Beliefs Are Unproven Ideas
That Can Only Be Accepted
By Faith
A New York Times article reports that the Trump administration is planning to burn $9.7 million dollars worth of contraceptives.
The contraceptives, stored in Belgium and part of the USAID program, “were destined for clinics in the poorest countries in Africa.” That is, until the USAID was dismantled leaving these stored drugs in limbo.
But what do you do with $9.7 million worth of contraceptives once the program under which they were commissioned is dismantled?
The answer depends on who you ask or better yet whose in control because, as far as I can tell, there was no discussion over the matter.
The answer in this case was influenced by hard core Catholic and far right Fundamentalism. The Catholics oppose contraceptives for any reason (the only purpose for sex in their view is making babies) and Fundamentalists follow suit because they are becoming more like Catholics all the time.
Both groups have enormous influence in the Trump’s Whitehouse but let’s be honest. Trump doesn’t give a rip about any of these issues. His interest is keeping his base happy and destroying these drugs will help do that, although I doubt it will make the Epstein situation go away.
When queried as to why such a wasteful course of action is considered, the State Department said the drugs worked by inducing abortion. Not only is that a smoke screen, it’s also a lie. Making such statements is emotionally igniting and really off point.
These drugs are merely contraceptive. They prevent pregnancies, they don’t end them.
But when Christians are insecure, they not only take extreme measures to make sure they aren’t offending prized beliefs, they also impose their ideas on everyone around them, as an extra measure.
However, and more to the point, even if the drugs were abortifacient, abortion isn’t illegal. Although some jurisdictions have made abortion almost impossible, and it is a bit distasteful in the minds of many, it is still legal even in the US.
But it is so typical of religious obsessives to impose their ideas on everyone they can just because they can. They haven’t been able to completely control the US so now they are aiming at less privileged countries outside the US, regardless the problems that may occur.
There’s no democracy here. There’s no discussion. There’s no right of appeal. There’s not even agreement among religions.
In case you’re curious, I’ve argued why abortion isn’t murder here and here).
This has nothing to do with genuinely accepted principles of morality and Fundamentalist, who historically have faced down obsessive Catholic doctrines, are now a little wobbly.
Don’t misunderstand. I have no problem with Catholics being Catholic. Please, by all means, adopt whatever beliefs you like, just don’t impose them on everyone thinking you represent God more than all others.
But aside from the moral implications, this is hypocrisy in the extreme. The drugs represent a cost of $9.7 million. The cost of incinerating those drugs is estimated to be $160,000. Since Trump claims the reduction of waste is his motivation, and since other agencies and countries have offered to buy or distribute the contraceptives at no cost to the US, this is nothing but waste driven by religious interest.
Does the separation of church and state still hold sway in our democracy?
But it’s not just a waste of monetary value. When dispersed, the drugs will prevent an estimated 362,000 unwanted pregnancies, 110,000 unsafe abortions (obviously abortions wont stop just because Catholics and Fundies think it’s wrong), and 718 maternal deaths.
Whatever your beliefs, there’s no way to justify this promotion of religious hegemony in the name of efficiency.
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