I was browsing Feministing today, and came across this whiny post:

Basically, women are cutting back because they can no longer afford their preferred method of contraceptive. I thought it was interesting that there was no discussion about MEN helping pay for contraception. I mean, having sex and babies does require two people after all. The survey was only women, maybe that is why, but the article starts with a line about COUPLES not wanting to have children and then proceeds to talk about why women cannot afford contraceptives.

She’s referring to this article:

Recent surveys suggest some couples are delaying having babies because of the poor economy and lack of job security or unemployment. But the recession may lead to more unintended pregnancies, too. A survey released this week shows some women are abandoning their contraceptives or switching to less expensive, less reliable methods because of cost or lack of health-insurance coverage.

The survey, conducted by the Gallup Organization, found 3 percent of women of child-bearing age had quit using birth control because they could not afford it. Six percent of women using a hormonal form of birth control, such as the pill, said they had abandoned the method because they could not afford it. Ten percent of women said they were worried about their ability to keep paying for contraception. Some women said they had switched birth-control methods because of cost.

The survey was commissioned by the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists and released at the organization’s annual meeting in Chicago.

Twenty percent of women said they were more concerned about having an unintended pregnancy today than they were one year ago.

“Even 3 percent is a big number if you look at the entire number of women in that age group,” said Dr. Iffath Hoskins, vice president of ACOG, who presented the survey results. “We’re deeply concerned about the effect of the economy on women’s health care.”

About 50 percent of pregnancies in the United States are unintended. In good economic times, many families are happy to welcome another child, Hoskins said. But when one or both spouses are unemployed or when money is tight, an unintended pregnancy can be a disaster for a family.

Still, contraceptives are expensive and difficult to obtain in the United States compared with many other countries, said Dr. Rebekah Gee, an obstetrician and gynecologist who served on the Obama administration transition team.

“Birth control is unacceptably expensive,” Gee said.

Every dollar spent in the public-health sector on contraceptives saves $3 in childbirth and newborn health care costs for Medicaid. But not all insurance companies pay for contraceptives, and women spend money and time on doctor’s office visits to obtain prescriptions for the most reliable forms of birth control.

“There are multiple costs associated with contraceptives that we don’t even think about,” she said.

I found the feminist anger on this funny.

First, if women are so strong and capable, then why do they need men to buy their birth control for them? Isn’t that what feminists always carp on about, how women don’t need no men taking care of them? Yet here’s a feminist whining because men are not taking care of women. I suspect that she still would have been angry if the article had suggested that men buy the birth control for the women, because then, it would have been saying that women couldn’t do it on their own. Either way, I’m sure she would’ve been offended. And why? Because women are being denied their precious birth control! Oh no! Something MUST be done!

I suppose abstaining from sex if you can’t afford birth control and are not ready for a baby never crossed this little feminist’s mind. No, it’s an outrage! Something must be done! Birth control is just TOO expensive! We must act now!

Look, I hate to break it to feminists and liberals, but contraceptives are not really a “healthcare necessity”. I know that advising women to not have sex if they can’t afford to go buy themselves a condom or get on The Pill is like, so unfeminist, but it’s the truth. Besides, birth control is never 100% foolproof. The only sure way not to get pregnant is not to have sex, so even if you do use birth control pills and a condom, there’s still a very small risk of getting pregnant anyways. And if you’re having trouble affording your birth control, then you’re probably not going to be able to afford a baby. (Oh, but wait, there’s abortion, so who cares, right?) But to liberals and feminists, not being able to have free sex whenever the urge hits you constitutes a crisis, so something must immediately be done to remedy the situation.

For all of the debate on the subject, when you take all of the rhetoric away, each person is responsible for themselves. And if a woman is going to have sex, it is her responsibility to make sure she can get birth control. Not her boyfriend’s or her husband’s or her one night stand’s, but her’s. Dealing with your own responsibilities is not very popular with liberals, but it’s still something that has to be done, no matter how much feminists may bitch and whine about how SEXIST!! it is.