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Health & Fitness

Pearls of Wisdom

No Contraceptives, No Viagra.

Rush Limbaugh, beware! The ides of March are upon you. Just when we all thought that the Tea Party and the Christian Right (when have they ever been right?) had prevailed in totally annihilating women’s rights with a plethora of laws creating a new class of slavery, a shining star has arisen from the debris. 

Nina Turner, State Senator from Ohio, is fighting back. Against a heavily dominated male and GOP State Senate since 2008, Ms. Turner has introduced legislation to regulate the use of Viagra-type drugs. Under the specifics of Turner's bill, men would be required to solicit and receive psychological counseling to affirm that there is a valid medical reason necessitating the use of drugs for erectile dysfunction, e.g. Viagra, prior to being able to legally obtain a prescription for such medications. Physicians would be required by law to provide a written warning to all men requesting such a prescription about all the potential risks of drugs such as Viagra.

"We should show the same attention and love to men's reproductive health as we do to women's," Turner told HuffPost. "And my bill does that."

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Turner’s proposed bill is a direct reaction to a number of highly prejudicial bills such as:

(1)   Ohio’s “heartbeat bill,” which bans abortion after a fetal heartbeat is detected.

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(2)   A bill proposing a ban on physician assistants from placing or removing IUDs (birth control device). 

The recent contraceptive controversy where Catholic universities do not wish to include payment for contraception in their insurance policies has exacerbated this issue.   

Note: It is interesting to note that the vast majority of individuals supporting this agenda use contraception in spite of Papal edicts stating that it is “clearly forbidden.”   

Ever since Roe v. Wade, (Roe’s real name = Norma McCorvey) there has been an ongoing battle over abortion rights. After the court decision, Norma McCorvey went over to the “dark side,” creating even greater controversy. This constant battle has evolved into a “devolution” of women’s rights, basically saying that “men” (the majority of legislators are men) know what is best for “women” in terms of right and wrong. 

The three most important decisions since Roe v. Wade have been:

 

Webster: In Webster v. Reproductive Health Services, 492 U.S. 490 (1989), the Supreme Court declared in a 5-4 decision that a Missouri law was constitutional. It stated that:

 

Human life began at conception,

 

That Missouri state property could not be used to conduct abortions, and

 

A fetal viability assessment could be required before late term abortions are performed.

 

Akron Center: In Ohio v Akron Ctr. for Reproductive Health, 497 U.S. 502 (1990), the Court ruled 6-3 that a state could require a parent or guardian to be notified before an under-aged woman received an abortion. However, a provision must be in place for a judge to by-pass this requirement if he/she regards it to be in the best interest of the woman.

 

Casey: In Planned Parenthood of Southeastern Pennsylvania v. Casey, 505 U.S. 833 (1992), the court ruled 5-4 that Pennsylvania could require:

 

A 24 hour waiting period before an abortion is performed.

 

That the woman give her informed consent to the abortion.

 

That parent or guardian be notified before an abortion on a woman who has not reached her 18th birthday.

Note: The court also struck down as unconstitutional the requirement of a Pennsylvania law which required prior spousal notification.

Where the extremists on the right have failed to limit abortion rights, they have used a more subversive method of legal interference as follows:

... 11 states require verbal counseling or written materials to include information on accessing ultrasound services.

... 20 states regulate the provision of ultrasound by abortion providers.

...  7 states mandate that an abortion provider perform an ultrasound on each woman seeking an abortion, and require the provider to offer the woman the opportunity to view the image.

...  9 states require that a woman be provided with the opportunity to view an ultrasound image if her provider performs the procedure as part of the preparation for an abortion.

...  5 states require that a woman be provided with the opportunity to view an ultrasound image.

Clearly, Ms. Turner is emphatically making her point. Our society is now being dominated by an extremist agenda. Radical religious groups have mobilized resources to promote a specific agenda and are influencing our representatives.  The obvious goal is one that severely limits women’s freedom of choice and totally undermines the progress that women’s rights have made since the 1980s. Betty Friedan has to be turning over in her grave, while Gloria Steinem realizes that she has become irrelevant as this travesty unfolds.

"We need to fight fire with fire," Turner said.

Ms. Turner is not alone in this battle:

Oklahoma State Senator Constance Johnson sponsored a bill that introduced the “every sperm is sacred” amendment, which prohibited male masturbation.

Virginia State Senator Janet Howell‘s amendment that mandated a digital rectal exam for men seeking drugs for erectile dysfunction.

Illinois State Rep. Kelly Cassidy introduced an amendment in her state, where they introduced a mandatory ultrasound bill that required men seeking Viagra to view a graphic video showing all the possible side effects of the drug.

In Missouri, State Rep. Stacey Newman introduced an amendment saying that men could only get a vasectomy if their lives depended on it.

In Wilmington, Del., City Councilwoman Loretta Walsh authored a resolution that declares "each 'egg person' and each 'sperm person' ... equal in the eyes of the government."

When confronted by the opposition, who have asked if she is is joking with this bill, Ms. Turner’s response was "I'm just as serious as a heart attack ... I'm serious about the potential side effects of Viagra. I'm as serious as my right-wing male colleagues who introduced bills to legislate women's health. It's ironic that when it come to women's health people think that's a serious matter, but when it comes to a man, they think we're joking. I don't think any of my sister legislators are joking."

Terri O'Neill, president of the National Organization for Women, thinks that these bills are a "brilliant" strategy to combat anti-abortion legislation. What she fails to realize is that these bills are designed first and foremost to protect women’s rights.

While no state has yet passed one of these bills, there is hope on the horizon that female  legislators will eventually band together to force the issue. 

Ms. Turner concludes with, "We need to fight for ourselves and for the future generations of young women who shouldn't have to ask the government for a permission slip to make their own health decisions."

Take that, Rush, and please choke on it!

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