Who Really Cares About Women's Health?

A while back, my friend Elizabeth Henderson wrote about the debate on embryo adoption.  Tonight she shares her thoughts on women's health, and who really cares about it.  I give you- Elizabeth Henderson!

In this big controversy over the HHS birth control mandate, I am a little amused by all the menfolk now clamoring for women's health.  And by women's health, we mean super-easy access to oral contraceptives.  Nevermind that contraception has been affordable for a long while; it really must be asuper-easy freebie.  Easy that is, if you're the lucky one on the receiving end, not the one forced to pay for said handout.

Anyway, who are these guys demanding better care for women?  Do they volunteer at community clinics?  Lead campaigns against domestic violence?  Donate to battered women's shelters?

If you are one of those guys who do these things, kudos!  That's awesome.  Thank you for serving women in these ways.  Unfortunately, I fear there are too few of you.

I fear the real reason so many men argue for "free" contraception is because it makes their own sex lives easier. Contraception makes hooking up easier.  Contraception makes it easy to keep a live-in girlfriend without making a commitment to her.  (I see so many women being used as some kind of domestic servant, perhaps unintentionally, but used nonetheless.  They have sex and do some cooking in exchange for rent.)  Ladies, stop kidding yourselves. You deserve better.  Dudes, shame on you!

People--men and women--are marvelous, beautiful creatures that deserve unconditional love.  Love that says I'll stay no matter what.  Love that says I'm here for the long haul.  Love that accepts stretch marks, farts, and rocking that colicky baby at 3am, over and over and over.

This HHS mandate issue is about private persons and organizations (including those who have never accepted federal funding) being forced to subsidize something that they see as a threat to women's dignity.  This debate is not about the pill being used to treat certain disorders of the reproductive system.  This is about the pill prescribed as a contraceptive per se.  As a health care professional, I can tell you contraception makes about as much sense as a drug to enable bulimia.  You want to satisfy an appetite without the consequence of the calories.  One of these we call a medical disorder; the other is a "reproductive right."

If you want less-risky sex on somebody else's dollar, please just say it. Be honest about what you're asking for.  But if you really want to be a champion for women, remember that social justice begins with you and me as individuals. Government can never fill the void if you and I don't give from our own hearts.  Peace begins with charity, and that begins in your pocketbook, on your calendar, and not the Health and Human Services Department.