For much of my adult life, I took birth control pills. I even had to take them for a while after my husband's vasectomy, because my gynecologist hoped the hormones might help to control my fibroid tumors. The pills were not cheap. Big pharma is constantly tinkering with the hormone combinations in birth control pills, and many of the newer versions are quite expensive. Fortunately, my health insurance covered the cost of the pills.
My husband works for a division of the state of Tennessee and it is through his employer that we get our insurance, so one could argue that my birth control pills were subsidized by the taxpayer. According to Rush Limbaugh, this makes me a slut and a prostitute, and in exchange for my medication, I should have been compelled to provide him with videos of me having sex.
That is what he said.
And I'm not alone. A lot of women need birth control, not to prevent pregnancy, but because the hormones can serve lots of other therapeutic purposes, like treating painful ovarian cysts.
Limbaugh has since apologized, sort of, but in the meantime, some interesting things have come to light.
First of all, the ignorant men who are trying to force us to let them decide whether or not women should have access to birth control have no idea how birth control works -- or how the female body works, for that matter. Here's Rush Limbaugh once again exposing his shocking ignorance on his radio show (let the video load and then go to minute 13 if you want to head straight to his willful stupidity, and then keep watching if you're in the mood for a bit of Mitt Romney lunacy).
And secondly, if we look closely at what Rush said, we discover a few surprising things. Here's Limbaugh's "apology."
I'll tell you what is absurd. Letting celibate men -- not doctors, not scientists, not those who are at all familiar with the female body and how it works, not me, for christ's* sake -- decide whether or not I should have access to birth control.
*or should that be for Artemis's sake?
UPDATE: OK, so keep in mind, Rush kept this attack going for three days before he said "oops! Sorry, I didn't mean to say that!!" Perhaps he's on drugs again and has lost control. But I don't think so. A lot of people have wondered if the only reason he "apologized" is because he lost most of his sponsors and advertisers. And his behavior supports that possibility:
The willful stupidity. It is so epic.
My husband works for a division of the state of Tennessee and it is through his employer that we get our insurance, so one could argue that my birth control pills were subsidized by the taxpayer. According to Rush Limbaugh, this makes me a slut and a prostitute, and in exchange for my medication, I should have been compelled to provide him with videos of me having sex.
That is what he said.
And I'm not alone. A lot of women need birth control, not to prevent pregnancy, but because the hormones can serve lots of other therapeutic purposes, like treating painful ovarian cysts.
Limbaugh has since apologized, sort of, but in the meantime, some interesting things have come to light.
First of all, the ignorant men who are trying to force us to let them decide whether or not women should have access to birth control have no idea how birth control works -- or how the female body works, for that matter. Here's Rush Limbaugh once again exposing his shocking ignorance on his radio show (let the video load and then go to minute 13 if you want to head straight to his willful stupidity, and then keep watching if you're in the mood for a bit of Mitt Romney lunacy).
And secondly, if we look closely at what Rush said, we discover a few surprising things. Here's Limbaugh's "apology."
For over 20 years, I have illustrated the absurd with absurdity, three hours a day, five days a week. In this instance, I chose the wrong words in my analogy of the situation. I did not mean a personal attack on Ms. Fluke.From that statement, we can extrapolate these interesting tidbits:
I think it is absolutely absurd that during these very serious political times, we are discussing personal sexual recreational activities before members of Congress. I personally do not agree that American citizens should pay for these social activities. What happened to personal responsibility and accountability? Where do we draw the line? If this is accepted as the norm, what will follow? Will we be debating if taxpayers should pay for new sneakers for all students that are interested in running to keep fit? In my monologue, I posited that it is not our business whatsoever to know what is going on in anyone’s bedroom nor do I think it is a topic that should reach a Presidential level.
My choice of words was not the best, and in the attempt to be humorous, I created a national stir. I sincerely apologize to Ms. Fluke for the insulting word choices.
- Rush believes that taxpayer subsidized insurance should not pay for viagra. Viagra makes it possible for flaccid men to have sex. Rush does not agree that American citizens should pay for these social activities.
- Rush thinks Darrell Issa's activities in the House are absurd, because the committee he chairs held a hearing on contraceptives mandates, and Rush believes we should not be discussing personal sexual recreational activities before members of Congress. (It's a funny thing, though, that instead of attacking the man who brought the issue before Congress, Rush instead chose to viciously assail a fairly minor player in the hearing -- a woman who tried to participate, but was turned away by Issa.)
- Rush thinks his show is absurd.
- Rush, appropriately, likes the word "absurd."
I'll tell you what is absurd. Letting celibate men -- not doctors, not scientists, not those who are at all familiar with the female body and how it works, not me, for christ's* sake -- decide whether or not I should have access to birth control.
*or should that be for Artemis's sake?
UPDATE: OK, so keep in mind, Rush kept this attack going for three days before he said "oops! Sorry, I didn't mean to say that!!" Perhaps he's on drugs again and has lost control. But I don't think so. A lot of people have wondered if the only reason he "apologized" is because he lost most of his sponsors and advertisers. And his behavior supports that possibility:
