Limbaugh and Fluke are Both Wrong

There has been a lot of uproar by women’s groups, conservatives, Presidential candidates, President Obama and everyone else who has a dog in the fight of birth control.

Rush Limbaugh set the issue a blaze with his comments about Sandra Fluke; a third-year law student who defends birth control and says schools backed by religious institutions should pay for birth control. Limbaugh’s name-calling of Fluke is unacceptable and in no way did he make any female friends with his shameful and hateful remarks.

With that said, Fluke’s statement was well spoken, but honestly, I do not believe we should force policies on religious institutions that go against their core beliefs. Granted, with the way the college party scene is today, if we did not have contraception, we would need to invent it. Everyone knows that drugs and alcohol are part of college life and that this is a fact we must change.

These days, colleges are lucky if they have a “substance abuse free zone.” We know there is reckless behavior at colleges that leads to rape, violence, addiction, abortion, death and arrest. This of course begs the question; aren't schools backed by religious institutions supposed to be teaching abstinence? Does condoning drug use or having a lax policy on drug abuse warrant mandated birth control? Is this a fair question? Or do we need to look at college policies on substance abuse to curb the consequence of addiction, violence and rape, abortion, resulting in the need for contraception? As a good friend of mine often says, it's enough to drive you politely mad.

Ironically, no one seems to want to talk about the fact that birth control pills are powerful hormones that can be dangerous to a woman’s health. In recent years, doctors have recognized that “the pill” has far too much effect on the entire body, when the only place such powerful hormones are even “needed”, are in the reproductive area. Therefore, we are now seeing new products on the market such as the Nuva Ring, which slowly release powerful hormones in small doses to the reproductive area only.

I see it like this: Women have to stop covering up for men who don’t have a sense of responsibility toward themself! And women have to stop putting out because they think they “have to.” Let’s practice some abstinence, focus on education and everyone will be better off. As for women who have medical issues and are aided by birth control to manage their issues, if they can’t get their school to pay for their healthcare, those women can get the help they need at free clinics.