Comments on: Pill propelled into abortion debate

By: Amanda

Amanda — Thu, 01 Jan 1970 00:00:00 +0000

And those of us who think that they are out to restrict women’s rights are just paranoid, eh?

By: ema

ema — Thu, 01 Jan 1970 00:00:00 +0000

This explains, in a sinister way, the FDA’s recent push to change OCPs labels.

By: Anne

Anne — Thu, 01 Jan 1970 00:00:00 +0000

Stock up now… beat the rush.

By: Sheelzebub

Sheelzebub — Thu, 01 Jan 1970 00:00:00 +0000

Golly. What a shock.

I’m betting these folks don’t bat an eye at dispensing Viagra. Men can fuck around, but women had better breed.

By: funnie

funnie — Thu, 01 Jan 1970 00:00:00 +0000

I totally support the right of pharmacists to refuse to dispense the Pill because in some cases, some fetuses might die. Think of the children! They’re not the ones who choose to have sex, and they don’t have any control over the situation!

I also totally support the right of car salespersons to refuse to sell vehicles to anyone who might have a passenger under 18 years old (born or “preborn”). Again, think of the children! Some of them might give up their lives in auto accidents just because of the adult’s selfish desire to travel. And those poor kids can’t just refuse to get into the car/potential deathtrap!

I hope this stuff about abortion and the Pill succeeds quickly so that we keepers-of-the-kids can move on to addressing other big killers of innocent babies in this country.

To others committed to the cause: I’m looking to start a massive action. November 2 is national Protect-A-Life Day. Please grab 5 of your pro-life friends and convene upon the nearest Chevrolet (or Ford, if Chevy is not available) dealership at 7 AM on the dot, and blockade all entrances and exits by laying down across all paved means of egress. If we can just make sure that no one can take their potential killing machines on a pleasure-cruise until 11 pm (or until we’re arrested, or until the polls close) becuase of our massive turnout of prolifers, we will have done a truly good thing.

Come out and support us!

By: Trish Wilson

Trish Wilson — Thu, 01 Jan 1970 00:00:00 +0000

So instead of birth control pills, women will get abstinence education tracts from the pharmacy?

I second what Amanda said. This isn’t about “protecting the unborn.” (gag) It’s an attack against women.

By: NancyP

NancyP — Thu, 01 Jan 1970 00:00:00 +0000

This has been in the works for at least 5 years. I think this issue needs to be highlighted as often as possible, and in as inflammatory terms as possible, eg. “These people are calling you and the other 40 million oral contraceptive users murderers.” They will have to pry those OCPs from the cold, dead hands of 40 million irate women who would make the NRA folks look like crybabies. Nothing could make the anti-abortion crowd look more out of touch and lunatic than this “OCPs are murder” campaign. This is a HUGE miscalculation for them, as the portrayal of all surgical abortions as done on term infants, by coining the term “partial birth abortion”, was a PR coup.

By: NancyP

NancyP — Thu, 01 Jan 1970 00:00:00 +0000

Oh, and don’t call these bills “conscience clause” bills.

Call them “denial of medical service” bills.

By: NewsWriter

NewsWriter — Thu, 01 Jan 1970 00:00:00 +0000

This has been in the works since way earlier than 5 years … these folks had to start focusing on abortion after Roe v. Wade, but I distinctly remember having long, long arguments into the night with my fellow activists back in the dark ages of the 1970s and forward that should they ever get Roe overturned, all their forces would then come to bear on birth control next. Amanda, Trish — you’re so right on. This is absolutely about squelching women. So much of my life in the 70s and 80s was about convincing folks that taking scraps from the table of the “powers that be” was a bad idea, because scraps don’t feed you well enough to live and when those scraps run out, you’re in big trouble.
This is a group of reactionaries who think now that they’ve got an administration that agrees with them, they can turn on more of their hidden agenda — I’ve always laughed at the idea of the “gay agenda.” That’s not what scares me. It’s the right-wing agenda that scares me, and this is just another piece of it coming to light of more people.

