According to some political pundits, there’s a war going on in the United States. This war doesn’t involve bombs. It involves legislation, and the war isn’t on a foreign nation — it’s on women’s health care rights.
The debate began when the Obama administration announced in January that religious institutions providing health care coverage would be required to provide contraceptive benefits to women at no extra cost.
This mandate, designed to benefit the reproductive health of women, led to a lot of rhetoric, mostly involving GOP pundits fuming over this purported intrusion of government. Catholic institutions in particular were outraged, calling this mandate a violation of First Amendment rights.
Controversy (and ridicule) reached a high point when Virginia Republicans introduced a bill that would require women seeking an abortion to first undergo an invasive transvaginal sonogram.
That bill never passed, but an amended version of it that requires a pre-abortion ultrasound was signed last week by Virginia Gov. Bob McDonnell. Since then, the gloves have come off, and state legislators are fighting what seems to be a gender war.
Ohio state Sen. Nina Turner introduced a bill that would require men seeking Viagra to first see a sex therapist, receive a cardiac stress test and get a notarized affidavit affirming impotency signed by a sexual partner.
This joke of a bill is not the only one of its kind: Senators have submitted other bills with similar silly requirements, such as a rectal examination, before the prescription of erectile dysfunction drugs.
I can appreciate politicians’ attempts to point out the absurdity of the recent legislation regarding women’s reproductive issues, but something feels wrong about taxpayers paying politicians to write satire.
These bills have made a mockery of American politics. The battle against women’s reproductive health care rights — from requiring pre-abortion ultrasounds to fighting against required contraceptive coverage — is an attempt by politicians to force their beliefs on their constituency.
Because they cannot make abortion illegal, GOP politicians do the next best thing: guilt-trip women who are having abortions.
Contraceptives provide many health benefits, including protection from STDs, and it’s clear that for most opponents of the Obama-mandated contraceptive requirements, religious motives take precedence over the health and welfare of women.
It’s one thing for politicians to be ineffective; it’s another for them to try to monitor our lives.
Ignoring the rhetoric, we can all agree that the only goal of lawmakers with regard to health care issues should be to protect and empower their constituency.
However, many politicians are trying to do the opposite. Bills mandating abortion requirements ultimately reduce women’s health rights and have no place in American government.
Let’s stop fighting battles similar to those our grandparents had to fight. Women need to stand up against controlling health legislation now and demand independence and full respect under the law.
Abdul Zalikha is a biology and English junior at UF. His column appears on Wednesdays.
