The Morning After Pill and the End of Parenthood
The secular left is a diverse amalgam of various interest groups and ideologies. Of course, the same is true to some extent on the conservative end of the spectrum as well. But on some issues the secular left is absolutely of one mind and voice, and the promotion of birth control and contraception is one of these issues.
To the left, birth control is central to the modern project of liberation. Pregnancy and parenthood limit other endeavors, to say the very least. The project of liberating sex from marriage and sex within marriage from reproduction is central to the modern quest for autonomy. The Pill allowed a radical expansion in non-marital sex, for example, now freed from concern about pregnancy. The Pill represented a moral revolution of incalculable magnitude.
For the feminist movement, support for birth control and abortion on demand is rooted in the explicit desire to "level the playing field" with men. The Pill, feminists announced, was the liberation of women from the problem of an unwanted and untimely pregnancy. If an unwanted pregnancy did occur, abortion on demand would resolve that problem.
This drive for reproductive control is a central obsession of the left, and it has infected many who would otherwise classify themselves as conservative as well. It also explains what is going on with the decision of the Food and Drug Administration [FDA] to allow the morning-after pill to be sold over the counter to girls as young as 17.
You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.
