Contraception: A Human Right
For the first time, the U.N. Population Fund (UNFPA) explicitly described family planning as a “universal human right.” In its annual report, the organization said that improved access to contraception and other methods of family planning could greatly improve the lives of women around the world:
“Family planning has a positive multiplier effect on development,” Dr. Babatunde Osotimehin, executive director of the fund, said in a written statement. “Not only does the ability for a couple to choose when and how many children to have help lift nations out of poverty, but it is also one of the most effective means of empowering women. Women who use contraception are generally healthier, better educated, more empowered in their households and communities and more economically productive. Women’s increased labor-force participation boosts nations’ economies.”
The report effectively declares that legal, cultural and financial barriers to accessing contraception and other family planning measures are an infringement of women’s rights.
Of course, no doubt this is just part of the secret UN-Obama mind control conspiracy to take over the United States.
sharculese:
November 15th, 2012 at 10:35 am
Yeah, but to them, that’s a compliment.
sharculese:
November 15th, 2012 at 10:36 am
Also, of course, good job U.N. This shit may be obvious, but it can never hurt to repeat it emphatically.
Joe:
November 15th, 2012 at 10:54 am
Background reading: The Means of Reproduction: Sex, Power, and the Future of the World by Michelle Goldberg. (did she have her baby yet?)
bradP:
November 15th, 2012 at 11:03 am
What exactly does “family planning” include as a right?
And for this:
Which is cause and which is effect?
DrDick:
November 15th, 2012 at 11:04 am
Of course they oppose such notions of human rights, since they define individuals other than rich, white, conservative, Christian men as fully human.
mark f:
November 15th, 2012 at 11:04 am
Agenda 21 ISREAL.
Joshua:
November 15th, 2012 at 11:05 am
I imagine that a lot of these people believe in American exceptionalism deep in their bones. When they hear that somebody wants to fashion American policy based on international consensus, what they hear is the rest of the world trying to drag the US down to their level.
A small fraction of Americans have passports and even a smaller fraction have any interest in traveling beyond Canada and Mexico. When Rush tells them of the post-apocalyptic nightmare that is Paris or Madrid, they believe it.
Charlie Sweatpants:
November 15th, 2012 at 11:06 am
There is some fine comedy in that second link:
It was emceed by Field Searcy, a local conservative activist who was forced out of the Georgia Tea Party in April due to his endorsement of conspiracy theories about the president’s birth certificate and the collapse of World Trade Center Tower 7. The presentation also featured a special video cameo from conservative talking-head Dick Morris in which the former Clinton aide warns that Obama “wants to force everyone into the cities from whence our ancestors fled.”
Just when you though Morris couldn’t humiliate himself any further, he finds a way.
Derelict:
November 15th, 2012 at 11:16 am
“From whence our ancestors fled”!?!?!
Now THAT is some powerful WTF! I can only guess that he is talking about how all the white folk fled for their lives to the suburbs, and Obama means to make pure people like him live where he can occassionaly see the blahs and browns and other, lesser races.
sharculese:
November 15th, 2012 at 11:22 am
Anything that allows people to choose if and when they want to start or expand a family.
They’re interrelated, but the bottom line is that women who don’t have to plan their lives around having children have much better opportunities to pursue education and social advancement, without being exposed to the myriad health risks that come with being pregnant.
See chapter 4 of the report for more detail: http://www.unfpa.org/webdav/site/global/shared/swp/2012/EN-SWP2012_Report.pdf
sharculese:
November 15th, 2012 at 11:24 am
Dick Morris believes Cliff Simak’s City cycle was prophecy.
bradP:
November 15th, 2012 at 11:27 am
I just read that abortion is not one of the measures included. Have you read that too?
sharculese:
November 15th, 2012 at 11:33 am
I haven’t had a chance to dive deep into the report yet, but a quick scan suggests that yes, they are making that distinction, which is unfortunate.
Erik Loomis:
November 15th, 2012 at 11:35 am
Dick Morris may in fact actually be a performance artist in the later stages of a decades-long act.
