Tuesday, October 27, 2015

Am I Right or Am I Wrong?

Somewhere in the back of my mind, I knew that making birth control pills available at no cost was an integral part of the Affordable Care Act aka Obamacare.

Something about Rush Limbaugh literally not understanding
how human reproduction works, right?
But at the time all of that was going on, I wasn't exactly thinking about affordable oral contraception. Back in the halcyon days of 2012, I was more worried about keeping my job, wondering whether the recession would ever truly be over, and pondering the state of my marriage than about the Pill, which I hadn't taken in many years at that point.

Also, way back then, I had the luxury of not having to contemplate the time when my Precocious Daughter would become sexually active. She was 12, and still into Pokemon, and laughed uncomfortably at the notion of being interested in boys.

So yeah. The cost of birth control: not on my radar.

Nope, no daily dose of hormones here.
But of course, that was then, this is now. Yesterday PDaughter got some horse pills to treat her UTI, and a little packet of pills to treat her, um, lack of desire to get pregnant while still in high school.

Remarkably, it treats the identical desire
in me, and I don't even have to take them.
Today I admitted to her that I have little recollection of when and how to use birth control pills, because I'm pre-menopausal and have cleared out that section of my brain to store more fear about when I'll be able to retire. I did remember enough to explain to her why she needs to take the row of beige pills, even though they contain no pregnancy-fighting hormones, so that she doesn't forget when to take the pink pills that actually block her baby-making glandular secretions.

It was actually her dad who took her to the drugstore to pick up her combination of meds, which I'm sure was terribly difficult for him, so kudos to him for not driving his car off the road on the way to the pharmacy drive-through. When I saw her today (her weekends with Dad run from Sunday afternoon to Tuesday morning), I had my first opportunity to ask PDaughter what the prescriptions cost.

The antibiotic: $1.86. Thank you, generics.

The birth control pills: Zero. Zilch. Nada. THANKS, OBAMA.

Hey, he's got two teenage daughters. Michelle herself
probably whispers "Thanks, Obama" into his ear
every night.
By the way, I welcome any and all debate on the wisdom of willingly and openly putting my 15-year-old daughter on birth control. Pro or con, I'd love to hear your opinion of my parenting skills based on this.

It boils down to this: I'm raising a young woman to be a strong, independent, productive member of society, and I'm doing what I think is necessary to ensure she becomes just that, without being deprived of opportunities or choices as to her future.

And I'm freaking thrilled that President Obama has helped me do it without financial hardship.

Disagree or agree as you wish.

I'm a realist. And a devoted mom. And a voter. And I act according to my principles in all these areas.

Am I right or am I wrong?

7 comments:

  1. I am pro-birth control. I refuse to be blind to the fact that lots of teens are sexually active. As her parent, it's part of the gig to keep her safe and healthy. And you're doing that. Keep on doing what you do. And hell yeah, it's nice to get the BC for free. Back when I was doing the pill, it was no more than $10 a month. Cheaper than getting pregnant. My current method (IUD, thanks for asking) was covered 100% by insurance. Thanks, Obama!

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  2. It's the best thing for her. The last thing you need is for something to happen and her to pop up pregnant, disrupting her education. Do what is best for you and your girl, no matter what everyone's opinion is on the subject.

    And yay for affordable medications!

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  3. It's the right thing to do. I am glad to hear the price is right.

    Typing those two sentences on my iPad proved to be such a challenge that I think I am going to stick to my laptop when commenting on blogs from now on.

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  4. Please encourage condoms too... There are worse things than babies that come from sex and you never really know about someone's past no matter what they tell you or how well you think you know them. I lost someone I loved very much to a poor choice with someone she trusted.

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  5. Please encourage condoms too... There are worse things than babies that come from sex and you never really know about someone's past no matter what they tell you or how well you think you know them. I lost someone I loved very much to a poor choice with someone she trusted.

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  6. A friend of mine had irregular and painful periods. Her doctor prescribed birth control pills because, hey, they do more than just prevent pregnancy. Her father refused to fill the prescription--she couldn't get it herself because she was a minor--because he was afraid it would encourage her to become sexually active.

    Whether it would or not--she was adamant that she wasn't interested in having sex at the time--seems secondary to her health.

    Of course pregnancy can have a serious impact on her health too.

    Anyway I'm grateful Precocious Daughter's father stepped up on this occasion and took a small step to undo the enormous damage my fellow Y-chromosomes have caused.

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  7. "I have little recollection of when and how to use birth control pills, because I'm pre-menopausal and have cleared out that section of my brain to store more fear about when I'll be able to retire." This is my life. I am going to have this embroidered onto a pillow.
    And yes, you are doing the right thing. I second the idea of condoms as well. And keep talking to her -- make sure that he's good to her and she knows that she can come to you with any concerns!

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