Is it Just a Fluke, or . . .
. . . am I missing something?
Because I just can't understand why, in all this hooha over Rush Limbaugh, the thirty-something Ms. Fluke, and why it's necessary for the Catholic Church to pay for her birth control, there doesn't seem to be a significant or widespread challenge to her initial premise, which is that the cost of such birth control ($1000 per year) is so burdensome that whey-faced and gormless girls are wandering aimlessly about all over Catholic campuses in a nationwide funk because they can't get someone else to pay for their pills.
Is it really true, as it seems to be, that Walmart and Target offer generic birth control pills for as little as $9 per month, even if you don't have insurance? That seems to be the current Internet meme.
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Aug '11
Re: Is it Just a Fluke, or . . .
I think Ricochet should change its plan and have membership fees reflect the current price of birth control bills.
Mar '12
Re: Is it Just a Fluke, or . . .
I was confused by that too. $1,000/yr works out to $83.00/month. The costs in getting contraception are, as best I can tell:
1. A doctor's visit to prescribe it. My doc will write this prescription in the course of an annual physical, so it's not really an added cost.
2. A pap smear. It's considered best practices for women to get these annually, contraception users or not, so that's not an added cost.
3. The method itself. Most contraception costs nowhere near $83/month by itself. Maybe the implant does? Or the shot? Or some of the new to the market pills? But how many women use those verses the older cheaper alternatives?
Feb '12
Re: Is it Just a Fluke, or . . .
An IUD does not cost that much!
Mirena, the version I use, is a name-brand hormonal IUD. In 2007, when I had it inserted my first year of law school, it cost $500 with a $100 doctor's visit to implant it. It will last for five years, expiring this October.
No one needs $1K/yr for contraception.
Aug '11
Re: Is it Just a Fluke, or . . .
And of course, the larger issue is "Why should someone else have to foot the bill for Ms. Fluke's sex life?"
Jan '12
Re: Is it Just a Fluke, or . . .
Very true, and then I read this over the weekend:
http://dailycaller.com/2012/03/03/meet-law-student-and-contraception-advocate-sandra-fluke/
The Fluke is not a fluke; she's been focused on "women's rights, women's studies," pro-abortion and securing free contraceptives for awhile now. Another straw man for the liberal cause.
Dec '10
Re: Is it Just a Fluke, or . . .
Yes, at some point that may actually be cheaper.
Upon reflection, I think the biggest issue with the Ms. Fluke's of the world getting their prescriptions filled at Walmart is the immediate difficulty that presents itself in Mrs. Beeton's recipe for chicken soup: "First, catch your chicken."
First, get Ms. Fluke into Walmart. I can't imagine she'd be caught dead there.
Which is why it's a good thing there's always Boutique Tarjay.
Dec '11
Re: Is it Just a Fluke, or . . .
Isn't it rather sexist and exploitative to expect me to pay for a young ladies birth control, when I have no part in her sexual relationships?
Mar '11
Re: Is it Just a Fluke, or . . .
She: . . . am I missing something?
Yes - it really has nothing to do with the actual cost of birth control, or even birth control, generally.
It's all about fundamental change towards Socialism - the transition to State-controlled "free" health care, tiny step by tiny step. One only has to look at the UK to see where this ends.
Or Greece.
Apr '11
Re: Is it Just a Fluke, or . . .
I believe I am correct in saying that the consensus is that this (contraception) is a totally made up issue launched by George Stephanopoulos at the behest of the Democratic party, based upon a perceived vulnerability on the right. It is a diversionary tactic so that the obvious economic issues, gas prices, Iran, and other major issues can be pushed to the side for the time being. Maybe there is a lesson to be learned here? Maybe we can push our own made up issue where Democrats are vulnerable? Would that be wise? We don't want to divert from the main issues, we want to discuss them all the way to the election, right?
Aug '10
Re: Is it Just a Fluke, or . . .
A larger number of young, single women than you might think.
Older oral contraceptives have unpleasant side-effects such as acne, weight gain and "permanent PMS" while newer versions of oral contraceptives are without these side-effects, and are in fact used to treat acne and PMS.
How many women want to take a pill that makes them fatter, pimplier, and crankier? Not many. Especially if they're single and trying to attract men. How many would want a pill that also reduced their acne and PMS, even it it's considerably more expensive? Quite a few.
Also, many young single women don't lead organized enough lives to remember to take oral contraceptives at the same time every day, so they prefer the novel once-a-month methods, such as patches and rings.
On the other hand, I'm a disorganized person but I can still stick to a daily medication schedule, so I'm not sure why it's so hard. (Then again, I've taken daily meds for asthma since I was a nipper, so maybe I'm just used to it.)
Edited on March 5, 2012 at 9:36pmMar '12
Re: Is it Just a Fluke, or . . .
Midget Faded Rattlesnake
Also, many young single women don't lead organized enough lives to remember to take oral contraceptives at the same time every day.
On the other hand, I'ma disorganized person but I can still stick to a daily medication schedule, so I'm not sure why it's so hard. (Then again, I've taken daily meds for asthma since I was a nipper, so maybe I'm just used to it.) · 4 minutes ago
Edited 2 minutes ago
I'm young and disorganized. I set an alarm in my cell phone to ring daily so I take my meds. Not rocket science.
