Women Star in the President's Political Theater: Who's Really Getting Played?

By Jennifer Hartline
3/7/2012
Catholic Online (www.catholic.org)

C'mon ladies, wake up and stop being used and played for political points. This contraception theater show is insulting and women deserve better.

With a pen stroke and a press conference, President Obama used women to initiate a war on Religious freedom and with the media lapdogs panting at his heels, he made sure the Republicans, and especially the Catholic Church, were painted as misogynist zealots. Now he's leading this contrived and fraudulent battle over "women's health", and the so-called feminists have pinned women's entire well-being to a package of pills and reduced women to just vaginas and uteruses. To insist that government or our employers must subsidize our sexual behavior makes us the most selfish, lazy, immature, and embarrassing society America has ever seen.

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WASHINGTON, D.C. (Catholic Online) - After Sandra Fluke's testimony before Congress last week, two things became clear: 1) This controversy is political theater if I ever saw it, and 2) modern, secular "feminism" makes women stupid.

With a pen stroke and a press conference, President Obama used women to initiate a war on Religious freedom and with the media lapdogs panting at his heels, he made sure the Republicans, and especially the Catholic Church, were painted as misogynist zealots.

Ms. Fluke has become the latest player in a drama that President Obama has manufactured and fueled for his own political gain. Fluke, the Georgetown law student who's actually an activist for Reproductive Justice, joined Nancy Pelosi, Kathleen Sebelius, Barbara Boxer, Cecile Richards (Planned Parenthood), Nancy Keenan (NARAL), and scores of other Congressional leaders and political activists who are bemoaning the trials of life without free birth control pills. With the President leading this contrived and fraudulent battle over "women's health", these so-called "feminists" have pinned women's entire well-being to a package of pills and reduced women to just vaginas and uteruses.

Fluke, who was portrayed as a 23 year-old co-ed, is actually 30 years old and by her own admission chose to attend Georgetown precisely so she could battle their insurance policy since it does not cover contraceptives. What a handy witness she turned out to be last week on behalf of Obama's contraception mandate. So important was she to Obama's theater show that he personally called her to apologize for things Rush Limbaugh said on his program concerning her testimony.

Fluke testified that she and her classmates have to spend $3,000 during their time at Georgetown on contraception, and it's simply an unbearable financial burden for them. If they paid top-dollar for birth control pills, that would be about $600 a year; $1,800 for three years. A box of condoms ranges from about $4.00 to $15.00. That's maybe another $100 a year, but still nowhere close to $3,000.

To put this in perspective, I can sponsor two children through World Vision for less than $100 a month. That money actually helps feed, clothe and educate a child, and improve the lot of her community as well. So you can feed, clothe and shelter a child in a poverty-stricken country, or you can subsidize an Ivy-league college student's sex life by buying her birth control.

To give you another perspective, consider what's happening to active-duty military families and veteran retirees. Active-duty families will soon see their prescription costs increase while their access to civilian pharmacies shrinks. Military retirees are going to see their health insurance premiums skyrocket very soon, as Obamacare tries to force them off Tricare and onto one of the government exchange programs instead.

So while active-duty military families are paying more for all their prescriptions -- medicines needed for actual illnesses -- Ivy-league college co-eds simply MUST be provided with free birth control.

Meanwhile, unionized civilians health care benefits will be untouched. No additional costs for them, no sir. Protect union workers; ask military families to sacrifice even more. From whom much is already asked, even more will be required. Is this the new American way?

What Fluke and her peers need is not a legal education but a common sense, moral education. In about 30 minutes, they could all be taught how to manage their fertility without drugs, and their "birth control" would cost them absolutely nothing but self-control and mature decision-making. It's called personal responsibility. And you know what? It's very empowering!

In the real world, when you don't have the money to pay for something you want, you do without it. Contraception is not food and water. It's not electricity and shelter. It's not a need at all. If Fluke wants birth control pills, fine, she can have them. She can also pay for them herself. No one is obligated to provide them for her.

