You know, Rick Santorum might not have been wrong about not sending kids to college. Sure, there’s all that stuff about how we’re not training Americans for the jobs that really need filling – those trade school jobs that everyone is told are beneath them now – but then there’s this thing. Sex. According to the women who are testifying today in front of Congress in favor of letting America pay for their birth control, kids in school are having an awful lot of sex. So much sex that it seems they have time for basically nothing else.
Because based on the amount these Georgetown Law students say they’re spending on birth control – a number that is, presumably supposed to make me feel sorry for them because they are unable to acquire their birth control for free – they can’t possibly have any hope of passing any class, or taking on any career.
Apparently, four out of every ten co-eds are having so much sex that it’s hard to make ends meet if they have to pay for their own contraception, Fluke’s research shows.
“Forty percent of the female students at Georgetown Law reported to us that they struggled financially as a result of this policy (Georgetown student insurance not covering contraception), Fluke reported.
It costs a female student $3,000 to have protected sex over the course of her three-year stint in law school, according to her calculations.
“Without insurance coverage, contraception, as you know, can cost a woman over $3,000 during law school,” Fluke told the hearing.
A few key points here before we move on to how utterly ridiculous this assertion actually is:
- That is a lot of sex to have in law school. You should be studying. Law school is hard, or, at least, when I was in law school, I thought it was hard. Also, you are almost 25 years old. Grow the hell up.
- She earned $3K as a summer salary. What do most students earn on their summer salary? The chance to work for free again the next summer.
- These women are on “public interest scholarships” which means that they get their insurance, presumably, from their school, and use the school nurse practitioner/first aid clinic to fulfill their birth control needs. If these girls are under the age of 26 – and they look it – they can be on their parents’ insurance, which might offer better coverage. Except then their parents would know they are kind of whorish.
That said, the idea that they are paying $1000 per year for birth control is a little crazy. Condoms at CVS cost $1, so that means, if you take this cheaper option, you are actually having sex three times a day, which is kind of insane and you’re going to have a lot more medical expenses than just birth control. Like chafing. Also, you need psychological help. If its birth control pills they’re using, well, Planned Parenthood, which has plenty of offices within driving distance of the DC area, seems to think those only cost $15 – $50 per month, which is half Ms. Fluke’s estimate. A fitted diaphragm costs about $60 and can be used all year long, including special occasions. And IUDs and the Depo-Provera shot are half the estimate cost (at about $500 each).
Also, vibrators? Much cheaper than that.
Clearly, these ladies aren’t shopping around. Which is probably reason #1 you don’t want to have to pay for their birth control. Because clearly they went to law school because the principles of both business and mathematics eluded them. Maybe we do need to concentrate on better teaching our daughters their math and science. They’ll save us money when they decide to to be swingers.
Look, I don’t really give a sh*t what you do with your life, and I want government out of my bedroom as much as the next female of child-bearing age. But – and let’s be clear about this – that includes me not paying for your bad decisions, in the bedroom or anywhere else. There’s a cheap way to avoid the $1,000 price tag on birth control. Don’t have sex with people you don’t want to have children with. Or buy your own goddam insurance. And let’s be clear here: no matter how politically incorrect the assertion seems, having sex with random strangers in law school is a bad decision, both academically and hygenically speaking.
I made stupid decisions in law school, too. Most of them involved ill-advised footwear. But I don’t ask the rest of the country to pay for those stupid decisions, or for that matter, even my good decisions. Sure, it’d be great if they paid for a new pair of Coach flats every month, but lets face it. If I want that, that’s my problem. And Ms. Fluke, this one’s yours.
(1) Georgetown Law is a private university, so you don’t pay for their bad decisions. Because the majority of people going there are using the school’s insurance policy. You went to law school shouldn’t you know that?
(2) The ones that don’t are probably on their own plan, which for a young woman in her 20s, typically is a deductible policy that doesn’t kick in until $3000- $5000 have been spent. As a college educated female, I know that one condoms break so I’m not going to rely on a thin layer of lubricated latex to protect me from having babies. Instead I’m going to put my trust in my ability to take a pill everyday, and for a 3 pack of BC, that’s gonna run me – on my deductible plan around $252. I’ll show you the receipts if you want evidence. $252 x 4 = $1008 bucks a year.
(3) That’s not including the condoms you need buy in order to protect yourself from STDs.
(4) Some kids don’t rely on their parents until they’re 26. Some people don’t have parents to get insurance from. Some people are estranged from their parents. Not everyone has a privileged upbringing.