By: wookie

wookie — Thu, 01 Jan 1970 00:00:00 +0000

Are they going to restrict access to vitamin C as well? And information on pressure points? Those are both ways to force your period to start (Vit. C is an emmagogue in sufficient quantities) and that MIGHT KILL A FETUS!

By: Anne

Anne — Thu, 01 Jan 1970 00:00:00 +0000

Shhhh, don’t give them any ideas!

Wait, they won’t care, because men use vitamin C and pressure points.

By: Amanda

Amanda — Thu, 01 Jan 1970 00:00:00 +0000

If the pill gets banned with a medical exception, expect 40 million women to fall ill with acne or irregular periods, two things the pill is used to help outside of its contraceptive use. Reminds me of high school, when half the Catholic girls suddenly came down with *unbearable* menstrual cramps to get special permission to go on the pill.

By: lucia

lucia — Thu, 01 Jan 1970 00:00:00 +0000

That’s a good question. In the news article I cited in the related blog I wrote today, you’ll read:

In Mississippi, a bill became law in July that admirers and critics consider the nation’s most sweeping “conscience clause.” It allows all types of health care workers and facilities to refuse performing virtually any service they object to on moral or religious grounds.

I can’t help but thinking: No Viagra for single men? (But I didn’t quote that bit in my blog. The whole article is worht reading at the guardian

By: Anne

Anne — Thu, 01 Jan 1970 00:00:00 +0000

Amanda, remember that even the anti-pill people who KNOW about its other uses would still not want it to be prescribed for them. We’re supposed to pray about PMS, after all.

By: Anne

Anne — Thu, 01 Jan 1970 00:00:00 +0000

Amanda, remember that even the anti-pill people who KNOW about its other uses would still not want it to be prescribed for them. We’re supposed to pray about PMS, after all.

By: wolfangel

wolfangel — Thu, 01 Jan 1970 00:00:00 +0000

And ovarian cancer, too; if you’ve got a family history of it (or cancer of the uterus), better get out those prayerbooks now.

Luckily, if you’re impotent, God wants you to take Viagra.

By: SloMo

SloMo — Thu, 01 Jan 1970 00:00:00 +0000

That has got to be the most creative definition of “abortion” I have ever seen. Whatever. It’s like sperm is so precious to these people they just can’t stand to see an ejaculation go to waste.

The pills are prescribed to prevent ovulation, and pharmacists are refusing to dispense the pills on the grounds that ovulation might occur anyway. Yah. Like starting a war to prevent a war?

Are they refusing to dispense anti-depressants on the grounds that the drugs might fail and the patient may commit suicide anyway?

And, yes, I’ve heard this rhetoric for years also. My high school sex ed (1980s) included presentations from both PP and right-to-life. The RTL folks insisted that birth control pills were tantamont to monthly abortion.

By: Anne

Anne — Thu, 01 Jan 1970 00:00:00 +0000

On that note, what about the body naturally ridding itself of fertilized eggs and whatnot? Are we murderers for that?

By: jopilgrim

jopilgrim — Thu, 01 Jan 1970 00:00:00 +0000

well Of Course. In fact, menstration=murder, that’s a whole potential person that we are killing by not conceiving that month.

By: Kate

Kate — Thu, 01 Jan 1970 00:00:00 +0000

And it’s not just birth control either. There was a similar incident last spring where a pharmacist in Texas actually refused to give a rape victim her perscription of Plan B (or something similar, I don’t quite remember) on the grounds that he didn’t believe in abortions.
He was also fired.
I hate to break it to pharmacists but if you are in a medical profession that is built on the foundations of patient’s rights and patient confidentiality, then you legally have no say in what drugs or treatments people can use. If a pharmacist or a doctor has a problem with this, then perhaps she should look into a new career.