This is the epitome of the entitlement society and mentality that we now live in. To insist that government or our employers must subsidize our sexual habits and behavior makes us officially the most selfish, lazy, immature, and embarrassing society America has ever seen.

Not to mention the most hypocritical. We demand the government stay out of our bedrooms while also demanding the government pay for our contraception. These modern "feminists" like Fluke will shout, "My body, my choice" and "stay out of my uterus" and most of all, "the Church has no right to tell me what ...

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1 - 10 of 76 Comments

vance
1 year ago
Rob, It amazes me after all that Obama, Reid and Pelosi have done, you still fall on the sword for their cause. I know you want to convey that you are this middle of the road guy but you have given yourself up long ago. You justify your support for their evil deeds by saying "Both Sides" are equally guilty. This article is about the Marxist Democrat Party Political Theater to divert the issue from their Assault on the Catholic Church and the American People to a phoney GOP Hates Women. If you remember back to the early January TV Debate hosted by George Step-on-all-of-us, you will remember when he asked Mitt Romney if he will "Outlaw" Contraception. Romney reaction was taken back by the question where he replied, "Where is this coming from, this is not an issue". Step-on-all-of-us pressed the issue more to the 'BOO's' in the audience. We now know where that question came from - Obama and the Marxist democrat Party who were prepping the nation in advance of his assault on the Catholic Church. All this seems to roll off your back like water on a duck. That's OK. Just be honest. Can a Liberal be honest? I don't know. You tell me.
Emma
1 year ago
What more of the people posting here need to do, is migrate over to other news sites such as Yahoo and msn and begin to post on some of their boards. The comments sections there are one-sided. Hardly anyone on those message boards is speaking out in a calm, factual way re. this issue. I've been there, maybe one or two others, speaking the truth in support of our religious liberties. Where are all of you???? If young women hear only one side of this (and they are only hearing one side, because they are not apt to come to this web site), then of course they believe their choices are under attack. Secondly, Ms. Fluke would hardly be my choice were I to be called up before a judge. Aren't attorneys supposed to know what the charge is? She made a fool out of herself! If I were ever represented by an attorney of that caliber, I'd sue them for malpractice! Heck, I'd be charged with "shop-lifting", she'd have me convicted of murder! And, lastly, why is it considered a crime for an 18 yo man to be sexually involved with a minor, yet clinics are permitted to perform vaginal exams on teen-age girls without consent? If a young girl does not have capacity to give consent to sexual relations, how/why is she then deemed to have capacity to give consent to a gynecological exam???? Just wondering. But, please, some of you join me on Yahoo????? There are many opportunities to defend your church. I see few people there doing so. All seem to be congregating on Catholic Websites, but that's not where the battle will be lost or won. It will be won in the public arena.
Rob
1 year ago
vance, did you happen to read that bill? If you did, you know darn well that bill was never going to pass. It went way beyond the issue at hand. And given the fact that they spent so much of the bill on an ideological rant, that was really all it was. If they were serious, they could have very simply crafted a bill that provided the exclusion and probably got it past. But why on earth would they do that? Like all the pro-life arguements at the federal level, it's all about the drama of it. It's never about the results, obviously. 40 years of Roe v Wade pretty much sums it all up. 4 Decades! Since you keep making things personal with me vance, I have to say, that you are the only one following orders from a party you refuse to see for what it really has become. You desperately grasp for a party and a position that has only amounted to campaign slogans and rehtoric. Both parties main focus has been power and the rention of it. And while this has resulted in the enrichment of their supporters and a small amount of people in this country, for the rest of us, it has only left us with scaps and to fight about issues they have absolutely no intention of seriously addressing. Sure, a crappy bill every once in a while, but they surely are not solutions orientated. To deny this is to deny reality. But if you want to use this bill to support your ideology, be my guest. It's precisely what they want you to do.
