One common misbelief in today's society that we see politicians promising is the idea of “free stuff.” It’s something that appeals to audiences and gets people on their side. However, nothing in life is truly free. It may be free to you, but someone else is having to put in money, work, or time to get that to you freely. A hot topic that is constantly at discussion is whether or not contraception should be free. I do not think that it should be free because it doesn’t make sense economically and it imposes on people's moral beliefs. Currently the “free” birth control that we know is covered under our insurance. That means that the price of birth control for those who aren’t covered by insurance is raised because of the competitiveness. Health insurance doesn’t cover things like toothpaste, a basic health product, so why is it covering things like birth control? A first amendment right guaranteed by our Constitution is the freedom to religion. Many people do not believe in contraception for religious reasons. With our current system, people are having to pay for others contraceptives via tax dollars. That is a direct attack on their religious beliefs. If you don’t want to get pregnant or contract STD’s, refrain from sex or use a condom. Birth control is not that expensive and taxpayers should not have to pay for people to have care free sex. This would be different if it was something that humans needed to survive, but it's not. It's a pleasure that people mess around with and are forcing others to pay for.
3 comments:
In response to one of my fellow classmate's blog posts, , I would like to state my opposing opinion. For starters a common misconceptions is that birth control is free; however, no birth control is free. See free birth control is free when covered by insurances or federal programs but even then one has to pay 30 to 250 dollars for a birth control prescription from a doctor or nurse. Now to address the religious right to not believe in contraception. Most people against birth control and condoms also oppose a women right to abort. Making them pro life, meaning they believe in a fetuses right to live, if morals are aligned birth control is preventing countless unnecessary abortions. Meaning there tax payer money is being spent well, eventually preventing hundreds if not thousands of murders. Lets say someone still isn't convinced that there tax payer money should be helping fund safe sex, well now we should address crazier ways our tax payer money is being spent. For example our government is not funding safe sex but instead funding fun sex, long lasting sex, in 2014 the U.S. department of defense spent 125.84 million dollars on drugs for erectile dysfunction such as viagra. I don't know about you but Viagra doesn't help an average American such as myself, but birth control does. Birth control helps prevent people from birthing babies they can't afford to raise who will eventually go into the system and continue to live off the tax payers money. I believe the argument should be for a voting say in what our tax payer money is funded into, instead of voting against affordable birth control.
http://heathersusgovernment.blogspot.com
I agree with Heather's blog post entitled "Not Everything in Life is Free.' I do not believe others should be forced to pay for people to have sex without consequences. If people want to have lots of sex, they should be financially responsible for it. Other people that they don't even know shouldn't have to give their own hard-earned money for it. Contraceptive, unlike check-ups at the doctor, cancer treatment, and physical therapy, absolutely do not count as basic health care.
I also agree that free contraceptives like birth control pills go against many people's religious beliefs and convictions. Heather made a very good and valid point when she mentioned that the first Constitutional amendment guarantees religious freedom. The concept of using people's tax dollars on something they do not morally agree with goes against this first amendment right.
So in all, I agree with Heather's opinion on this issue of free contraceptives.
Hello Heather,
I agree that nothing in life is free. We wrote our editorials on the same topic, birth control, however, we came at it from different angles. I encourage you to read mine as well.
Congress cannot make a law prohibiting the free exercising of religion. But why should religious interest groups dictate what policy is written? By this I mean while religious groups may not believe in taking any type of contraceptives, that doesn’t mean non-religious people believe that and we are all covered by the same government. It would make the most sense to give everyone the freedom of choosing what to do/put in their bodies, instead of flat out saying no.
As far as birth control being formally being mandated by the Affordable Care Act, I would like to include an excerpt from The Huff Post. This paints a better picture of the underlying issue of contraceptives: Equality. Georgette Bennett wrote “Why Cover Viagra if Contraceptives Aren’t Covered?
“If sex is to be punished, why should it be only the women? Don’t men have something to do with sexual intercourse? Should they not also bear the economic and other consequences? And, if so, why is Viagra covered by medical insurance, including federal funding, while women’s contraceptives are in dispute? No one would argue that providing our veterans, who have suffered physical and emotional trauma, should be given the means to recover their ability to function sexually. But, for most others, isn’t Viagra about enabling men to have more and better sex? The vast majority of men who take Viagra are 56 years and older. Given that it’s mostly older men who need it, they’re certainly not taking it for the reproductive purposes that some religions mandate. So, why should women be denied the means to have more and better sex? Why should they disproportionately pay the price of lost economic and educational opportunities as well as suffering greater health risks? In the interest of parity, let’s discontinue coverage of Viagra if we discontinue coverage for female contraception. Are women’s reproductive health and life opportunities less important than men’s?”
Finally, I would like to point out that birth control does not protect you against STD’S, only condoms do.
Best,
Brandy Garcia
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