On January 29th, 2008 at 8:59 am, Artbyruth said:

I am convinced these birth control pills make women sterile. I wish I could prove it, but I do not have the time to do the research. If I did, it would probably be a good disertation, but I doubt any Liberal university would accept it.

My husband’s a med student and he has said being on the pill for too long does in fact make it harder to have children. A year is fine, but after that it can start messing things up for being able to get pregnant. I can’t tell you any details, but you’re pretty much correct.

Are you arguing that society at large should pay for cab rides?

No, but it seems possible that subsidizing cab rides for drunks might be more cost-effective than dealing with the aftermath of their destruction.

My immediate point was that buying beer for drunks was not analogous to giving birth control to horny college students. It would, instead, be analogous to Government-subsidized hookers, which I’m also against.

That’s like saying alcoholics are going to drink anyway, so we may as well buy them that six pack.

It’s more like subsidizing a cab home. One could argue that the drunks should wreck their own cars but, then, there are others on the road, as there are other lives affected when a child is created.

But you’re clearly, and after repeated explanation, still missing my point. So that problem clearly lies with you.

As I said – at least twice above – you’re a different story than the non-married, whining college kids who want birth control so they can sleep around. I believe you’ve also said you pay for your own BC. I’ve also argued – perhaps not in this thread but elsewhere – that married couples are free to use whatever method of BC they choose…so long as others dont’ have to fund it. So why do you think this is about you when you clearly don’t fit the parameters of the discussion I’m having?

I think it’s insulting so many people take the “They’re just gonna do it anyway” stance on something as important as sexual behavior. That’s like saying alcoholics are going to drink anyway, so we may as well buy them that six pack.

I can’t believe you would in any way equate the discussion we’re having here with abortion advocates. My entire argument has been that this sort of permissive behavior actually leads to more unplanned pregnancies and abortions. What a complete disconnect and totally illogical argument.

Sometimes, our role in life calls for us to avoid doing things we *really* want to do. For unmarried college students, that means not having sex if they claim they can’t afford BC pills. Or finding alternative means of getting them or other forms of BC. On my college campus, campus jobs ranged anywhere from $7-$9/hour. And they were in abundance. A student picks up an hour and a half a week on campus and she’s got the $25/month for her pills.

But the answer is not going to the government crying, “Please sir, may I have some more.”

Also – when I was in college, up until I graduated, I was covered by my parents’ health insurance which would have covered the pill if I used it. I know some insurance providers don’t – but how many of these kids could get their meds from Mom & Dad’s plan?

By the way, I do like some of your Corvallis shots. I like the old church/cemetery pictures. Nicely done.

Cari

That’s creepy.

I spend a great deal of time with a large variety of college age people and ALL of them can come up with $25 at any given time to do something they want and ALL of them are poor as church mice. And speaking for myself, when hubby & I were younger we too were broke and living on noodles but we knew that coming up with $25 for pills (yes, $25 more 20 years ago) was a lot better than the alternative. Did we have sex? You betcha (and we still do) Did we get pregnant before we wanted? Nope. Did we expect someone to pay for BC for us? Nope (even when it was covered by insurance some pharmacists refused to process it and we paid the full ride ourselves).

Now, one thing I know… you can’t make anyone take the pills they are “given”. In high school, I hung around with the party crowd and every single girl I knew that was on the pill got pregnant (some more than once) because they couldn’t be bothered to “remember” to take the pills. They got them from the free clinic for $3 every 3 months – a few of the girls I knew even were so “lucky” that their mothers took them to said clinic (at the time I thought that was cool, now I know otherwise). I was too uncomfortable going that route and made my own doctor’s appointment – $25 – and paid for my own pills at $25/month. I had a lot of my own cash invested and I was not going to make the mistake of forgetting to take a pill. I think this falls somewhere in the same vein of: you take better care of something you’ve paid for yourself than when it’s been given to you without any effort on your part.

Between PP and various entitlement programs we shouldn’t have any unplanned babies running around anymore. That is obviously not the case now is it? These people are smart enough – they just can’t be bothered to make an effort to get what they want (want = sex, effort = job to pay for birth control). Besides, they still get free condoms which at least help prevent STD’s.

I do a lot of things I don’t enjoy (nor have time for) in order to earn cash to pay for things I want or feel that I need/deserve – I don’t see why college students (or anyone else for that matter) can’t or won’t do the same. Except that someone is willing to use others’ money to pay the way for them. When no one else pays their way they’ll pony up.

All this being said: the government needs to get out of the price fixing biz completely.

Sorry for the ramble…