Couple of things on birth control...
While I am not a fan of the Affordable Care Act in general, the contraception mandate is very low down the list of aspects that bother me about ACA. But since people have made a pretty large mountain from a relatively small molehill, allow me to inject a tiny bit of reality amidst the hype:
1. One of the things that drive me crazy is people shouting without knowledge - or worse, in spite of it. One of the most common rants I see and hear is the seeming belief by the religious (generally Christians) that they can't stop themselves from espousing in public: that birth control kills potential babies. Wow, I'm not sure people could be more wrong. Ovulation is predicated upon a spike in estrogen levels mid-cycle, that activates the pituitary gland to release hormones that cause the ovary to release an egg. Birth control stabilizes the estrogen levels to prevent the spike and, as a result, the pituitary gland never has the chance to cause the ovary to release an egg. Everybody understand that last part? The egg never releases. Read that sentence again, it's pretty important. No potential life is killed. The egg is still right there, in the ovary, and can still be released at a later date when the woman stops the birth control. The potential life is still there. That's a whopper of a piece of information to not know, or get completely wrong, when you are brow-beating women on "ethical" grounds, over deciding to use contraception.
2. Birth control helps women on numerous levels that have nothing to do with pregnancy, including consistently regulating and lessening the intensity (cramping) of menstruation, as well as minimizing the frequency of heavy bleeds. It also significantly reduces the chances of developing ovarian cysts and cancer, endometriosis, and pelvic inflammatory disease (PID). As often as not, women are prescribed contraception for these reasons alone. This is no small point, since Viagra was designed for cardiac patients' regulation of heart valves - the point being, don't scoff at a drug simply because of one aspect you find questionable, when there are larger benefits involved.
3. The only thing the religious hate more than contraception is abortion. Well, if woman can postpone pregnancy for a while (I reiterate, the eggs are still there for later use), elective abortion numbers will drop like a rock. One would think that would be highly pleasing to those so adamantly against it, yes? So please - try to see the forest from the trees. With contraception, you postpone life, which vastly reduces the elimination of it after conception through abortion - a larger victory, maybe?
4. Now for the financial aspect: taxes will not go up as a result of this mandate... I repeat, taxes will not go up - insurance premiums will. Now, before people blow their wads, pay attention to the estimated increase - the average increase will be $21.40 per person, per year. That comes to $1.78/month, or for those of you on bi-weekly paychecks, 89 cents per pay period. And the mandate doesn't just cover contraception. It also covers domestic violence screening and counseling, breastfeeding supplies and
annual preventive care, such as pap smears and pelvic exams. The contraception and preventative care alone would reduce health costs over the long term, which could in turn reduce premiums. Don't be short-sighted and frustrated - see the bigger long term picture.
I find it interesting that the people that bloviate the most about this stuff tend to be the same people who bloviate the most about their freedoms being derailed. Well here you go. You may not agree with the goals of the contraception mandate, but you still have the freedom to choose not to utilize whatever you don't want to. And while you all have your panties in a twist about it, just remember that it could always be worse: We could be China, murdering babies based on the gender and number of children in the family...
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