Bulbajer
1 year ago
Vance, good point about Sarah Palin. I still stand by my comment on Limbaugh and Ms. Fluke.
Vance
1 year ago
Rob, GOP Sen Blunt's Bill to over turn the Obama attack on the Catholic Church was no parlor trick. Your Marxist Democrat Party had a chance to prove me wrong that there are actually Dems who care about the constitution BUT they stuck together like good comrades to doubled down and stick it to the Catholic Church and the nation. The only person here getting suckered is the guy you see in the mirror. If Barry Seotoro's attack on the Catholic Church isn't enough to convince you, I can only conclude that you must agree with him. This is what Liberalism is. Yours is not to question your leadership but to follow his orders. Rob, Pres. Barry Soetoro should be proud of you defending his despotism very well.
Rob
1 year ago
vance, you are right. I suspect there will not be many "liberals" as you define them at these rallies. But for me, until I see a party that is as serious about life issues as they are fiscal matters, it's all nothing but parlor tricks that baits suckers for votes. So whether a party publicly embraces the culture of death or quietly permits it, it's the same difference. Abortion remains. On this issue we'll just have to agree to disagree, but either one side has one party whipped or the other side is just a dismal failure in this issue, the clinics are still open.
vance
1 year ago
I would like to address, "Name Calling". Now, we all agree that petty name calling is NOT a good thing. But what do we 'Call' or 'Refer' to someone who commits murder?? A murderer. What do we call a person who "Steals" stuff from other people?? A thief, A Robber, Burglar . What do we call or refer to a person who tells frequent Big lies?? A Liar. So, what would we refer to a man who nationally or in a community setting proclaims to have multiple sexual exploits with multiple women?? A scumbag?? Loser?? or a Lady's Man?? What would we call or refer to a woman who nationally or in a community setting proclaims to have had multiple sexual encounters with multiple men?? Slut?? Floozy?? or a Cultured Woman?? I'm not sure that assigning a "Name" to Bad Behavior is a bad thing. I am sure that assigning a "Bad Name" to a "Good Thing or Person" is a bad thing.
vance
1 year ago
Bulbajer, "Whose leading the charge?" The Marxist Media Complex is leading the charge. The same hypocrites that were getting a laugh with Bill Maher and David Letterman calling Sarah Palin a "Slut" and "Whore" while making fun of her special needs child are fuming over Rush Limbauh calling Sandra Fluke a slut who went on national TV and told you and me that she is having an orgy with multiple partners and she wants you and me to pay for it. My point is that Liberals/Marxists call Christian women who live their Christianity a Slut and a Whore. Yet Liberals hoist women like Sandra Fluke up on a pedestal and as your Dear Leader nationally proclaimed, "She is someone her parents should be proud of". This speaks loudly of the sick perverse amorality of Liberals.
Bulbajer
1 year ago
Vance, who's leading the charge in calling that Georgetown student a slut? She may be wrong about the mandate and the role of sex, but there is no valid reason to call any woman, never mind a young one, what Rush Limbaugh called her. And it's not as if pro-life liberals don't exist. Look us up. We are small in number compared to pro-life conservatives, but I bet more than one of us will be at that rally you mentioned.
vance
1 year ago
Rob, the diference between Liberal and Conservative is only cosmetic? I suppose if we lived in La La Land that might be true, but here on planet earth the deference is day and night. I'm not seeing Conservative women testifying before congress proclaiming that they are having marathon sexual relations and demanding that tax payers provide contraceptives for their on-gonig orgies do you?? I don't see Conservatives leading the charge for abortion and euthanasia do you?? I have yet to see a Liberal participate in a Walk-For-Life rally. Again, it is the GOP Conservatives in the Congress who pushed a Bill to overturn the assault on the Catholic Church by the Marxist Democrat Party. This March 23rd, there will be a Wash DC rally to protest the Marxist Democrat Party's mandate that the Catholic Church provide birth control and abortion. You and I doubt seriously that a Liberal would be caught dead there. If you saw a Liberal there, it would only be for the purpose of heckling the Pro-Life crowd. You talk about Jesus rebuking the self-righteous. If you look closer, you will see the self-righteous clergy of his day closely resembles the thought and behavioral patterns of Liberals today.

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