The Republican all male-dominated debate on contraception took a new turn this week when tea party Sen. Ron Johnson (R-WI) told women to hop on the popular search engine, in the event they were seeking birth control and could not afford it, and Google “What if I can’t Afford Birth Control?”. Well, at least he didn’t tell them to Google “aspirin between their legs”.

Johnson, who has been a strident critic of the new regulations that require health insurance companies to cover birth control at no cost, offered this ‘winning’ advice to women:

“Go online and type in, ‘what if I can’t afford birth control?’” “If you can’t afford it, you can get birth control in this country,” Johnson explained. “You can get it. Go online, type it in. It’s easy to get.” 

Here’s the video:

If getting affordable birth control is as easy as finding out the meaning of Santorum, then perhaps women should stop thinking about sex for one second in their lives and heed the Senator’s advice. After all, a recent survey discovered that one in three American women voters have struggled to afford birth control.

According to ThinkProgress, the very first link explained that the entire process, from the initial exam to a follow-up to the pills themselves, can cost upwards of $210 the first month. The rest of the first-page results included two sites informing women that if they can’t afford contraceptives, “don’t have sex,” four sites attacking Georgetown Law student Sandra Fluke, and one site explaining how birth control is a lot more expensive than many believe. (Source: ThinkProgress)

One major troublesome issue with regards to the contraception debate, aside from Rush Limbaugh pretending to be a gynecological expert, is that it has largely been rabble-roused articulated around the actual act of sex. Furthermore,  that a great many American women rely on birth control for noncontraceptive reasons and can’t afford it should also entered into the debate. For example, 4% of pill users—1.5 million women—rely on them exclusively for noncontraceptive purposes, according to an expert study on birth control issues. The same study concluded women using birth control to reduce menstrual pain (31%); menstrual regulation, which for some women may help prevent migraines and other painful “side effects” of menstruation (28%); treatment of acne (14%); and treatment of endometriosis (4%). Additionally, it found that some 762,000 women who have never had sex use the pill, and they do so almost exclusively (99%) for noncontraceptive reasons.

Until Senator Johnson is ready to have a reasoned an adult discussion on all matter pertaining to birth control, perhaps he should google “why Senator Johnson has no credibility on birth control”.

Michael is a comedian/VO artist/Columnist extraordinaire, who co-wrote an award-nominated comedy, produces a chapter of Laughing Liberally, wrote for NY Times Laugh Lines, guest-blogged for Joe Biden, and writes a column for MSNBC.com affiliated Cagle Media. Follow him on Twitter and Facebook, Youtube, and like NJ Laughing Liberally Lab. Seriously, follow him or he’ll send you a photo of Rush Limbaugh bending over in a thong.

Related posts: