Basic vs. Evolved Human Rights

I’m adopted. Of all the demographics that might lean toward Pro-Life, mine should be at the top of the list. If it came down to it, I don’t know how I’d feel about getting an abortion if the situation presented itself. But that ain’t nobody’s business but my own.

Let me get this out of the way: Free birth control is not a basic human right.

Even with the death of Roe, no one can force you to have a baby. Outraged husbands throughout history could lop off our heads or ship us off to Australia for 14 years if they suspected us of drinking pennyroyal to quit a pregnancy. Fortunately, we’ve evolved a bit since then. If you’ve decided you don’t want to procreate, that is entirely up to you and no one may limit your access to birth control now that we’ve invented it. But access to free birth control is not guaranteed in any Magna Carta, constitution or any social agreement, written or otherwise.

Warning: Those delicate flowers with a heightened sensitivity to Republican talking points may want to skip to the next paragrah.

First, ‘free’ is anathema to a market-driven economy. Until we think up a better way to exchange things, we should always expect to pay a fair market price for goods and services we receive. If you can’t afford birth control, you can always use more self control. Self-determination is the mother of all basic human rights, and THAT IS free! Use all you want!

But accidents will happen. So how do we weigh the cost/benefit of fixing mistakes?

Basic Human Rights Defined

I am entitled to live my life in the way that best suits me, insofar as my choices do not prevent others from doing the same.

So, this is the ‘life, liberty and pursuit of happiness’ portion of our show. You’re in charge of your life, no one can willfully restrain or prevent you from living your life in the way you like, as long as you’re not fucking up other people trying to do the same.

My life will be free from tyranny and oppression by those in seats of power.

Tyranny was a big issue for the Pilgrims. The Monarch believes themselves to be appointed by God, so whatever he says should be treated like the word of God. The Puritans left England because the king kept trying to tell them how to pray, where to pray, and even what to wear. (Charles I was petty AF; he thought the hats were intended to strut their Puritan Vibe, and it hurt his majesty’s widdle feewings. England hated him so much, they ALL wanted to leave. But they decided to just lop off his head and let Oliver Cromwell run shit for a while.) Of course, this abuse of power not only continued when America got rolling, it ramped up. We were a hands-free cash machine for George. So you know the rest: spilt tea, red coats, pitchforks, the French doin’ a tag team, winter in Delaware, rockets red glare, etc. The government can’t change the rules and ring you dry whenever it wants.

I have the right to be fairly compensated for work I provide.

(Pretty self-explanatory: don’t be a dick, also, no slavery.)

If I have broken the law, or laws have been broken to my deficit, I have the right to make an argument and be adjudicated by my peers according to verifiable evidence.

There is a uniform process that is followed when a crime has been committed. It applies to EVERYONE, even the accused. Especially the accused. More than any of the above rights, this addresses our natural fallability; whether we’re the accused or the victim there is a consistent methodology for how we handle settle disputes.

There are more, but they all revolve around the same theme: Others cannot willfully deprive me of what is mine, whether it’s my life, liberty, happiness, or a goddamned toenail clipper. Birth control pills or condoms may play a role in securing our happiness, but —beyond their basic owned commodity value— they are not themselves among those rights to which we are availed at entry.

Naturally Evolving Standards

We can all agree that basic human rights are inviolable. But if our only obligation was only to preserve these basics, then humanity’s advancement would be a very slow thing indeed. We’d still be preoccupied with hunting and gathering the things we need to survive. Life would be relatively simple in scope, but a LOT of work just to bump along.

Luckily, we keep getting smarter. We continue learning more about our own humanity, gaining new understanding of how social structures work and what causes them to break down. As society matures, skills and technologies are developed that reduce daily hardships, giving us still more capacity for improving our situation.

Always moving forward. Doing the greatest good for the greatest number of people. These are the core ideas that drive Progressives. A healthy society is always raising the bar of expectation because everyone wins with the effort.

By the Numbers

In the context of everybody winning, there are acres of scientific data showing that unwanted pregnancy puts complex stresses on our ability to thrive both individually and as a culture:

• Raising a child is expensive – more than $216,000 to get them to age 18, according to the USDA.
• The number of single-parent families has more than doubled in the last 20 years, most of these happening in the lower-income and poverty-level economic spheres.
• 90% of those single-parent homes are headed by women. While the pay gap is closing, women still make only $0.83 for every dollar earned by a man. There are several other factors bringing downward pressure on them, so single mothers have the highest poverty rate across all demographics – 6x higher than that of two-parent families.
• 50% of all people currently on welfare applied for benefits as a result of an unplanned pregnancy.
• Unintended pregnancy is a considered a high-risk health issue with negative consequences for mother, partner and the baby. These groups of women are more prone to suicide, depression and other mental health issues, poor nutrition during pregnancy, unstable family relationships with increased exposure to physical and psychological violence, higher risk of miscarriage and having low birth weight infants, and higher infant mortality rate caused by delayed onset of prenatal care. (Small side note: the U.S. has the highest infant mortality rate in the developed world; a baby born in the U.S. is less likely to see his first birthday than one born in Hungary, Poland, Slovakia, Belarus or even CUBA. What?)
• Increased health problems in households least likely to have healthcare coverage means U.S. taxpayers spend more than $12B each year on unintended pregnancy and its consequences over time.
• With limited resources and guidance, children raised in these situations are exposed to greater risk factors contributing to negative psychological and physical health problems, higher dropout rates and delinquent behavior during adolescence, increased risk of lifetime dependence on welfare/medicaid, and higher likelihood of being involved in criminal behavior resulting in incarceration.
• There’s also the less-quantifiable slosh factor: Unplanned babies can have a huge impact on supporting players. Grandparents and extended family members have to keep working longer, are less able to manage their own age-related health issues, and have a generally reduced quality of life just as things were supposed to be getting easier for them.
• Another ancillary factor: Wealthy families can afford to manage their procreation; they are also having fewer children, meaning wealth is being further concentrated in the upper echelons.

