The unwritten rule in Toastmasters was to always try to avoid
discussing religion and politics, and since discussions about sex often combined
the two, it was always wise to avoid that topic as well.
The
first birth control pill became available in 1960, when the FDA approved “the
pill” on June 23, 1960. The birth control pill doesn't just prevent unplanned pregnancy,
it also offers a number of other benefits to the women who use it. In fact,
women who take the pill for at least one year are 40% less likely to
develop uterine cancer and ovarian cancer. Other important benefits of
the birth control pill include regulating irregular periods, controlling acne,
reducing menstrual cramps, and relieving the symptoms of premenstrual syndrome (PMS).
The hormones contained in oral
contraceptives also provide a protective effect against pelvic inflammatory
disease, a major cause of infertility. This protection is caused by the
increased thickness of the cervical mucus that occurs when oral contraceptives
are used. The thickened cervical mucus helps to keep bacteria from entering the
vagina, and possibly the uterus and fallopian tubes, where pelvic inflammatory
disease can occur.
https://www.verywellhealth.com/a-brief-history-on-the-birth-control-pill-3522634
Although there was no immediate
response from the Catholic Church to the pill, “Humanae Vitae” was published in
1968. Pope Paul VI’s strict
prohibition against artificial contraception, issued in the aftermath of the
development of the birth control pill, explained the church’s opposition to
birth control. At the time, the decision shocked many
Catholic priests and laypeople. Conservative Catholics, however, praised the pope for what they saw as a confirmation of
traditional teachings.
The
first Christians knew about contraception and likely practiced
it. Egyptian, Hebrew, Greek and Roman texts, for
example, discuss well-known contraceptive practices, ranging from the
withdrawal method to the use of crocodile dung, dates and honey to block or
kill semen.
Most penitence manuals
from the Middle Ages, which directed priests what types of sins to ask
parishioners about, did not even mention contraception.
It was only in 1588 that
Pope Sixtus V took the strongest conservative stance against contraception in
Catholic history. With his papal bull “Effraenatam,” he ordered all church and
civil penalties for homicide to be brought against those who practiced
contraception.
However, both church and
civil authorities refused to enforce his orders, and laypeople virtually
ignored them. In fact, three years after Sixtus’s death, the next pope repealed most of the sanctions and told
Christians to treat “Effraenatam” “as if it had never been issued.
By
the mid-17th century, some church leaders even admitted couples might have legitimate
reasons to limit family size to
better provide for the children they already had.
https://theconversation.com/how-the-catholic-church-came-to-oppose-birth-control-95694
The Catholic Church was not the only organization that was
opposed to birth control.
The Comstock Act, passed in 1873, made it illegal to
use "any drug, medicinal article, or instrument for the purpose of
preventing conception...". Violators could be "... fined not less
than fifty dollars or imprisoned not less than sixty days nor more than one
year or be both fined and imprisoned"
In the late 19th and early 20th century, physicians in the United States
largely avoided the publication of any material related to birth control, even
when they often recommended or at least gave advice regarding it to their
married patients. Then in 1914, Margaret Sanger openly challenged the public consensus against
contraception. She influenced the Connecticut Birth Control League (CBCL)
and helped to develop the eventual concept of the Planned Parenthood clinics.
The first Planned Parenthood clinic in Connecticut opened in 1935 in Hartford. It provided services to women who had no access to a
gynecologist, including information about artificial contraception and other
methods to plan the growth of their families. Several clinics were opened in
Connecticut over the following years, including the Waterbury clinic that led to the legal dispute. In 1939,
this clinic was compelled to enforce the 1879 anti-contraception law. This
caught the attention of the CBCL leaders, who remarked on the importance of
birth control for cases in which the lives of the patients depended upon
During
the 1940s, two cases arose from the provision of contraception by the Waterbury
clinic, leading to legal challenges to the constitutionality of the Comstock
law, but these failed on technical grounds. In Tileston v. Ullman (1943), a doctor and mother challenged
the law on the grounds that a ban on contraception could, in certain sexual situations,
threaten the lives and well-being of patients. The U.S. Supreme Court dismissed
the appeal on the grounds that the plaintiff lacked standing to sue on
behalf of his patients. Yale School of Medicine gynecologist C. Lee Buxton and his
patients brought a second challenge to the law in Poe v. Ullman (1961). The
Supreme Court again dismissed the appeal, on the grounds that the case was
not ripe: the plaintiffs had
not been charged or threatened with prosecution, so there was no actual
controversy for the Court to resolve.
The came 1965.
