Single Page
E-mail
Print
RSS
G-bookmarks
Live
TechnoratiThe secular left is a diverse amalgam of various interest groups and ideologies. Of course, the same is true to some extent on the conservative end of the spectrum as well. But on some issues the secular left is absolutely of one mind and voice, and the promotion of birth control and contraception is one of these issues.
To the left, birth control is central to the modern project of liberation. Pregnancy and parenthood limit other endeavors, to say the very least. The project of liberating sex from marriage and sex within marriage from reproduction is central to the modern quest for autonomy. The Pill allowed a radical expansion in non-marital sex, for example, now freed from concern about pregnancy. The Pill represented a moral revolution of incalculable magnitude.
For the feminist movement, support for birth control and abortion on demand is rooted in the explicit desire to "level the playing field" with men. The Pill, feminists announced, was the liberation of women from the problem of an unwanted and untimely pregnancy. If an unwanted pregnancy did occur, abortion on demand would resolve that problem.
This drive for reproductive control is a central obsession of the left, and it has infected many who would otherwise classify themselves as conservative as well. It also explains what is going on with the decision of the Food and Drug Administration [FDA] to allow the morning-after pill to be sold over the counter to girls as young as 17.
That announcement came April 22, and is the essence of brevity for a governmental agency:
On March 23, 2009, a federal court issued an order directing the FDA, within 30 days, to permit the Plan B drug sponsor to make Plan B available to women 17 and older without a prescription. The government will not appeal this decision. In accordance with the court’s order, and consistent with the scientific findings made in 2005 by the Center for Drug Evaluation and Research, FDA notified the manufacturer of Plan B informing the company that it may, upon submission and approval of an appropriate application, market Plan B without a prescription to women 17 years of age and older. Plan B is manufactured by Duramed Research, Inc. of Bala Cynwyd, Pa.
"Plan B" is the commercial name of the morning-after pill (levonorgestrel). The tablet is indeed a form of birth control, and some believe it potentially to be an abortifacient. According to the Plan B Web site, the pill works this way: "Plan B contains two pills taken 12 hours apart that contain a higher dose of levonorgestrel, a hormone found in many birth control pills that healthcare professionals have been prescribing for more than 35 years. Plan B works in a similar way to prevent pregnancy."
The commercial name of the pill just about says it all. When "Plan A" doesn't work, use "Plan B." Plan A, we should note, means using birth control. No one in these circles would dare suggest that Plan A should mean not having sex.
Last month, a federal court judge in Manhattan ordered the FDA to allow over-the-counter sale of Plan B to girls as young as 17, reversing a Bush administration policy. The left erupted in celebration. The New York Times published an editorial declaring, "Judge Edward R. Korman wisely ordered the Food and Drug Administration to make the pill available without prescription to women as young as 17 and to consider approving it for girls of any age, as major medical groups have long advocated." Continue »