Dr.KennethNoisewater:
November 15th, 2012 at 11:39 am
I said that about Victoria Jackson. I was wrong.
rea:
November 15th, 2012 at 11:40 am
Primative humnanoids in Africa lived in large cities. Modern humans are descended from the handful of those city dwelling primitives who fled to rural areas and developed hunting and agriculture
N__B:
November 15th, 2012 at 11:41 am
We all know how that ended for Andy Kaufman.
bradP:
November 15th, 2012 at 11:47 am
Could even be counterproductive, as I wouldn’t be surprised to find out access to abortion would be more important than access to condoms.
All the teaching and access to pre-conception birth control will never be as effective a family planning tool as abortion.
I would be afraid that delineating abortion from other methods of family planning would give some creedence to abortion bans.
Erik Loomis:
November 15th, 2012 at 11:48 am
Jim Carrey is playing Dick Morris in a bio-pic?
Joe:
November 15th, 2012 at 11:51 am
The report seems to speak in broad principles though focuses on things other than abortion since when setting forth guidelines for the rights of the world, dealing with more controversial matters is problematic.
But, references to spacing children, health and so forth is broad enough to cover abortion, particularly in certain cases. At the very least, “emergency contraception” is covered.
Joe:
November 15th, 2012 at 11:54 am
In particular, is there anything in there that specifically DOESN’T include abortion? A quick search shows “abortion” mentioned a few times, particularly as something family planning could avoid.
ajay:
November 15th, 2012 at 11:54 am
All the teaching and access to pre-conception birth control will never be as effective a family planning tool as abortion.
Wait, what? Surely I have misread this.
ajay:
November 15th, 2012 at 11:56 am
The presentation also featured a special video cameo from conservative talking-head Dick Morris in which the former Clinton aide warns that Obama “wants to force everyone into the cities from whence our ancestors fled.”
Because he wants all the world to be taxed, right? That sounds familiar. (“But I live in San Diego!” “Sorry, sir, back to Boston with you, for you are of the house and family of Southie.”)
sharculese:
November 15th, 2012 at 11:58 am
I don’t really agree.
Abortion is a costly and invasive medical procedure that requires the right tools and a sterile environment. Condoms can be handed out by the thousands, and all you need is instructions on how to use them.
Abortion is an important part of the family planning tool box, but condoms and birth control are the first, and best, method.
sharculese:
November 15th, 2012 at 12:01 pm
Right, that’s the thing. A lot of it’s written as if they’re talking about abortion in contrast to what they define as family planning.
This may be strategic. I could see them operating under the assumption that some places will never accept ready access to abortion, and that the best approach is to highlight alternate methods.
SeanH:
November 15th, 2012 at 12:13 pm
I’d watch the hell out of that.
N__B:
November 15th, 2012 at 12:15 pm
I was thinking Bobcat Goldthwait.
mark f:
November 15th, 2012 at 12:23 pm
No, Victoria Jackson is.
rea:
November 15th, 2012 at 12:26 pm
And when they make it back to Boston, there’s no place to stay other than the parking lot of the motel
Substance McGravitas:
November 15th, 2012 at 12:35 pm
Victoria Jackson has more redeeming value than Dick Morris because she can play a uke.
rea:
November 15th, 2012 at 12:51 pm
All the teaching and access to pre-conception birth control will never be as effective a family planning tool as abortion.
All the driver education courses will never be as effective as a good body shop?
Joey Maloney:
November 15th, 2012 at 12:53 pm
I’ve been reading political blogs since they were invented and I believe this is the first-ever Simak reference I’ve seen. Well-played, sir or madam as the case may be.
Time and Again was the book that introduced me to science fiction. At age 7 it was over my head, but I kept coming back to it until I figured it out.
Uncle Kvetch:
November 15th, 2012 at 12:57 pm
Pissah.
gocart mozart:
November 15th, 2012 at 1:25 pm
Also this:
“Top Georgia GOP Lawmakers Host Briefing on Secret Obama Mind-Control Plot”
http://www.motherjones.com/mojo/2012/11/georgia-senate-gets-52-minute-briefing-united-nations-takeover
gocart mozart:
November 15th, 2012 at 1:28 pm
Idiot, the link is in Erik’s post.
anonymous:
November 15th, 2012 at 1:35 pm
It’s not that costly and not that difficult. Have you ever heard of the Jane Collective?
bradP:
November 15th, 2012 at 1:37 pm
Let me clarify, because that sounded much different before lunch than it did after.
Just the act having unprotected sex rather than no sex shows seriously poor decision making. That poor decision making is due to factors that are unrelated to condom access, and can only be countered by condoms to a degree.