You have no idea why some people take contraceptives. In fact there is a large percentage of women that take them for purposes other than birth control. There’s tons of websites that talk about it. Maybe you should look them up. Reasons include, high testosterone levels, excessive acne, uterine problems, cervical cancer, etc…
So before you go run off on a non-researched tangent about how Female Georgetown Law Students are sex-crazed and need to focus on school, you need to get your facts straight.
Ooooh! A sanctimonious reply! Yay!
1. Georgetown Law is a private school so I don’t pay for their TUITION. They pay for that. In the case of this testimony, which was in favor of a federal mandate compelling insurance companies and others to pay for birth control, the cost is passed on to the consumer, in which case, yes, I pay. There is no such thing as “free” birth control. No company merely “gives” you things, and neither does the federal government. You end up paying. Not that the federal government has any business mandating what is in and not in your health care.
2. That’s ridiculous. I had my own healthcare plans throughout my twenties (privileged, my ass), which I paid for out of my own pocket, and which covered me independent of my parents. Not a single plan ever had a deductible of $3000, although now that Obama’s healthcare plan has outlawed HSAs, insurance is more expensive, its rare, unless someone *chooses* such an expensive policy, that they’d have one. And taking birth control – ANY birth control – is a personal choice that you don’t have to make. You choose to spend $1000 per year on birth control, I choose to put that $1000 in my pocket and not have sex. I’m an adult and I’m free to make that decision and so are you. But don’t expect me to foot the bill if you choose to spend $1000 on birth control. That’s not fair to me. And don’t forget, once you invite the government into your bedroom – in this case to pay for your protection – you have no right to kick them out again. No one ever thinks about the long-term consequences of intervention.
3. Condoms aren’t 100% effective at preventing the spread of STDs. Pregnancy, they can prevent. STDs, no. I learned that at my Planned Parenthood sponsored Girl Scouts sex ed lecture. The only way to not get an STD is to not have sex. But I see that that’s not an option here, so, do what you will.
4. Yeah, I didn’t. I put myself through school working more than 40 hours a week in college and took loans in law school. Funny how I never managed to go without health insurance. And when I couldn’t afford birth control, I didn’t take it, which was most of the time. I didn’t get pregnant, because I didn’t have sex.
As for voluntary birth control consumption, in each of those cases, a non-birth control prescription is typically available. Most doctors recognize the long term consequences to fertility and the downside of including the manipulation of hormones in elective treatments for things like acne and are hard-pressed to prescribe. Then again, I don’t believe any prescription should be free, or should be supported by government money. That’s not the government’s job.
The basic point, that you missed, is that you don’t have a God-given, or in absence of that, a Constitutional right to birth control. There is no edict that mandates that anyone get their birth control for free. And that’s exactly what’s looking to be passed here – a law that does nothing to increase access, but at the same time limits the rights of others – a mandate that makes birth control “free.” We’re in debt as a country. We don’t need this kind of obligation. Its an unnecessary governmental interference.
And, bottom line, the people who use birth control – any kind of birth control – have a choice to use it or not. I don’t care if you do, but its none of the public’s business. And the same can be – and should be – said about any elective medical procedure or expenditure. It is simply not the government’s business to pay for it.
Um, outlawed HSA’s? Because I have friends still enrolled in them, so that can’t be true.
Sorry…FSA. Flexible spending accounts…the emPloyer paid funds that could be used to supplement medical costs not covered by insurance.
If I understand what you are saying it is that though you are a college educated female you are incapable of take care of yourself?
I am a 50 year old liberated female who takes care of myself, labors to pay my way, sacrificing luxuries today for the sake of living an independent old age and my parents have passed away.
In my 50 years of living I have seen feminists change from once demanding “government keep your hands off my body” to “government gimee free Pills I can’t control my body”
Darling, you paid too much money for an education which made you a small and subservient weak-willed creature unto a mindless group of self-serving government bureaucrats.
I pity you; you are woman hear you roar, big Sugar Daddy Government give you more, more, more.
Abstinence is free. Fertility awareness – as effective as the pill, if used properly – is free. If you can’t find condoms for free, you aren’t looking very hard, and if the guy isn’t willing to find them, you should really reconsider your choice of partners. And birth control pills can be bought at a number of major chains (Walmart, Target, K-Mart and Kroeger) for a whopping $24 for a three month supply. That’s less than a hundred dollars a year.
Just because you choose to pay more for birth control doesn’t mean birth control is expensive. And frankly, even a thousand dollars a year isn’t prohibitively expensive. That’s less than a large coffee at Starbucks a day.
And *no one* is talking about drugs prescribed for theraputic reasons. That is a complete red herring.
That said, you should shop around for birth control. If you take any of the major brands, Wal-Mart will fill the prescription for $4 per month, or $10 for three months. You’re getting ripped off.
