Is Access to Contraception a Human Right?

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Originally Posted by AlyssaEimers

There are a lot of things up higher on list of basic human rights before birth control. Basic needs are food, water, shelter, and some clothing. I do not think if you are too poor to buy birth control, that someone HAS to buy it for you. Sure, it would be nice, but no one HAS to do anything for you.

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I kind of agree with this, sort of, except that I think that without birth control, you are that much more likely to then need more food, water, and clothing (maybe shelter, maybe not) because you will have more children that need these things. Like, from a practical stand point, it seems so much cheaper and easier to provide birth control to those who cannot afford access to it and want it than to with hold it because they can't afford it and then turn around and have to pay to feed and clothe the children.

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Originally Posted by AlyssaEimers

There are a lot of things up higher on list of basic human rights before birth control. Basic needs are food, water, shelter, and some clothing. I do not think if you are too poor to buy birth control, that someone HAS to buy it for you. Sure, it would be nice, but no one HAS to do anything for you.

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I've never understood this position. You would deny someone a few dollars a month in birth control, but you're happy to spend thousands of dollars on their prenatal care when they get pregnant and tens of thousands of dollars in support when they end up on welfare. That makes absolutely no sense. Or if you're not happy to spend all that money supporting an unwanted pregnancy, then IMHO that's an even worse position.

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Originally Posted by Spacers

I've never understood this position. You would deny someone a few dollars a month in birth control, but you're happy to spend thousands of dollars on their prenatal care when they get pregnant and tens of thousands of dollars in support when they end up on welfare. That makes absolutely no sense. Or if you're not happy to spend all that money supporting an unwanted pregnancy, then IMHO that's an even worse position.

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I think it is nice to have BC, but I do not think it is a necessity. When answering the question (Is BC a basic human right), in my mind I was not thinking America. I was thinking some hut in the middle of Africa. While I think it would be nice if everyone in the world had BC, I do not think it is an obligation to provide the entire world with BC.

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Originally Posted by Spacers

I've never understood this position. You would deny someone a few dollars a month in birth control, but you're happy to spend thousands of dollars on their prenatal care when they get pregnant and tens of thousands of dollars in support when they end up on welfare. That makes absolutely no sense. Or if you're not happy to spend all that money supporting an unwanted pregnancy, then IMHO that's an even worse position.

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Not providing something for free is not the same as denying something. There is a thing called personal responsibility. If you can't afford another baby and don't want to get pregnant, YOU are responsible for yourself. If nothing else, there is a free form of birth control called abstinence, or condoms aren't that expensive either. Sex without taking responsibility is not a human right.

So poor people don't get to have sex. Gotcha! :rolleyes:

There is no point in providing access to a basic human right if the population you're providing that access to has no way to afford it. Legal representation when one has been accused of a crime is a basic human right, and we don't say, well, if you can't afford an attorney you probably shouldn't get yourself arrested. No, we provide an attorney if you can't afford one. Education is another basic human right, and we provide that for free. Housing is another; we provide shelters and housing assistance to those in need. Why would we NOT provide birth control to those in need?

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Originally Posted by AlyssaEimers

There are a lot of things up higher on list of basic human rights before birth control. Basic needs are food, water, shelter, and some clothing. I do not think if you are too poor to buy birth control, that someone HAS to buy it for you. Sure, it would be nice, but no one HAS to do anything for you.

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Yes but did you see that list that i linked to. It addresses far more than just the 'basics' of food water and shelter. It talks about education, being able to leave and enter the country.....the UN's list went way beyond the basics a long time ago.

A Right.. nope. Unless you are talking a right to abstain, which some places, and some people do not have.


ETA- needs and wants are not the same as rights.

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Originally Posted by Rivergallery

A Right.. nope. Unless you are talking a right to abstain, which some places, and some people do not have.

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Really? You don't consider being able to control one's own fertility a right? You don't think that access to family planning information such as *when* to abstain if you don't want to get pregnant, should be a right? Why not? I can't imagine how we as a world can expect to get women out of bad relationships and bad living conditions and into good places like colleges, politics, and activism when these women don't have control over their own bodies, their own fertility, and most of them don't even have the information to know how to start trying. Welcome to the 1950s; if you have a uterus, you're expected to use it and nothing else.

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Originally Posted by Spacers

Really? You don't consider being able to control one's own fertility a right? You don't think that access to family planning information such as *when* to abstain if you don't want to get pregnant, should be a right? Why not? I can't imagine how we as a world can expect to get women out of bad relationships and bad living conditions and into good places like colleges, politics, and activism when these women don't have control over their own bodies, their own fertility, and most of them don't even have the information to know how to start trying. Welcome to the 1950s; if you have a uterus, you're expected to use it and nothing else.

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First, are we talking about just people in the Westernised world? There are many people throughout the world that do not have access to basic things like running water and indoor plumbing. This is their culture. I do not necessarily think they are being abused because they do not have access to Birth Control.

If we are only talking about countries like the USA and CA, I do not think free birth control is a right. For example, if a doctor said "I will give birth control to all white people, but I will not give you birth control because you are black", I think that would be wrong. If a doctor were to say "I will give birth control to everyone. For white people it is $30, but for Black people it is $500", that would be wrong. If a doctor were to say "I will give birth control to everyone. It is $30", I do not believe there is anything wrong with that. If you can not afford the birth control, it is your responsibility to either get a job or find some sort of assistance program to help you get it.

I think there are a lot of people who think the government owes them a lot, just for breathing. Yes, social programs are nice to help people when they are down, but they are not a right.

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Originally Posted by Spacers

Really? You don't consider being able to control one's own fertility a right? You don't think that access to family planning information such as *when* to abstain if you don't want to get pregnant, should be a right? Why not? I can't imagine how we as a world can expect to get women out of bad relationships and bad living conditions and into good places like colleges, politics, and activism when these women don't have control over their own bodies, their own fertility, and most of them don't even have the information to know how to start trying. Welcome to the 1950s; if you have a uterus, you're expected to use it and nothing else.

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I do not see how not paying for bc is the same as taking away all control a woman has over her body. I think if you want power over your body then you need to step up and pay for it