Stigma-free and easily accessed abortion seems to me to be better at combatting the poor decision making that causes unplanned pregnancies.
Scott S.:
November 15th, 2012 at 1:38 pm
I’m awarding you the Internets for today just because you’ve read my favorite science fiction book ever.
bradP:
November 15th, 2012 at 1:41 pm
For people prone to reckless driving, possibly.
BigHank53:
November 15th, 2012 at 1:54 pm
That’s actually almost believable.
Karen:
November 15th, 2012 at 2:04 pm
That’s going to suck for me, because the last “city” any of my ancestors lived in was 1790′s Belfast. I’d just as soon pass on that, thanks. My husband’s family came from Naples, Milan, and Strasbourg, which are much nicer thanks.
Holden Pattern:
November 15th, 2012 at 2:14 pm
Do you know ANYTHING at all about people? Especially people in developing countries?
Malaclypse:
November 15th, 2012 at 2:14 pm
Is there no room at the packie?
DrDick:
November 15th, 2012 at 2:28 pm
There are no fool proof solutions to any problem. Fools are simply far too creative. The actual data show that where women have ready access to affordable, effective birth control the abortion rate declines dramatically.
anonymous:
November 15th, 2012 at 2:31 pm
Your economic AND your male privilege are showing.
Malaclypse:
November 15th, 2012 at 2:52 pm
Just the act having unprotected sex rather than no sex shows seriously poor decision making. That poor decision making is due to factors that are unrelated to condom access, and can only be countered by condoms to a degree.
I’m just going to note this right here, in the hope that you will remember the first rule of holes.
gocart mozart:
November 15th, 2012 at 3:03 pm
From wiki
“Morris is the son of writer Terry Lesser Morris, an early proponent of confessional human interest stories.[9] He attended Stuyvesant High School in New York City.”
Seems like Dick “dick” Morris’ ancestors fled to the Big City. Could Dick be lying?
bradP:
November 15th, 2012 at 3:16 pm
No its not.
bradP:
November 15th, 2012 at 3:24 pm
How much does it drop with condom-only provision? I know that what I said would not hold true with IUDs, but the constancy necessary with using other methods is a big problem that is greatly exascerbated by both the social and economic environment of the people that are at the worst risk.
Malaclypse:
November 15th, 2012 at 3:28 pm
Because there are bright lines separating reckless drivers, the sort who are never at all like us, from good drivers, who only get in collisions because of extenuating circumstances.
I think your analogy is proving something other than what you were hoping…
CD:
November 15th, 2012 at 3:36 pm
You have to read this with semiotician Lee Atwater in mind
http://www.thenation.com/article/170841/exclusive-lee-atwaters-infamous-1981-interview-southern-strategy
“cities” = “urban” = black people
Bill Murray:
November 15th, 2012 at 4:13 pm
define or don’t define?
Malaclypse:
November 15th, 2012 at 4:14 pm
They = notions of human rights, not they = wingnuts.
NonyNony:
November 15th, 2012 at 4:23 pm
What the? I can haz basic understanding of urbanization? Also cause and effect? Also too industrialization and capitalism in general?
Also too while I’m asking, a pony.
I’m more likely to get the pony, aren’t I?
Anonymous:
November 15th, 2012 at 4:32 pm
bradP: “Every problem is a moral problem, and every conflict between two equally powerful individuals.
Patriarchy? Never heard of it!”
marc sobel:
November 15th, 2012 at 5:13 pm
Your closing line makes me think of Chuck Colson: When you’ve got them by the reproductive organs, their hearts and minds will follow.
DrDick:
November 15th, 2012 at 7:37 pm
Who the fuck cares? I did say effective birth control. A full range of birth control is available under the ACA and should be everywhere. However, condom distribution programs in India and elsewhere have also reduced abortions, though I do not have any precise figures.
DrDick:
November 15th, 2012 at 7:38 pm
Exactly.
[BLOG] Some Friday links « A Bit More Detail:
November 16th, 2012 at 12:51 pm
[...] Guns and Money’s Erik Loomis observes that the Republican Party stands out in not recognizing contraception as a human [...]
cpinva:
November 16th, 2012 at 12:53 pm
once again, large swaths of republicans demonstrate their basic insanity in public. so what else is new?