You “chose” not to have sex in college…. Lol. Yeah…. sure… Someone sounds a little bitter
No one is just going to stop having sex. You’re an idiot.
And they should be passing those pills out like candy. 90% of you people need to stop reproducing anyway. You and your retarded offspring are just becoming a drain on society.
Oh but then the government will be “in our bedroom.” Oh god no, anything but that!!! What does that even mean??
Today they give out free birth control and tomorrow…. what. What exactly. Stupid slippery-slope argument.
I have a solution to your problem. How about you go get laid for once.
Charming. I bet you get laid all the time.
I smell the class wafting off this one.
Today they give out free birth control and tomorrow…. what. (sic)
Well, they may decide that the increase in STDs demands some intervention other than treatment.
Seriously, you haven’t heard that there are gonorrhea strains that aren’t responding to antibiotics? The CDC may decide to recommend that the human petri dishes should be quarantined, or charged with a crime, if they don’t modify their behaviors.
And that’s much worse than government staying out of it entirely.
Really, all we’d really like is that you be responsible. And that doesn’t entail free stuff paid for by other people.
People choose not to have sex all of the time. I don’t have time for a relationship, so I don’t date and I don’t have sex.
Part of being an adult is overcoming impulse fulfillment. Don’t worry kid, you’ll get there one day.
Von makes a powerful argument for birth control. Just not the way he or she intended.
I thought Leftists wanted government OUT of their bedrooms? I will agree with them, I want to stay out of their bedrooms and not have to pay for she and her friends sleeping around and screwing like bunnies.
On a side note…did she leave a phone # or contact information?
It is not the government’s responsibility to pay for, or force others to pay for, your birth control.
Deal with it and grow up. Next issue.
Sorry to be so curt. If you want a long winded scholarly analysis, get someone who works for a large firm to explain it to you. They like to bill. Meh, I’m getting back to work.
Couldnt agree more. Im so tired of working to pay for luxuries people think they are entitled to. And no, you dont have to have sex. I didnt have sex until I was married (After high school, college, and law school).
This gal wants her sex paid for—-what’s that make her—a prostitute. Why doesn’t see just charge her johns.
[...] Wintery Knight You Don’t Have a Right to Force Other People to Pay for Your Birth Control Written By : John Hawkins Look, I don’t really give a sh*t what you do with your life, and I want government out of my bedroom as much as the next female of child-bearing age. But — and let’s be clear about this — that includes me not paying for your bad decisions, in the bedroom or anywhere else. — Emily Zanotti [...]
[...] I did not have this much sex in law school. :: Naked DC. Share:ShareLike this:LikeBe the first to like this post. This entry was posted in Uncategorized [...]
Oh my ! Really? BIG GOVERNMENT! GOVERNMENT INTRUSION! BIG GOVERNMENT SPENDING! Let me see…birth control pills vs.pelvic ultrasounds…hmm…
The pelvic ultrasounds are asshattery. Don’t even get me started.
[...] at NakedDC, who went to law school, calls BS on Fluke’s calculations: … the idea that they are paying $ 1000 per year for birth control is a little crazy. Condoms [...]
No, this was not about federally mandated insurance. This was about federal mandates that employers and schools not BAR insurance plans from covering reproductive health issues for women (including contraception.)
These STUDENTS – not YOU, not ME, not the TAXPAYERS, and not the CATHOLIC CHURCH, are paying for their own insurance. They expect their insurance to be permitted to cover their reproductive health issues.
I expect that from MY insurance. If my employer tried to stop it, yeah, I’d be complaining.
This is the best thing I’ve read on this whole non-troversy yet.
Whoa. Famous!!! Thanks, man. We worship you around here!
My lifestyle choices have me pursuing flight. And that, as you know, is an expensive endeavor. Therefore, I respectfully partition Queen Pelosi (as the fine lady Fluke has) and Congress to pass a bill that funds my plane rentals. I hear from many others in the aviation field; others who are burdened daily by the overwhelming costs of renting a plane. This, as you know, can cost poor pilots such as myself and the many others I hear from daily, upwards of $10,000 a year. This is unfair and must be “fixed”.
Patiently awaiting a call from my beloved President expressing his support and willingness to help be obtain resolution.
[...] at Naked D.C. has her own take on this: A few key points here before we move on to how utterly ridiculous this [...]
3 Things:
How has no one touched on the fact that she could go to Planned Parenthood and get this for free? I thought the Left loves Planned Parenthood.
In addition she CHOSE to attend one of the most expensive schools in the country in one of the most expensive cities in the country. If she was so worried about money, she could have picked a nice state school in where ever the hell she is from.
