There’s a never-ending stream of stories regarding the government’s attempts to intrude into people’s lives without their consent, from Guantanamo Bay detentions to “legal” wiretapping.
One of the biggest headlines today is the government’s attempt to take over the right to choose what we do with our bodies.
I’d be lying if I told you the fight for control of our bodies – especially women’s bodies – is a new one.
But I haven’t seen a fight this vicious in a long time.
The fight has started getting more media coverage since the March 2010 healthcare reform. Since then, lawmakers have gone insane trying to legislate reproductive health.
The reform set off a dramatic uprising among the legislators, mostly Republican. According to the Guttmacher Institute, 49 states introduced more than 900 measures related to reproductive health and rights just in the first quarter of 2011.
These measures pertain to women’s reproductive actions almost exclusively.
One legislator submitted an amendment for male provisions to Oklahoma’s personhood amendment, which was laughed at and berated. Constance Johnson, D-Oklahoma City, introduced the amendment stating ejaculation anywhere other than a vagina is action against unborn children.
You think the amendment is preposterous?
Masturbation, anal sex and oral sex are acts couples engage in to avoid pregnancy. Birth control pills and implants are also used to avoid conception, among other medical uses.
If the government is so concerned about what women do with their eggs, shouldn’t they be equally concerned with men’s sperm? It’s necessary to make that fetus they’re trying so hard to protect.
If they can’t be concerned with both, they shouldn’t be concerned with either.
Counter-legislation proposed in Ohio by Sen. Nina Turner, D-Cleveland, would require men to undergo thorough physical and psychological testing in order to get erectile dysfunction medication.
Stacey Newman, D-St. Louis County, proposed counter-legislation to abortion measures in Missouri requiring that a vasectomy only be performed in the case of potential loss of life or limb (or testicle).
Virginia recently passed a bill requiring an ultrasound prior to consenting to and completing an abortion. That means every woman has to undergo this procedure – possibly more than once – in order to abort the pregnancy, whether medically necessary or not.
How would those men feel if they were required to have a transrectal ultrasound before they had a vasectomy, to ensure all the pipes are in full working order before someone goes snipping? I doubt legislators would be jumping to pass that bill.
Arizona’s Senate passed a bill last Tuesday that would allow a doctor to withhold information regarding birth defects from their patient if the information given may lead to them aborting the pregnancy – without a medical malpractice repercussion.
While I pray no medical professional would ever be so unethical, the fact that a legislature finds this acceptable says plenty about its personal ethics. It’s equivalent to a person going in for open-heart surgery and the doctor not mentioning the possibility of death on the table.
Politicians are obviously quite horrific medical professionals – in medical competence and ethical situations.
I support contraception – pills, implants, and procedures – being covered by insurance, the same as I support vasectomies and Viagra coverage. Medical decisions made between a person and their doctor should be covered as long as they are legal, without religious or insurance interference.
It’s time the government steps out of medical decisions for all citizens. If the government can legalize micromanagement regarding medical decisions like abortion, ultrasounds and contraception, we can’t expect them to stop with reproductive rights.
I won’t even speculate on other personal decisions may try to legislate away from us if this trend continues, but it doesn’t look pretty.
Kristi Carnahan is a 25-year-old anthropology senior from West Monroe. Follow her on Twitter @TDR_KCarnahan.
 
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Contact Kristi Carnahan at [email protected]