keeps going up, the national debt or any other serious pressing issue. This entire issue is manufactured. Republicans need to point that out.

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