Her example (a white unicorn) was her “friend” who needed birth control because of medical reasons and was a lesbian (no need for the pill to prevent pregnancy). These mythical people must be a tiny fraction of the population. I don’t remember the Catholic Church’s position on BC for medical reasons (still probably a no), but I think they should call her bluff and agree to offer the pill for cancer prevention purposes (or what ever it is supposed to prevent) If it turns out that you get a doctor to lie and prescribe the pill to prevent cancer, when in reality you just want to do some serious banging, wouldn’t it be insurance fraud?
Apparently, it really is hard in law school
Georgetown required that students purchase medical insurance. Students paid for coverage WITH THEIR OWN MONEY. They have NO CHOICE.
Some clergyman who DID NOT PAY dictated that contraception would not be covered even though it is standard in the state. Georgetown DID NOT DISCLOSE the religious exclusions BEFORE taking the student’s money.
Anyone who has ever fought with an insurance company must sympathize with the students. Anyone who repeats Limbaugh’s lie about Ms. Fluke wanting contraception for free is a fool. She demanded coverage that SHE HAD PAID FOR.
An insurance company or agent who misled a purchaser in that fashion could be liable for damages and might be criminally liable if perhaps he misled THOUSANDS of purchasers over DECADES.
The Affordable Care Act (ACA) does not pay for medical care, but standardizes how insurance policies are sold and managed to prevent misrepresentation. While it will subsidize some insurance purchase, the citizen still chooses the policy. Those who claim that vouchers for religious schools are proper because the money is first given to parents who choose the school fail to apply that rule to citizens who purchase insurance that covers contraception or abortion with a similar voucher.
The conscience of one man never outweighs that of another when the second man’s body or life is in question. The conscience of one man who is not PERSONALLY paying must bow before the conscience of the dozens or thousands of subscribers who ARE paying.
Fervent belief that one must “correct” others grants no “right of conscience” to do so. Courts correctly struck laws that advance one religion over another or over no religion at all. The “Lemon Test” requires that every law have an entirely secular purpose. Since opposition to both contraception and abortion appear to be entirely based on the religious dogma of “ensoulment”, they fail the Lemon Test.
When one is licensed by the state, the license’s power is borrowed, not given. The licensee becomes an agent of the state and may not exercise borrowed power to advance religion any more than the state could. His “right of conscience” is limited to relinquishing the license. If Joe Citizen may not dictate a woman’s reproductive choices then Joe Physician, Joe Pharmacist or Joe Administrator who differ only in their state license may not do so. Imagine if individual police officers or individual soldiers had the same “right of conscience” that some are now demanding.
Courts favor individual conscience over outside coercion and also honor the common-law right to privacy. Fear that someone else might be “sinning” grants no “right of conscience” to invade someone else’s home or someone else’s medical treatment. That was the basis of Rowe v. Wade.
Finally, those who have assumed the power to coerce are always unhappy when they lose that power. They always claim mistreatment while ignoring the abuse they have heaped
shut it down, it’s over.
[...] First, as Mr. Huston correctly points out, there is not right to taxpayer-funded contraception. Second, the math is quite unbelivable. She claims it costs students $3,000 a year for contraception. Craig Bannister of CNS News did the calculation. In short, condoms are cheap and it destroys the burdensome financial narrative that Fluke set out to infest the nation with via the liberal media. Furthermore, Emily at NakedDC details the costs for other contraceptives with information provided by Planned Parenthood. It is estimated that birth control pills are only $15-$50 a month, a diaphragm costs $60 a year, and… [...]
[...] First, as Mr. Huston correctly points out, there is not right to taxpayer-funded contraception. Second, the math is quite unbelivable. She claims it costs students $3,000 a year for contraception. Craig Bannister of CNS News did the calculation. In short, condoms are cheap and it destroys the burdensome financial narrative that Fluke set out to infest the nation with via the liberal media. Furthermore, Emily at NakedDC details the costs for other contraceptives with information provided by Planned Parenthood. It is estimated that birth control pills are only $15-$50 a month, a diaphragm costs $60 a year, and… [...]
[...] [...]
Looking back, what is most surprising is that there weren’t howls of laughter as 30 year old political activist Ms Fluke, spun her tall tale.
[...] Yid With Lid You Don’t Have a Right to Force Other People to Pay for Your Birth Control Written By : John Hawkins Look, I don’t really give a sh*t what you do with your life, and I want government out of my bedroom as much as the next female of child-bearing age. But — and let’s be clear about this — that includes me not paying for your bad decisions, in the bedroom or anywhere else. – Emily Zanotti [...]
[...] I did not have this much sex in law school. :: Naked DC. Share:MoreLike this:LikeBe the first to like this. from → Uncategorized ← Davy [...]