After reading Edward Seyler and Garrett Fontenot’s opinion columns in the Maroon and in lieu of what is going on politically, women’s health care needs to be addressed, and it needs to be addressed by a female.
First and foremost, it is important to point out that women make up 51 percent of the entire population and 57 percent of Loyola’s student population, so it is in everyone’s best interest to care about women’s health. Although Loyola and other Catholic institutions like to pretend there is no sex outside of marriage and for, God forbid, reasons other than conception. We do live in the twenty-first century where 98 percent of women have and/or will use some form of contraception in their lifetime, thus alluding to the fact that yes, we have sex when we aren’t married and, yes, for reasons other than producing children. The debates, as Fontenot has argued, come in when we ask our universities to pay for our contraception and provide condoms, which I strongly and relentlessly will always stand for.
Fontenot has pointed out that Loyola and other universities alike are affiliated with the Catholic Church, which many believe should give them the option to “opt out” of providing women with critical health necessities such as birth control. And yes, I consider this a necessity because the research has shown that access to free contraception has directly lowered abortion rates, maternal mortality and unintended pregnancies. I am assuming that Loyola and other Catholic religious institutions and individuals have the utmost value of life and believe abortions kill “people,” so even with their own rationale, contraception is necessary and saves lives.
Another crucial fact that pro-life, anti-woman and anti-healthcare persons have left out is the fact that Catholic universities and hospitals are not getting their funding from the generous donators at church every Sunday, but from our federal government, which thankfully Barack Obama heads at the moment, so unless they plan on getting their federal aid from a place other than the government, no, they cannot opt out of women’s healthcare.
Fontenot concludes his argument that “institutions should encourage their students to follow the teachings of the institution they are aligned,” and students should “take their health into their own hands.” The fact is that sex is a part of life and it is a part of health. No matter what your religion is teaching you, more likely than not, you will have sex.
Although I am fortunate to have health insurance to take my health into my own hands, other students do not have such opportunities. Loyola has a commitment to its students that needs to be met, regardless of its religious affiliations.
Sincerely, Susan Baughman, sociology sophomore
What a fabulously, immoral and idiotic thing to say. Especially since 2 million people die each day from HIV/AIDs. Furthermore, the Catholic church has about a billion followers, so I would consider them a pretty big influence in the world and on how people view right and wrong. Even worse, an Archbishop traveled to Mozambique (where 1 in 8 people are infected with HIV) and spread the lie that "British condom manufacturers were intentionally infecting condoms with HIV". In a country where many of those infected are uneducated and easily persuaded by the high-standing authorities like the pope or archbishop, you have to realize that these types of comments from such "moral" figures have enormous outcomes for their followers and the decisions they make regarding safe-sex. Research also shows that HIV rates were 80% lower for individuals who reported using condoms, compared to those who said they didn't. It's far lower for those who don't. I think 80% is a pretty good number. Don't you? I know HIV is not exactly the topic you were discussing, however, I had to make it clear where YOUR biased opinion may be coming from and where YOU may be getting your morals and values from. They are presumably coming from the institute I am describing who have directly lied and possibly helped spread instance of HIV in a region of the world that is so badly infected by this epidemic.
This makes me think twice about whether the catholic church is really "Pro-life" as they loved to boast about. It's obvious they don't share mine, and especially womens, best interests when it comes to healthcare. Of course, I could also always throw in how the Catholic church and the pope covered up the rape and molestation of innocent children for so long just to protect their holy reputation, but I thought that was too easy. If I have to get my morals or base my convictions off of an institution, it certainly wouldn't be the catholic church. You should probably hold off on criticizing somebody's "biased" opinion that is rooted in rationale and common sense when your own bias is rooted from organizations that believe a cracker REALLY is the body of christ and that it's okay to tell a poor kid in Africa who is at risk of HIV, "don't use condoms, because God will protect you!". Anything that helps women stay healthy and prolongs their lives should be something all people are for. The average sane, moral person (or responsible University, for that matter) would see the statistics and research about contraception use and think, wow, this stuff seems to work! Maybe it's a good idea! We should give condoms and contraception to everyone! Sadly, however, Loyola has that whole catholic thing, which really gets in the way of common sense. You can take your values and formulate your opinion about contraception from them. I'll take mine from the vasty majority doctors, researchers and scientist who overwhelmingly agree that contraception helps saves lives and helps prevent disease. Thanks and God Bless Rational Thinking.