Tags
abortion, Chuck Winder, Gary Trudeau, Idaho Senate, Ohio Senator Turner, reproductive rights, Sagebrush and Spuds, Slate.com, women's rights
As many of you know, I have been out of town and incommunicado for a while. I am still inundated by a stack of errands that is scrambling my brain. However, in working my way back into the Blogosphere, I came across Cindy Salo’s post about women’s reproductive rights and just had to share it with you. With her permission, what follows is the text of her post from her Sagebrush and Spuds site.
I am Concerned about the Health of Idaho’s Men
The Idaho Senate recently passed a bill that would require women to have an ultrasound before they have an abortion. The legislation was introduced by Senator Chuck Winder, who wants to ensure that women seeking an abortion make informed decisions based on complete medical information.
Senator Winder cares about other people. His voting record shows that he is concerned about many diverse groups, including Idaho’s teachers, who he wants to protect from tenure, collective bargaining, and pay raises based on experience.
Senator Winder is so busy legislating his concern for others that I fear he might forget to take care of himself. Perhaps he is leaving this to the women in Idaho’s legislature. I believe that they are up to the task; after all, women take such good care of their husbands that married men live longer than their single brothers.
Idaho’s women legislators can look to a bill introduced by Ohio State Senator Nina Turner for a model of how to safeguard the health of Idaho’s men. Senator Turner’s measure would protect men from the dangerous side effects of erectile dysfunction (ED) drugs. I believe that the men in our state deserve similar measures.
“The men in our lives, including members of the General Assembly, generously devote time to fundamental female reproductive issues—the least we can do is return the favor,” Senator Turner said. “It is crucial that we take the appropriate steps to shelter vulnerable men from the potential side effects of these drugs.”
ED drugs are some of the most widely prescribed drugs in history. But men must not assume that these powerful drugs are safe simply because “everyone’s using them.” Men must make informed decisions based on complete medical information. And because men whose thoughts are dominated by sex do not always make the best decisions, a team of professional should guide them through the process.
The list of potential side effects of ED drugs is long and unpleasant: loss of vision, loss of hearing, and priapism (“an erection lasting more than four hours”), for starters. What’s more, these drugs can interact with existing conditions with deadly consequences. Men with heart disease, a history of stroke, high blood pressure, or eye problems must be especially careful when considering ED treatments. Men and their team must carefully weigh the possible consequences of these drugs with the expected benefits.
Senator Turner points out ED drugs should only be used to treat physical conditions. She shows her deep concern for men by proposing that they undergo testing to insure that their inability to maintain an erection is truly a physical problem and not a psychological one. The women of the Idaho legislature must work to insure that dangerous drugs are not prescribed when the appropriate treatment is counseling.
The Ohio legislation recognizes the need to protect the sanctity of procreation. However, I fear that their proposal might not go far enough. For example, if a man with a vasectomy is given ED drugs, he could then have sexual relations that are not open to the creation of human life. I urge the concerned women in our statehouse to carefully examine this important issue when crafting their legislation.
I trust that the women of the Idaho legislature will show their concern for Senator Winder, and for all the men in the Great State of Idaho, by introducing legislation to protect them from the serious medical and moral hazards of drugs for treating erectile dysfunction.
In addition, Cindy shared this link to an interview with Gary Trudeau on Slate.com.
Thank you, Cindy, for shining a bright light on this hypocrisy. Over 40 years after my mother fought for women’s reproductive rights, I’m astounded and disgusted by the inexorable erosion of those rights.
OMG, priceless!
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She nailed it!
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Linda,
Thanks for reposting this. And I didn’t have to make up anything; I just wrote down the news.
Cindy
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Yes, that’s the sad truth of it, Cindy.
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Cindy, I hope you get a chance to check back here and review some of the comments that really should be directed to you for this great post.
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Linda,
Thanks for reblogging this. I’ve enjoyed reading the comments.
Gads, you have a lot of fans! I believe that both of my blog’s readers enjoyed the post, too.
Cindy
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Some of mine may now be yours too! That’s how it works.
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I bet you wish you had stayed in Europe! Love the pics you posted and hope you had a wonderful time.
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I heard this story on CBC radio this past week. What a hoot !
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Perfect!
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Love it!!
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Hey guys…it’s 2012. Put the damned brain in “forward” NOT “reverse”! Yikes, Linda!
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Well Amy, I guess there are people out there who think that things were better “back when.” Winder, I’m sure would be one of those.
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Yes, fabulous post. (Yes, as a man.. I’m embarrassed?)
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Fortunately, not all men are….aholes. This Chuck Winder character has been on my “bad” list since the 1980’s when he sat on the highway district board and treated his constituents like scum that didn’t deserve to be heard.
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I am always amazed that women are thought to not need birth control but men must have Viagra, even if they have been snipped. So much for pro-creational sex.
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Hypocracy rules, doesn’t it? Thanks for taking the time to comment.
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How odd that anyone would attempt to make a comparison between an unborn human life, and erectile dysfunction medication.
I’m afraid that the one is simply not at all the same as the other.
The issue is not regulating the woman’s body. The issue is regulating the treatment of the separate life that is growing inside of the woman’s body.
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Dinkerson, I was afraid I’d made you made enough to boycott my blog, but I see you’ve just not been blogging lately. I hope that is because you are busy living life and loving your family.
If I didn’t make you made already, I may have now. I have finally responded to your comment, However, I felt that your comment deserved more than a comment reply so I addressed it in my most recent post: The comment that haunted me…
This post is not meant to anger, frustrate, or disrespect you, merely to illuminate another way of looking at an issue that is larger than either one of us.
I hope things are well in your life.
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A very god post! 😉
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I thought so too! That’s why I was compelled to repost it. Thanks for stopping by.
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Pingback: The comment that has haunted me « Rangewriter
Reblogged this on AuntyUta and commented:
I wonder, why some women wait for up to 3 months or even longer, if they wish to get rid of the pregnancy! Why on earth do they not have the guts to do something about it at the earliest stage possible?
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Thanks for the reblog, Auntyuta. I think there are many factors that impact how long it takes for a woman to make this difficult decision.
1. Women with irregular cycles (which includes a large number of women these days) may not even realize they are pregnant for 2 or more months.
2. Fetal abnormalities and health issues may not become clear right away.
3. Simple denial, I’m sure paralyzes some women.
4. In the case of rape and incest, there may be court issues that interfere with decision-making.
That’s just a few of the issues that come to my mind. I’m sure there are more.
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No doubt there are many factors. However, as soon as the woman knows, she’s possibly pregnant, and she definitely does not want to remain pregnant, she should get sufficent help withouty delay! Society should aim to let women have the desired termination asap!
In a marriage it would normally have to be a joint decision whether to have a child or not. Without a doubt, my husband would never have agreed for me to have an abortion. Since I had problems with contraceptives, and my husband refused to make sure that I would not fall pregnant, my only option was to refuse sex, which led to a great amount of tension in the marriage!
I am surprised, we survived all this, with our sex life in later life being intact again. 🙂
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One of my most urgent hopes is that legislatures around the country will some day get out of follk bedrooms, bathrooms and other private spaces and allow people to make their own decisions about their bodies and places they go to pee. They need to start legislating about things that happen in pblic spaces, where injustice and unequal treatmnet is more likely to occur. Encouraging the development of social consciouness is challening enough as it is, why not take the risk at having conflict where it counts?
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I wish you were sitting in my legislature instead of the numbnuts that clog the halls of progress.
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