Simpson and Bean Kinda, Sorta Get It
GOP Senators in FL Want to Provide Contraception to Prevent Abortion
I saw a headline this week that said, “Survey Shows Vaccinated People More Likely to Get Lucky” and it gave me hope. I mean advertisers have been selling stuff to us for years by suggesting their products, which could be anything from body spray to yogurt, might get us laid. Why shouldn’t vaccines get in on some of that sex-sells action? Unfortunately, digging deeper down into the survey’s numbers suggests the headline was optimistic at best. The survey of 1,441 adults was conducted by Ella Paradis, a sexual health e-commerce retailer (also known as a website that sells sex toys). Two-thirds of respondents were in monogamous relationships. The follow-up questions about vaccines were only asked to those who were single. Among them, 54% said that a potential partner being vaccinated would make them more inclined to engage in sex with them, but their behavior doesn’t entirely match that sentiment. More people (44.7% vs. 41.6%) said they did not or are not waiting to be fully vaccinated to have sex with a new partner (the other 13.7% weren’t sure). And, 46.9% say they are not requiring current or potential partners to be fully vaccinated compared to 38.1% who said they are and 15% who were not sure. Alas, we will have to find another way to sell vaccines to the reluctant. Perhaps we could tell them that it will prevent them from contracting a dangerous virus and dying a painful lonely death. Nah, that could never work.
Florida Governor Line-Item Vetoes Money for Contraception Suggested by His Own Party
They might not be Topper McFawn, but Florida Senate President Wilton Simpson and his close colleague Aaron Bean understand more than some members of their party when it comes to the connection between birth control and abortion.
This legislative session, Bean sponsored a bill to create a Hormonal Long Acting Reversible Contraceptive (HLARC) program within the state’s Department of Health to help low income women access highly effective methods of birth control. LARC methods (I’m not sure why they added the H, most people don’t) include the contraceptive implant and IUDs. These methods are significantly more effective than other available contraceptives because they take user error out of the equation—once they are put in place, they work for 3 to 10 years with no action necessary on the part of the user.
The bill was modeled on Colorado’s program which was found to be very successful. I actually talked about that program just a few weeks ago. It began in 2008 with a $27 million grant from a private donor. By 2015 it had provided an IUD or implant to 36,000 low income women in the state. In the first five years, the state birth rate declined nearly 50% among teens ages 15 to 19 and 20% among those 20 to 24. As a result of fewer births, the state saved between 54.6 and 60.6 million dollars on four entitlement programs. The most recent research also found that high school graduation rates among young women improved.
Still, Senator Bean was met with resistance from his colleagues and the Governor’s office. He admitted that the bill was a “lightning rod” and wasn’t even able to get a hearing on it in the committee that he chairs.
Simpson didn’t throw his support behind Bean’s bill exactly, but he did try to get the money for the program, $2 million, into the state’s budget through a back door. He told Florida News Service that he “sprinkled it in” referring to the “sprinkle list” (which has nothing to do with ice cream, Annie, or golden showers). Apparently, it’s a common practice of adding pet projects that have leadership approval but haven’t been debated publicly to the budget at the last minute.
Simpson, a Republican from Trilby, was adopted at age six and spent this legislative session focused on improving outcomes for kids in the foster care system. He said of the proposed program: “It just gives these young women an opportunity to live a life that otherwise is not available to them. I am a pro-life Senator. This actually prevents a lot of abortions from happening.”
This is true. Colorado proves it. But it’s rarely mentioned by Republicans.
In this case, opposition to the bill focused on the classic—and completely—inaccurate argument that hormonal contraception causes abortion. The Florida Catholic Conference sent a letter to Governor DeSantis asking him to veto the funding. The letter argued: “HLARCs have an abortifacient effect as they impede implantation of an embryo in the uterus… one of the HLARC mechanisms to prevent pregnancy is alteration of the endometrium. That is to say, it creates an inhospitable womb for the implantation and growth of the newly-conceived human being.”
We’ve been over this before (in response to Ted Cruz, I believe) but in case anyone has forgotten, that’s not how it f**king works. Implants and hormonal IUDs work much the same way the pill works, they block ovulation so there’s no egg to fertilize and thicken cervical mucus (hi, Cecily) so sperm can’t get through. Paragard (the only IUD that doesn’t have hormones) contains copper which is toxic to sperm. Obviously, I don’t accept the premise that life begins at conception nor do I think it matters because from a medical and scientific perspective, pregnancy begins at implantation. But all of this is irrelevant as each of these methods works before sperm get anywhere near an egg.
We may never know if DeSantis agreed with the abortion argument or he just didn’t feel like providing LARCs to poor women because he line-item vetoed the money without comment.
Senator Bean blamed himself for the veto saying he did not do enough to sell the bill and vowing to bring it back and do a better job promoting it in the next legislative session, and Simpson promised to help.
Classic Sex Ed Book for Kids Gets an Update
It’s Perfectly Normal is one of the books I always recommend to parents when they ask for help talking to their kids about sex. The book is written by Robie H. Harris with illustrations by Michael Emberley and has sold over 1.5 million copies since it was first published 25 years ago. A lot has changed in how we talk about sex and especially gender in those two-and-a-half decades, and now the author and illustrator have updated the book to reflect our new understanding and language.
The changes start with the full title, which is now It’s Perfectly Normal, Changing Bodies, Growing Up, Sex, Gender, and Sexual Health (gender was added). According to the Amazon blurb about the book, the changes also include:
A shift to gender-neutral vocabulary throughout
An expansion on LGBTQIA topics, gender identity, sex, and sexuality—making this a sexual health book for all readers
Coverage of recent advances in methods of sexual safety and contraception with corresponding illustrations
A revised section on abortion, including developments in the shifting politics and legislation as well as an accurate, honest overview
A sensitive and detailed expansion on the topics of sexual abuse, the importance of consent, and destigmatizing HIV/AIDS
A modern understanding of social media and the internet that tackles rapidly changing technology to highlight its benefits and pitfalls and ways to stay safe online”
While this book is meant for children over 10, Harris and Emberley have written other books for younger kids: It’s So Amazing: A Book about Eggs, Sperm, Birth, Babies, and Families and It’s Not The Stork: A Book About Girls, Boys, Babies, Bodies, Families and Friends. Hopefully, those will get updates soon as well.
I remember buying It’s So Amazing for my niece and nephew many years ago. It had lots of information about pregnancy, including an explanation of gestational diabetes. Months later, when I was pregnant, I wanted to take my niece (then about 7) out for ice cream, but she said I couldn’t have any because I would get “the pregnant diabetes.” I convinced her it was fine, but perhaps she was right; I was diagnosed with GD later in that pregnancy.