I’ve been thinking about this whole abortion thing that lots of men in US politics seem to be tying themselves in knots about in their haste to legislate women’s rights and women’s bodies away. It came to me the other day that perhaps we are looking at this issue from the wrong direction. An abortion isn’t something that anyone enters into lightly, but fewer of them would probably be a good thing although there will always be a need for safe, legal abortions. So I have come up with a new solution.
At puberty, when males become capable of impregnating a woman, have them give several samples of semen to be frozen then perform a vasectomy. This way everyone can have as much sex as they like and have children, if they choose to, when they are ready via IVF. This allows for men to become parents only when ready, and if any genetic conditions exist these can be screened for if necessary pre IVF.
So we decrease the possibility of unwanted pregnancy, everyone can have their fun, there is no need for draconian legislation that takes away women’s rights and everyone is happy. Right?
SotBO: no I’m not seriously suggesting this.
SotBO: Understood
Unfortunately, this excellent solution won’t cut it in the 21st century as we need to take STDs into account as well. So as I said to my little’un when we had The Talk: “I’m gonna tell you three things: Barrier methods: Barrier methods: Barrier methods!”
Knew there was something I was forgetting ;)
Sadly this wouldn’t do for Catholics either because if there is no chance of getting pregnant then you are not doing sex properly. I have never quite figured out how they reconcile this idea with their support for the rhythm method, but there you go.
One memorable morning I yelled at my 3 kids from the car as I dropped them off at the primary school “Whatever you do, use a condom!” Car conversations can be so much fun :-)
I’ve seriously considered starting a facebook campain to counter the religious anti-abortion images that pop-up from various relatives from time to time. So, a gruesome image of a dead women, with the comment ’1/3 of maternal deaths in 1930s Scotland were the result of illegal abortions. Legal and safe abortion: saving women’s lives for almost fifty years’.
Heh. I was reminded of Kurt Vonnegut’s short story “Welcome to the Monkey House,” in which Ethical Birth Control pills didn’t actually prevent pregnancy, it just made everything below the waist numb (paraphrasing here since I can’t find the book)(Wikipedia has a synopsis!).
@angharad, #3:
Isn’t it that if you’re not feeling guilty about doing it, then you’re not doing it Catholic? Sex, having a family, eating, being alive, whatever. The important thing is that you feel guilty about it, right? Thus, vasectomies leading to sex without procreation is something to feel guilty over, yeah? And thus a net good for the Catholics? :P
Clearly God can make you ovulate at any time, so as long as there’s nothing stopping those sacred sperm on their journey, you’re ok.
If those sperm are wasted, God gets quite irate.
Exactly what I was thinking of, YetAnotherMatt :-)
Also not adequate for producing legitimate heirs in Dune, I think.
Oh, man, the folks at the ‘imnotamisandristbut’ tumblr would love this (as I do).
Actually, after thinking about this a bit longer I have come to the conclusion that it’s just because the rhythm method doesn’t work very well :-)
@angharad Heard this one from my sister “What do you call people who practice the rhythm method?” Answer: “parents”.
Catholicism does, however, also allow the Fertility Awareness Methods that do work very well.
The Fertility Awareness Methods ought to be part of standard comprehensive sex education, IMO. It’s basic knowledge about how female bodies work, and it would help just about anybody in deciding on what ancillary contraceptive methods would best suit their needs.
I take it the rhythm method is the phrase used by the supporters of Vatican roulette?
YetAnotherMatt: The rhythm method is the calendar method – simply counting days. Works for a few, doesn’t work for quite a lot. More detailed Fertility Awareness methods involve monitoring temperature, cervical mucus, and possibly other symptoms (cervical position, mittelschmerz, etc), and timing PIV sex and/or the use of barriers accordingly. There are less effective ways of using FAM – having unprotected sex in week two until mucus changes occur, for example – or there are more effective ways – not having unprotected sex until several days after ovulation symptoms have occurred, or even waiting until luteal phase symptoms kick in fully. There is also an even more effective way: completely avoiding PIV sex on possibly-fertile days, and using barriers the rest of the time. And there’s the lactational amenorrhea method, which falls under the umbrella of FAM also (<6 mo postpartum, exclusively BF on cue, no period yet, plus or minus watching mucus also). So it is very difficult to rubber-stamp any one efficacy rating on "FAM", because there are so many different ways of practising it. And obviously, most of these methods rely on co-operative partners and the absence of sexual coercion/force.