Public Service Commentary
First, protecting your online safety, by way of dragovianknight:
You should really have the "Always use https" feature enabled on your Gmail. If you don't yet, do it.
(Short version: some go-tard has decided to release a Gmail hacking tool because he doesn't think Google's doing enough to protect people's privacy. Which, you know, he makes a point, but this ain't the way to do it. Way to be a go-tard, go-tard.)
Second, protecting your physical health:
mahokiwi has a post over here that probably does a lot better job than I will of explaining what's going on, but the short version is this. Our president and his conservative dogs would like to make it so that, if my doctor has moral objections to a particular treatment option that is best for me, s/he can refuse to provide that option and not be fired for violating hir Hippocratic Oath. Also, the President and his Secretary of HHS informs me that taking birth control is abortion.
Fuck that.
I take birth control because otherwise I am all but crippled for three days out of the month, taking two ibuprofen every four hours just to function, and completely incapable of dealing with people in any kind of rational way. I am not having sex. I do not plan to have sex until I am married and that will be years away. My choice to take birth control has nothing to do with wanting sex without consequences and everything to do with being a functional human being.
As a general rule, I do not condone abortion (with specific exceptions). But neither can I condone denying emergency contraceptives to a girl who's been raped. Nor will I condone denying birth control to a woman because you don't agree with it. You know what? If you didn't agree with it, maybe you should have considered another branch of medicine, such as pediatrics or oncology. Do your fucking job. If your moral compass requires you to tell me that you think I'm doing the wrong thing by taking birth control - so be it. But it's my fucking body and your job is to give me the fucking tools I need to make the decision that is to my physical well-being rather than your mental comfort. Or, to quote what Kiwi said, "I don't want to end up in a doctor's office being told I don't know what's best for me. Being told I don't have the right to make that choice, because it's going to hurt someone else's feelings to let me."
I don't generally do this except with issues I feel strongly about. I feel strongly about this one. Please, write to your representative or senator.* Annoy your state governor. Write to HHS. (Kiwi's post contains all the relevant information.) Donate to Planned Parenthood. Do something.
*As pointed out in the comments to Kiwi's post, writing to one's representative will not change this particular ruling - but it is good to notify one's representatives of one's opinions, and when the reins of power change over in November, that information can be taken into consideration when appointing a new secretary of HHS who will reverse this stupid rule or alter it so that preventative birth control is not defined as abortion.
You should really have the "Always use https" feature enabled on your Gmail. If you don't yet, do it.
(Short version: some go-tard has decided to release a Gmail hacking tool because he doesn't think Google's doing enough to protect people's privacy. Which, you know, he makes a point, but this ain't the way to do it. Way to be a go-tard, go-tard.)
Second, protecting your physical health:
mahokiwi has a post over here that probably does a lot better job than I will of explaining what's going on, but the short version is this. Our president and his conservative dogs would like to make it so that, if my doctor has moral objections to a particular treatment option that is best for me, s/he can refuse to provide that option and not be fired for violating hir Hippocratic Oath. Also, the President and his Secretary of HHS informs me that taking birth control is abortion.
Fuck that.
I take birth control because otherwise I am all but crippled for three days out of the month, taking two ibuprofen every four hours just to function, and completely incapable of dealing with people in any kind of rational way. I am not having sex. I do not plan to have sex until I am married and that will be years away. My choice to take birth control has nothing to do with wanting sex without consequences and everything to do with being a functional human being.
As a general rule, I do not condone abortion (with specific exceptions). But neither can I condone denying emergency contraceptives to a girl who's been raped. Nor will I condone denying birth control to a woman because you don't agree with it. You know what? If you didn't agree with it, maybe you should have considered another branch of medicine, such as pediatrics or oncology. Do your fucking job. If your moral compass requires you to tell me that you think I'm doing the wrong thing by taking birth control - so be it. But it's my fucking body and your job is to give me the fucking tools I need to make the decision that is to my physical well-being rather than your mental comfort. Or, to quote what Kiwi said, "I don't want to end up in a doctor's office being told I don't know what's best for me. Being told I don't have the right to make that choice, because it's going to hurt someone else's feelings to let me."
I don't generally do this except with issues I feel strongly about. I feel strongly about this one. Please, write to your representative or senator.* Annoy your state governor. Write to HHS. (Kiwi's post contains all the relevant information.) Donate to Planned Parenthood. Do something.
*As pointed out in the comments to Kiwi's post, writing to one's representative will not change this particular ruling - but it is good to notify one's representatives of one's opinions, and when the reins of power change over in November, that information can be taken into consideration when appointing a new secretary of HHS who will reverse this stupid rule or alter it so that preventative birth control is not defined as abortion.