Lies of Hate

One of the advantages that the Christopathic Moralist crowds have in pushing their anti-women agenda is that for certain aspects, their true goals sound like insane conspiracy theories. Which, of course, they are.

One of their goals is strict control, if not outright elimination, of any meaningful birth control. The underlying reasons for this are probably not easy to summarize. For some men, I 'd guess the ability to control women is important; after reading some of the rantings from the AFA or Concerned Women of America, it is pretty easy to see that a certain faction just want to punish the sluts who have non-approved sex.

Yeah, I know, this is where it sounds crazy, right? Because it sounds reasonable to oppose abortion for moral reasons, but 'that doesn't apply to birth control'

However, sometimes the mask slips and the truer mask of priggish hatred peeks out. One good example of this is the opposition to the HPV vaccine, which would prevent something on the order of 80% of the cases of cervical cancer, which is distressingly often fatal.

However, in order to be effective, the vaccine has to be administered at a relatively early age.

No Brainer, right? But the crusading moralists oppose this because - get this - it will imply license to be promiscuous. No, that's really the argument.

Is there any clearer proof that these folks see this as another way of punishing others for having sex? No way an inoculation received at 8 or 10 is going to have any appreciable effect on the behavior 6 or 8 years down the road; the only real effect would be preventing women from dying. Bloodthirsty moralizing bastards.

Want another example? Okay here goes. Scientists have come very close to developing a workable HIV prevention pill, and hope to go into production soon. Guess what? The damnable moralizing crusaders have already started oozing out of the woodwork. Stephen Bennett, repressed homosexual pretending to be cured, now wishes all his former friends and lovers dead rather than having sex. You know, ignore the fact that AIDS is not limited to homosexuals. Ignore the idea that maybe gays should be able to have sex without dying. If Bennett has to force down his retch long enough to stick it in a woman, so can the rest of the gay population, under threat of death. That would certainly bring the priesthood numbers back up, wouldn't it?

But finally, and this is where I started hitting the rant button, is the opposition to the Plan B Emergency Contraception pill. The squint-eyed moralists have been screaming about 'abortion pills' and 'over the counter abortions' since before the pill was released, and have successfully portrayed it as an abortifacient.

Hot News Flash: It Isn't.

One of my favorite science writers, DarkSyde over at Daily Kos, has an excellent post up about the opposition to Plan B (and birth control in general) explaining it. If you click that link above, you can read my Hero PZ Myers' explanation, clear enough even for some of the dimmer Christian Fascists, on how the ovulation cycle works, how birth control works, and why Plan B is a specialized birth control medication. As an added plus, he manages to put together such delightful turns of phrase as “...the moment her ovaries happen to pop a follicle.”

To pull another quote (but go read the whole darn thing. Hard science is invigorating in the morning. It smells... like victory):

...the opposition to Plan B makes it glaringly, brilliantly clear that this isn't about the sanctity of life at all: it's all about controlling a woman's ovaries. She will not be allowed to tamper with the timing of ovulation.

The ugly intent of the right wing fundies is unmasked right here, with no phony piety to hide their goals. They want the power to regulate a woman's physiology against her will

Keep in mind what DS says at the end of that piece: There is a way to protect people's ability to make medical reproductive decisions a private matter between partners and their medical practitioners: They're called Democrats. Remember that when you go vote.