Comments on: A Tale of Two Pills

By: Julian Elson

Julian Elson — Sun, 13 Jul 2008 21:44:54 +0000

Look, this isn’t that complicated: oral sex for the masses, PiV and pills for the elite. This has been consistently reiterated by libertarian thinkers since Hayek’s Road to Serfdom. Err… at least, that was my understanding. I haven’t actually read Hayek.

By: Julian Sanchez

Julian Sanchez — Fri, 11 Jul 2008 19:44:09 +0000

Wait, is that right? I was assuming that the pill would be covered if it was medically necessary to treat some other condition; why wouldn’t it be?

By: Zzzzz

Zzzzz — Fri, 11 Jul 2008 18:49:54 +0000

Birth control is just a wholly predictable regular expense for most people who want to have sex without babies.

That is true for a lot of women. The problem with this line of argument is that it leaves out a all the women, like me, who take birth control for medical reasons, not baby reasons. The fact is those hormones treat a number of medical conditions. The quantity of women who have these conditions isn’t trivial. Yet, apparently, old men who want viagra so they can have better sex get their happy pills covered, and women who have medical conditions that require birth control pills to keep them healthy don’t.

By: z

Fri, 11 Jul 2008 16:46:48 +0000

But don’t insurers already cover lots of completely predictable events? And isn’t getting old and not having erections also completely predictable?

Also, birth control is not as predictable as one might think. It’s a function of two unpredictable factors: existing fertility, and relationship status.

By: kohlrabi

kohlrabi — Fri, 11 Jul 2008 14:08:19 +0000

I agree with Joseph. I feel the same way about Counter Assault Bear Deterrent Spray. Do you think poor people should be forced to deal with bear attacks? Or is hiking just meant for rich folk?

By: Julian Sanchez

Julian Sanchez — Fri, 11 Jul 2008 12:38:50 +0000

Clearly, sex is just meant for rich folk. Why do you think they call it a “money shot”?

By: Joseph

Joseph — Fri, 11 Jul 2008 03:14:16 +0000

“Why not just say that every woman is entitled to a supply of free, publicly-funded birth control, and have done with it?”

People have been saying that for a while. But libertarians and social conservatives (for different ideological reasons) oppose public funding for contraceptives.

I”d actually be interested in hearing whether you think birth control should be publicly funded. Do you think poor people should be forced to deal with unwanted children? Or is sex just meant for rich folk?