The mayor of Santiago, Chile, Gonzalo Navarrete, has a great plan.
He's handing out free Viagra to men.
Why?
Mayor Navarrete said it's because "an active sexuality improves the overall quality of life."
Over 1,500 men are eligible to receive up to four pills each month. They just have to be at least 60, registered with the health service and have a doctor certify that they do suffer from erectile dysfunction and that their condition would not put them in danger of suffering cardio-respiratory side effects.
How about that? Sexuality improves the overall quality of life and we should support that! But apprently, only when this sexuality improves the life of MEN.
Women-- not so much.
Anna, blogger at Planned Parenthood, tells of how Chile just passed a law that makes it illegal for clinics to hand out free morning after pills.
The court case was prompted by 36 conservative Chilean lawmakers who banded together in 2006 to protest ... the use of emergency contraception ...on the grounds that the morning-after pill constituted an abortive medication. The Constitutional Court, consisting of eight men and one woman, upheld the lawmakers' complaints, voting 5 to 4 to ban the morning-after pill from being freely distributed at public clinics. The Court announced its belief that emergency contraception violates the Chilean Constitution's affirmation of a "right to life.
Charming, ain't it?
I guess sexuality is only safe in the hands of men.
8 comments:
did you know that in the formulary of drugs that military medics are required to keep while in Iraq, Viagara is one of them. i find that amusing, b/c Plan B, some birth control (i can't find the article right now, i think it is a LOT of BC, women are told to plan ahead), and any abortive medication.
so, they want soldiers to be able to get it up in a war zone, but they aren't willing to help women when they become victims of sexual assault. interesting, i thought.
but this takes the cake...so, men are encouraged to live a live full of healthy sex, but women, what ever comes our way we should just take it.
wev.
The logic presented in this forum is astounding. How does one go from talking about improving sexual desire to abortion or the morning after pill? Mayor Navarrete believes giving viagra to 60 olds with erectile dysfunction will improve their quality of life. If women are seeking equality on this issue, they should be protesting the fact that women aren't being given an equivalent to viagra. Maybe it's because there isn't one available yet. Drug makers are working on Libigel, a testosterone ointment (the male hormone!) that will charge up a women's sex drive. Once it's on the market, write Mayor Navarrete and ask him to give out free ointment to 60 yr old ladies who are hyposexual. That would be far more productive than ranting about unrelated topics such as abortion and morning after pills. Plus, discussing an equivalent on this forum would be a nice example of staying on topic (i.e., being logical).
These two issues are very much related.
It is the ultimate hypocrisy to suggest that men have every drug at their disposal to enjoy sex. And then deny women protection against pregnancy.
For heterosexual women, preventing unwanted pregnancy is very important. It’s hard to enjoy your sex life and at the same time be terrified of pregnancy. Birth control options like Plan B are crucial in women’s sex lives.
It’s tantamount to saying “Hey boys, go to town! But women, fuck ‘em, they’re on their own.”
What's hypocritical about men having every drug available for sex and denying free morning after pills? Hypocrisy is the act of condemning another person, where the stated basis for the criticism is the breach of a rule which also applies to the critic and of which the critic is in breach to a similar or greater extent. I fail to see how the two issues make anyone hypocritical. The federal government of Chile is treating men and women equally. It is not providing men or women with "free morning after pills." The local government of Satiago is not being hypocritical about giving out "free viagra." It is merely being prejudice and discriminatory for whatever reason (lack of a female equivalent, not giving females viagra to give to their men and etc). Please, if you are going to talk about hypocrisy, use an example that reflects hypocrisy.
I don't know to explain to you anonymous, that this IS the definintion of hypocrisy.
We say to men that being sexual is healthy -- and we provide them the means (free of charge) for them to enjoy sex.
We punish women who have sex by denying them ways to protect themsleves from unwanted pregnancy.
Stop talking about female Viagra, for pete's sake and get on the ball.
Tobbes, I like you, so I am only going to address this issue one more time (I don't want to piss you off). First, I find it very hard to believe that the government of Chile is "punishing" women, which is an intentional act. According to the high court of Chile, providing the morning after pill would violate the Chilian constitution. Protecting the Chilian people's right to life is not an intentional act of punishment even though it conflicts women's choice. In other words, a limitation on women's freedom is not punishment, but an unintentional consequence of a judicial decision. Thanks for letting me post Tobbes. :)
And this with Michelle Bachelet (who I think is pretty awesome) as president. I wonder if she can do anything about this dumb legislation. Surely good birth control options for women are important to her administration.
Then the constitution should be changed, and the laws re-written. Any woman will tell you that the fear of pregnancy is often enough to keep you from wanting to have sex. I've never been on BC myself, but I have lots of girlfriends who have been on it, missed a pill, and then been too freaked out to get intimate until their cycle is over. that can be up to a month. That's not much of an improvement for quality of life, and BC isn't just for young, unmarried, wild and crazy gals.
I think it's weird that he is choosing viagra as the pill to give out for free. I tend to think that giving ALL citizens a free daily multivitamin would be a better choice for the specific aims of the program (improving quality of life).
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