The "older" HBC pills that are super cheap aren't the really awful ones of yore, as far as I know and are lower hormone versions, though not as low as, say, Yaz.
Can't speak to the bad side effects, as I've never had any, though I know some of my friends have complained of them. Has anyone studied how many people use the various pills, though? I feel like Guttmacher would have statistics on this, wouldn't they?
Apr '11
Re: Is it Just a Fluke, or . . .
If Ms. Fluke is paying for a law degree, why is she expecting to get free oral contraceptives?
Re: Is it Just a Fluke, or . . .
Obama goes down to ignominious defeat this fall without the overwhelming support of unmarried women, no matter who the Republicans wind up running. Single women, who often must balance unusually demanding work and family responsibilities, are suffering disproportionately from our no-growth economy, significantly damping enthusiasm for four more years of hope and change .
The contraception distraction is an electoral stratagem, nothing more.
Aug '11
Re: Is it Just a Fluke, or . . .
Yes, Ms. Fluke's testimony was very odd--particularly her reliance on the gay friend with polycystic ovarian syndrome as an emotional "hook". I looked it up to make sure, but my reading is that birth control pills are used in these cases to relieve irregular menstrual patterns, but not to prevent cysts from forming. In fact, one article suggests that prolonged use of birth control can actually make the condition worse.
FWIW, birth control pills were contra-indicated in my misspent youth--so I had to make do with alternative methods. I don't ever remember feeling as though it cramped my style, sexually or academically, so to speak. It certainly never occured to me that someone else should pay for it
May '10
Re: Is it Just a Fluke, or . . .
Midget Faded Rattlesnake
Older oral contraceptives have unpleasant side-effects such as acne, weight gain and "permanent PMS"...
With these side effects, I'd think the older contraceptives would show greater efficacy.
Feb '12
Re: Is it Just a Fluke, or . . .
There are so many holes in her story.
Doctors frequently provide free samples of drugs to low income patients.
A woman who needs BC pills to treat a cystic disease is not going to be declined by insurance, even so, samples from doc? Ms Fluke knew she could not name names of actual patients, so she was free to make up her facts.
She says she can only earn 3K a summer? Really? My teenager earned more than that bagging groceries one summer.
Could Ms Fluke not have asked her partner(s) to chip in?
And why is the whole issue of VD and AIDS not being discussed? BC pills provide no protection. Condoms do. I hear they cost a buck a piece.
Dec '10
Re: Is it Just a Fluke, or . . .
Once, in a meeting about I don't recall what, so I don't even know why it came up, an ultra-liberal friend of mine groused about having to pay for birth control. She made it sound like it was downright immoral. Now I was on the same health plan, and the cost of the pill that my wife was on was $10. It barely even registered as part of the monthly budget and we have two kids. My friend had only one (her now ex-husband). This is ideology, pure and simple.
May '11
Re: Is it Just a Fluke, or . . .
At the flagship Planned Parenthood office in Seattle? Des Moines? Hoboken?
I can't help wondering how this would have played out if they had a law school student of the masculine gender plead for funding his prophylactic purchases?
Mar '12
Re: Is it Just a Fluke, or . . .
maureen dirienzo: There are so many holes in her story.
Doctors frequently provide free samples of drugs to low income patients.
A woman who needs BC pills to treat a cystic disease is not going to be declined by insurance, even so, samples from doc? Ms Fluke knew she could not name names of actual patients, so she was free to make up her facts.
She says she can only earn 3K a summer? Really? My teenager earned more than that bagging groceries one summer.
Could Ms Fluke not have asked her partner(s) to chip in?
And why is the whole issue of VD and AIDS not being discussed? BC pills provide no protection. Condoms do. I hear they cost a buck a piece. · 31 minutes ago
Particularly as a LAW STUDENT. I have friends at top law schools, and they make serious money on their summer jobs at firms, unless they choose to do some kind of public interest or charity work, which is a luxury.
My husband and I both have made more that summer after summer doing seasonal work: being a camp counselor, playing piano, babysitting, working as a secretary. It's not that hard.
Dec '10
Re: Is it Just a Fluke, or . . .
I'm aware that this is an orchestrated distraction, ginning up a phony issue before the election. Saying so repeatedly, though, won't change anybody's mind. I just don't believe that letting a false premise stand, simply because we think everyone else is too smart to fall for it, is a very good idea. After all, Rush fell for it, and talked about nothing else for three days. And he got into trouble. And he's pretty smart (usually).
As for whether we think Ms. Fluke might prefer the newer, more expensive meds, with fewer side effects, versus the older ones with some issues, you pays your money (or someone does) and you takes your choice. It's entirely possible that the newer meds haven't been around long enough for the side effects to show up yet. After all, look at the current furore over the side effects of statins of all different types. Ten years ago, they were wonder drugs. Today, many doctors and patients are wondering if the cure isn't worse than the disease.
To the Ms. Flukes of this world, I might say, "Careful what you wish for . . . ."