For all the conservative phony fury around the cost of birth control, free on-demand abortion would save billions. Yes, those words feel icky in my mouth, but it’s a well-documented fact.

Freedom from Tyranny and Oppression

RESTRICTED ACCESS: Even when we still had Roe, opponents were finding new and creative ways of undermining the system. In the interest of ‘protecting women’s safety,’ small outpatient clinics needed to have hallways that are wide enough to support unrestricted passage for two hospital gurneys. If opponents are so concerned with women’s safety, they need to reacquaint themselves with the myriad dangers and fatality of desperate home remedies and back-alley monsters.

This ‘safety’ regulation shut down enough clinics that women in smaller towns and rural areas had to drive hundreds of miles —often to neighboring states— to get the care they need. State legislatures were also adding ridiculous waiting periods between the consult and the procedure, so the women had to drive another couple hundred miles 3 days later to actually have the abortion. Suddenly a simple half-hour outpatient procedure becomes half-a-week of nonsense that can put her job at risk.

REDUCED COVERAGE: There was a rash of businesses eliminating birth control options from their standard employee healthcare package. Citing the perpetuation of depravity and their own convictions about sanctity of life, the CEO makes the organization subject to their personal views on morality. At no other point in the relationship may the owner discriminate against or impose upon employees based upon their faith or political views. And at NO time should a person’s healthcare decisions be open to anyone beyond the patient and their care provider. (Of course, that ship has sailed, now.)

Fair Payment for Work

If you’re in a state that still protects a woman’s bodily autonomy, keep in mind that a company-sponsored healthcare program is not some benevolent GIFT. It is another form of payment for services being rendered by the employee. Selectively withholding certain benefits is exactly the same as withholding payment for work product. If items are selectively removed from a coverage plan, the employee must be fairly compensated for that loss.

Sure, if you don’t like the company policy you can always go find another job. As objectors leave or simply accept the mandates, the company builds a kind of oligarchy where your personal success is determined by your complicity in their way of thinking.

Thankfully, new media and the global microphone make it likely that a backlash will boil up and the market will correct itself naturally. But don’t we have an obligation to stop it before it starts? When those in power can rewrite the rules to inflict penalty – or just to suit their personal whim – isn’t this the very definition of tyranny?

Premise:

• I am a faith-based or openly faith-intrinsic business choosing to operate in the public sector.
• I contribute to, and benefit from, local, state and federal taxes. In so doing, I have chosen to decouple from Church and participate as State.
• I am now subject to all same constitutional obligations and responsibilities as those expected of any secular business: fair compensation, safe working conditions, zero tolerance policy on discrimination or harassment, etc.

A very serious problem exists when any one group of people may count themselves morally superior to others. It’s an even bigger problem when they begin acting on that assertion and inflicting their way of thinking onto those who rely on them for their livelihood.

Tomorrowland

Having been adopted myself, I would LOVE to see the Pro-Life crowd focus on cultural and legislative shifts toward viable alternatives to abortion. If there wasn’t such a horrible, archaic stigma on adoption, a lot of this abortion nonsense would solve itself. It’s a poor example, but I had grown my hair out really long, and one day decided to lop it all off. Donating it to Locks of Love was a tiny, simple gesture and one of the most rewarding things I’ve ever done. It felt nice giving someone my hair. Imagine being able to give someone a BABY!

Instead of clucking, shaming and judging women who find themselves in a baby way, what if our society could say, ‘You’re pregnant but can’t be a mommy? What if you could be a HERO instead? We’re going to take care of you in every conceivable way while we find the perfect home for the baby. You’re changing so many lives, and you deserve the best care possible!’ Maybe there’s even some small compensation, as well. (Being pregnant is hard.) Women choosing to go to term would be giving the greatest gift ever; they would be revered and lavished with love and respect and gratitude on all sides, not because it made God happy, but because they deserve it.

Today, free birth control, respect for motherhood, and universal healthcare aren’t handed out at the door with our groovy jet pack and Kirkland™ Fountain of Youth juicebox. But I’m hopeful. A strong and evolving society should always be looking for ways to improve the human condition. So while I finish my 59-point plan for abolishing money and building the New Utopia, you can’t expect others to solve your problems for you, even if its in their best interest to do so. Until we change the world, we have to take personal responsibility.