Blog #4 Jour 4460: Birth Control Spill

Recently President Obama has announced that as a part of health care he wants birth control to be free. Doing this would require religious-affiliated organizations and universities to pay for the contraceptives. Birth control goes against Roman Catholic beliefs. So of course, there were some who strongly opposed this rule.

To appease those who did oppose this plan Obama softened his ruling so religious organizations wouldn’t have to pay for the contraceptives and shift the cost over to health insurance companies.

In my opinion, there are two ethical sides to this story. On one side, there is the whole notion of the separation of church and state. The whole point was so that neither the government nor the church could abuse its power to dictate the other. By requiring that a religious organization to go against their beliefs is by no means right.

However, this is not the same world as it was when the law was drafted. They didn’t have “16 and Pregnant” playing once a week in the local theatre. Nor, did they have a daycare as a part of the local schoolhouse for young teenage students. The strict adherence to religious beliefs has also changed. While, there still are people who abide by their beliefs in the strictest manner, many people do not. I’m Catholic myself and I see nothing wrong with birth control. My mother actually tried to get me on it for about four years before I finally agreed. Many other mothers in my church back home actually suggested to their daughters to start taking birth control pills.

I can understand why church officials don’t want the government giving them mandates. But, if the people that work for the organizations feel the same way the organization officials do then they shouldn’t worry. I just think that Obama isn’t trying to regulate religion. The reality of today is that most young people have sex and the average age seems to be getting younger. With this comes more problems because the majority of these kids don’t know about STDs or how to properly go about safe sex. Their parents don’t talk to them about it and not all high schools do either.  Yes, there are safe sex programs, abstinence advertisements and the whole “Wrap It Up” campaign, but the problem of unwanted pregnancy still erupts. And, if making birth control free can help curve this unwanted pregnancy rate then I’m all for it. Because trust me, without insurance covering it, a one month supply can cost about $100. And, I have the receipts to prove it. It was hard for me to get along, so I know it’s hard for other women as well.

I really just think that instead of trying to fight the issue using strategies that obviously don’t work, except for MTV’s ratings on Tuesdays at 9 p.m. central time, Obama is trying to find a helpful solution. While, trying to maintain a fair perspective of everyone’s views.