Some Republican presidental hopefuls believe that non-procreative sex is "counter to how things are supposed to be."
In 2011 women’s bodies monopolized political debate as the Right attempted to defund Title X facilities and strip reproductive healthcare access for millions of women nationwide. Congress pulled out all stops to slash funding for women’s reproductive services targeting Planned Parenthood and gunning for families with the greatest need. While anti-choicers and their political muses were unsuccessful (you’ve got to pray harder guys!), 2012 is looking like another tough year for reproductive rights activists in the fight to secure and sustain access for women and families.
To date, five Republican presidential hopefuls have signed personhood pledges. According to Personhoodusa.com “personhood is the cultural and legal recognition of the equal and unalienable rights of human beings.” And by human beings they mean zygotes – not fully formed women with free will and self-determination. If you do happen to see a zygote expressing these agents please contact that indistinct organization that names new species or the Guinness World Book of Records so they accurately document the most intelligent zygote ever. Last November, Mississippi voters faced and defeated a ballot initiative that would have declared life begins at fertilization, making contraceptives like the IUD lethal weapons. The proposition behind this bill is a wet dream for Republican hopeful Rick Santorum – though I imagine he harnesses his enthusiasm to avoid the mass murder of thousands of pre-human sperm.
Santorum’s ethics-driven campaign has prioritized restricting access to family planning resources and has taken a firm stance that contraception is not okay. He says, “a license to do things in a sexual realm that is counter to how things are supposed to be.”
Santorum even expresses his opposition to a law that struck down a ban on discussing or providing contraception to married couples and a right to privacy. He fears that sex is becoming “deconstructed to the point where it’s simply pleasure” and non-procreative sex and contraception are “important public policy issues” for a president. If you thought your government sanctioned marriage and sextracurricular activities were safe – think again! If you’re not making babies for Jesus you better push those beds apart!
Santorum’s platform is flaccid. His antiquated beliefs are dated, dangerous and provide no tangible options for sexually active Americans. In 2000 Santorum suggested young girls take a “virginity pledge” instead of receiving comprehensive sexual education in school. Without citing any sources for his data, Santorum claims “that adolescent girls who signed a virginity pledge were 40% less likely to have child out of wedlock than girls who did not sign a pledge.”
According to Cecile Richards, Planned Parenthood President, “Republican women who support Planned Parenthood are very very disturbed about the extreme nature of the Republican primary, and wondering where they are going to go.”
But maybe we are getting this all wrong, maybe Santorum’s passion about restricting access to birth control, encouraging only pro-creative sex and stifling rights to privacy is all because he really cares about the state of impoverished women. When asked during an impromptu interview with Rachel Maddow if he really believed that the country would be better off if there was less contraception use, Santorum quoted a 2009 Brookings Institute study that said women could do three things to stay out of poverty: work, graduate from high school and get married without having a baby out of wedlock. This sounds vaguely familiar, like text from this one book – what’s is called? Ah yes, the Bible.
Singling out Santorum feels easy because he has been so honest about his intentions but other Republican hopefuls like Romney, Huckabee, Bachmann and Perry are also flying high on their moral crusades and as Richards so awesomely put it “trying to outdo themselves on who would be the worst president for women.”
If women’s access continues to be a leading issue for the current Republican presidential field, pro-choice advocates are looking at another heavy year of advocacy and pushback. Maybe, in another lifetime, when we all come back in our zygotic form, Santorum will sound more appealing. But until then, my bet is that women and those who support us will continue to fight for the right to use birth control and have sex simply for pleasure.