On
June 7, 1965, the Supreme Court issued a 7–2 decision in favor of Griswold that
struck down Connecticut's state law against contraceptives.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Griswold_v._Connecticut
In 1967, the case of Loving v. Virginia made interracial marriages legal.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Loving_v._Virginia
Although v. Connecticut initially allowed married couples to
use contraceptives, a number of court cases after that further loosened the
rules.
In 1972, the court allowed unmarried couples to use birth
control.
In 1973, Roe v.
Wade allowed abortions through the first trimester, with some exceptions after
that.
In 1977, contraceptives were allowed for juveniles at least 14
years old.
In 2003, sodomy laws were struck down.
In 2015, same sex marriage became legal
Sadly, we are now heading backwards.
In 2022, Dobbs v. Jockson Women’s Health Organization became
law, reversing Roe v. Wade.
In 2023, conservative judge Matthew Kaczmarek issued a ruling
that banned the use of the abortion pill mifepristone, which is used in 50% of
abortions nationwide. For now, his order has been stayed, and will eventually
be reversed. His opinion was largely based on the Comstock Law, which had been
passed in 1873.
Although it’s a touchy subject, I’ve written about abortion a
few times before:
https://tohell-andback.blogspot.com/2022/04/the-day-of-unborn-child_3.html
https://tohell-andback.blogspot.com/2018/07/roe-v-wade-is-in-news-again.html
https://tohell-andback.blogspot.com/2011/01/roe-vs-wade.html
The lesson that can be gained from the recent assault of
abortion rights can be summed up by a short phrase:
Be careful what you wish for.
1)
Today, a 61%
majority of U.S. adults say abortion should be legal in all or most cases,
while 37% think abortion should be illegal in all or most
cases. These views are relatively unchanged in the past few years. The latest Pew Research Center survey, conducted March 7 to 13, finds deep
disagreement between – and within – the parties over abortion. In fact, the
partisan divide on abortion is far wider than it was two decades ago.
Since the GOP is making it MORE
DIFFICULT to get birth control or access to abortions, they are inevitably
going to lose big in 2024.
2)
Overall, the share
of Americans who say gun laws in the U.S. should be made stricter has increased
from 52% in 2017 to 60% this year, according to a survey conducted in
September. The share of those saying gun laws should be less strict has dropped from
18% in 2017 to 11% today.
3)
Religion
has little bearing on sexual morality. The percentage of women
who have ever used a contraceptive method other than natural
family planning is nearly the same across different religions. According to
newly updated 2017 data†:
- 99.6% of women with no religious affiliation have done
so;
- 99.0% of Catholics;
- 99.4% of mainline Protestants;
- 99.3% of evangelical Protestants; and
- 95.7% of people with other religious affiliations.
The same goes for abortion. In fact, research has
consistently shown that the majority of people who obtain an abortion have a
religious affiliation. According to the most recent Guttmacher Institute data, in 2014:
- 17% of abortion patients identified as mainline
Protestant;
- 13% as evangelical Protestant;
- 24% as Catholic;
- 38% reported no religious affiliation; and
- 8% reported some other affiliation.
https://www.guttmacher.org/article/2020/10/people-all-religions-use-birth-control-and-have-abortions
4)
The extremism in today’s Republican party will
continue to cause it to lose elections, and Tommy Tuberville of Alabama is a
poster boy for how this works:
My parents were long term Democrats, and I’ve been a
registered Democrat for most of my life, except for a brief period of time when
I was a registered Independent. I’ve even voted for a few Republicans along the
way, but voting for George W. is something I will always regret.
For years, the GOP was a party of respectable conservatives,
and John McCain and Bob Dole are examples of respectable statesman.
They started to go off the rails in the 1980’s due to the actions
of recently deceased Pat Robertson, who pushed the party to the right.
Leonard Leo (head of the Federalist Society) added to the
damage. Grover Norquist’s “no tax pledge” helped create several debt limit crises,
and the Supreme Court’s conservative tilt caused more problems, and led to the
current makeup of the House of Representatives, which is now controlled by truly
crazy people.
https://abcnews.go.com/blogs/politics/2012/11/norquists-tax-pledge-what-it-is-and-how-it-started
Believe it or not, things are gradually going to improve.
The Supreme Court recently ruled that Alabama’s legislative
district maps were no fair to Africa-Americans, and need to be withdrawn. The revised
maps in Alabama and other states will help make the 2024 elections fairer, and
will tilt the field away from the crazy people who currently control the House of
Representatives.
Can I have an “amen” brothers and sisters?
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