Friday, September 19, 2008

Contraception debate settled!

As promised, here is the sequel to the fictionally successful Part 1 of the RH trilogy.

What are the arguments against contraception? I googled those last three words. Unfortunately, very little other then fundies' arguments came up. One in particular was hilarious, as the fundie babbles on about how beautiful life is, and god's plan for life and contraception is evil and is anti baby. I still wonder why, if God is so pro-baby, why does he allow 25% of all pregnancies to end in a miscarriage (and that's an extremely conservative estimate; the actual figure is most likely higher)?

In fact, I really can't find any non "JEEEEEEEBUUUUUUUUSSSSSS" arguments against contraception*. Which is problematic because I was hoping to find some secular arguments to counter. I tried searching AWH and various ultraconservative blogs for some arguments, but to no avail (although that may have been because I glanced at a few posts before leaving. Trawling around in an ideological sewer system is not my idea of fun). As an agnostic, I don't believe in an magical witch creature who could heal the blind before being killed then returning as a zombie before travelling up to his meet his dad in the sky. Thankfully, I've found a couple of arguments that are reasonably secular (even if they are use by fundies).

Argument 1: That contraception is disrespectful to women
The argument is that birth-control demeans women as it helps turn into, as this poster puts so eloquantly, a 'cum dumpster.' Because women are able to have sex more often without consequences (including no threat of STDs if a condom is used), they will have sex more often. As a result, men will lose respect for women, seeing them as sex objects.
As in the Washington Post:
"A Woman's Concern is persuaded that the crass commercialization and distribution of birth control is demeaning to women, degrading of human sexuality and adverse to human health and happiness," the group's Web site says.
This argument, however, is seriously flawed.
- Why are feminist groups so supportive of contraception?
- How does fulfilling your sexuality degrade it?
- How does preventing unwanted pregnancies and STDs whilst still having sex inhibit "health and happiness"?
These folk have a lot to answer for. As James Joyner writes:

The ability to enjoy a healthy sex life while minimizing the risk of an unwanted pregnancy is anything but “adverse to human health and happiness;” indeed, it contributes tremendously to both. If you want to see a society that’s degrading and disrespectful to women, randomly pick one that bans or ostracizes the use of contraceptives. Women there are usually, quite literally, barefoot and pregnant, from roughly the onset of puberty until menopause. They are also virtually without power economically, legally, or politically.

The taboo against contraception remains from an culture wherein girls were married off at age 12 or 13 and had their first of a dozen or so babies (presuming they survived childbirth) a year or so later. These days, advances in health care and nutrition have sped up the onset of puberty while the move away from an agrarian economy has postponed marriage and child rearing ten, fifteen, or twenty years. In this context, the idea that people should wait until they’re married to have sex–and then only if they are trying to get pregnant–is indeed crazy.


Argument 2: It's 'anti-child.'**
In a way, this one is a bit more difficult to counter, because it's so ludicrous. How does preventing a child from being born into a family that isn't financially or emotionally capable of supporting the child being 'anti-child'? If anything, it's being 'pro-child'. These couples are only planning on raising children when they know they are capable of doing so. If they already have kids, the parents are able to place more focus on the already existing children and give them a healthy upbringing. If the parents want more children, then they know what to expect in terms of responsibilities.

Sadly, these have been more moderate arguments I've been able to find. Updates will come if I find anything new.

*If any conservatives wish to give me some secular arguments (I'm looking at you, Iain), feel free to do so.

**I'll try to find a link to this argument.

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