Birth Control Nation

Free prescription birth control pills are coming to an insurance plan near you courtesy of our federal Department of Health and Human Services. HHS wants to force taxpayers to subsidize the entire cost of birth control along with controversial abortion drugs as a means of saving health care dollars. Apparently, the U.S. government believes it would be better off spending money on free pills than on free pregnancy services to mothers with little or no insurance. What’s next free crack pipes to drug addicts?

Assuming their math is correct, which I’m pretty positive it is not, I am appalled that personal responsibility is being tossed aside yet again at the altar of emotional arguments. Why do I have to take responsibility for my own actions while subsidizing the poor choices of other people? Then, if I balk at having even more of my hard-earned dollars taxed to pay for these services, I’m the bad, inconsiderate,and uncaring person while their poor behavior continues unabated.

If HHS wants to save on free pregnancy care they should be telling poor people not to make themselves even poorer by having sex with strangers. Or, they could be encouraging people indulging in illicit sex to run out to their local pharmacy and buy contraceptives with their own money. I realize abstinence outside of marriage is a concept all but lost on today’s youth, but this remains the best solution very few educators or legislators dare discuss. Heather Has Two Mommies is fine with the NEA but telling kids to keep their pants on is a radical and outdated notion.

Ours remains a somewhat free society so go ahead and indulge your cravings, but then please either deal with the consequences yourself or find some family, friends, or neighbors to chip in on the remedy. The government has no business picking our collective pockets to provide others with free contraceptives because they are unwilling to do so themselves.

As with so many legislative attempts to curb bad behavior, this one promotes more of the same. The answer to spiraling uninsured pregnancy costs lies not in encouraging more of the same damaging behavior, but in asking people to consider the potential consequences of their actions before moving ahead with them.

Outside of the moral argument, HHS also doesn’t understand simple supply and demand. If the government begins making prescription drugs available for nothing, you’ve instantly increased demand. Everybody will be out to get these freebies. How long will it be until birth control manufacturers are bilking the government ridiculous prices for these “free” pills because they can?  As with every item billed to federal coffers, taxpayers pay infinitely more than fair market value. And as with every other entitlement, costs will be exponentially higher than originally estimated leaving no actual savings but much more expense.

Let’s start telling the truth instead of putting band-aids over bad behavior. The sooner we get back to promoting individual freedom, personal responsibility, and local problem solving the better off our country will be.