‘The Real Deal’ on the morning-after pill (Scarborough Country)

Scarborough Country (MSNBC) ^ | 5-23-03 | Joe Scarborough

[cgk]

‘The Real Deal’ on the morning-after pill

Passing laws that encourage reckless behavior

COMMENTARY
by Joe Scarborough

May 22 — It was only a matter of time. The morning-after pill is soon to be sold over the counter in New Mexico. Other states are sure to follow suit. But how exactly did this contraceptive go from being a last resort for rape and incest victims, to being yet another excuse not to practice safe sex? If you want to know the answer, here’s ‘The Real Deal.’

       THE SEXUAL REVOLUTION streaked onto the center stage of American culture nearly forty years ago, in the early 60’s. There were several causes, but none as key as the introduction of birth control pills into America’s mainstream. Since then, sex has exploded not only in bedrooms, but also on the big screen, on stage, on college campuses, and in popular culture. Look at the magazines even our young girls read.
       So what’s the cost of this revolution? An explosion in sexually transmitted diseases, a record number of illegitimate births, a sharp increase of single-parent families living in poverty, and of course the AIDS epidemic. While some modified their reckless habits, Hollywood kept on message, and that message is: sex sells.
       Now with the introduction of the morning-after pill, you can bet that one of the main incentives for safe sex has just been removed. That will mean more dangerous activity, more cases of venereal diseases, more American deaths from AIDS, and higher taxes for the rest of us, who will be stuck paying the bills once again for other people’s reckless behavior.
       This isn’t about the freedom to do whatever you want to do in your bedroom. I really don’t want to know what anyone is doing in his or her own bedroom. This is about state governments passing laws that encourage reckless behavior, which we’ll all end up paying for in the end.
       

[cgk]

Last night's commentary. Transcript for what followed is not yet up yet. It was a heated argument between a pro-lifer and a "doctor" who believes this is a safe and great thing for women everywhere.

[Mike the Conservative]

I like Joe but he when he left Congress, he went to work for one of the most liberal law firms in Florida. The Levin firm of Pensacola.

[CedarDave]

Bump to add NM to topics.

[SouthCarolinaKit]

What ever happened to the original requirement not only to have a doctor's prescription but that the patient be closely watched?

[RobbyS]

"abstinence". Don't you know? According to the new morality abstincene is immoral and abortion is moral. Never mind that half the kids who "do"sex would rather have nourished the fantasy a whole longer. The reality is too"compicated."

[RobbyS]

The new morality is hard on those who go the single mother route, as I assume you did. This is one reason why abortion is encouraged. That is also hard on the single women, because a child is not like a kidney, no matter what judges may say. It is also hard on the kid if he has to help raise his own parent. I know because my sister and her son suffered through it. with her taking longer to grow up than he did. The only one who seems to get a pass is the "father" of the child. Once he had to worry about a shotgun marriage or just marriage to ease his own conscience. The new morality seems to have relieved him of either burden.

[RobbyS]

Hang in there. You all have my prayers.