Update on Women’s Health Stuff

I used Stephanie, the macaw from Costa Rica, for this post because in some weird way, I think this bird understands what it means to climb that volcano in the distance. And that’s what is happening to women now.  We’re having to move up ridiculously high mountains once again.

+++

Many decades after women won the right to vote, to use contraception, to have abortions, many decades after Roe v Wade legalized abortion, U.S. politics is once again embroiled in legislation that attempts to control women’s bodies. The updates on this story smack of the trickster, I think, and are attributable to the fact that we have a lot of women in politics now.
On  March 2, 2012, State Senator Nina Turner (D-Cleveland) announced legislation “that would protect men in Ohio from the risks of PDE-5 inhibitors, drugs commonly used to treat symptoms of impotence. Turner’s legislation would include provisions to document that the symptoms are not psychological in nature, and would guide men to make the right decision for their bodies. Physicians would be required to obtain a second opinion from a psychological professional to verify that a patient has a true medical malady before the medication could be prescribed.”

Interesting to see the tables turned, particularly in light of the fact that some years ago, Limbaugh was stopped at Palm Beach International Airport because he had a bottle of Viagra with him, except that it wasn’t in his name.

How would Rush feel about a rectal exam before obtaining Viagra?

Probably not so good. But Virginia State Senator Janet Howell proposed on Monday an amendment that would require men to take rectal exams and cardiac stress tests prior to receiving prescriptions for erectile dysfunction medication.

Ouch. Howell proposed the amendment in response to Virginia’s recently passed legislation that necessitated an ultrasound for women who are seeking abortions. After all, if women should have to adhere to certain legislation concerning their bodies and choices, why  shouldn’t men  be required to undergo similarly inconvenient rectal exams and cardiac stress tests at their expense? As Howell told the Huffington Post:

“If we’re going to do that to women, why not do that to men?”

Her amendment was rejected, which Howell expected. The vote – 21-19 – indicates that she isn’t alone. “This is more of a message type of amendment, so I was pleased to get 19 votes,” Howell said.

As I followed this story on the news this evening, I started laughing and realized that’s a much healthier  response than anger. Nothing bad can survive in the presence of laughter. So now when I watch these Republican candidates, when I hear about their attempts to legislate women’s bodies, I laugh until my ribs ache. These guys are bozos. They belong in a circus.

Even the women who are married to these men must be having second thoughts. One representative already admitted on the floor of Congress that his wife refused to have sex with him because he supported Virginia’s proposed legislation to require a transvaginal ultrasound if she sought an abortion. It may be the cheapest trick the book, but it apparently worked in this instance.

We suspect this issue will only proliferate in the days leading up to the November 2012 presidential election.

Meanwhile, Stephanie the macaw gazes out at that volcanic mountain with a measured perspective. Really? We’re back at square one?