Love in the time of contraception (if you can get it)

It's safely after Valentine's Day, so you know I'm not posting about L-O-V-E in hopes that a certain Radical Husband buys me cupid-branded chocolate and teddy bears (the fact that the only stuffed toys we've ever purchased for each other were Terrance and Phillip dolls tells you all you need to know about our relationship). No, my essay on my weird sexual history was written long ago, timed for publication in the Sin issue of the fabulous Skirt! magazine, whose crack designers came up with the logo above. I wish that the print version of the mag were available up here in the frozen tundra--why should our sisters in the southeastern USA enjoy warm weather AND a beautifully designed publication of their own??

My essay, called "Love in the Time of Contraception," details one hetero woman's lifelong struggle to get it on without getting the clap, knocked up, or worse....mortally embarrassed! To any Jill Stanek fans who might be lurking, I will quote directly from the piece: "Should we have postponed sex until marriage? While it's true that many of my friends married their college sweethearts, no sane person buys a car without taking it around the block for a test drive." Word.

As much as I complain about the inconvenience of contraception in this piece, I always, ALWAYS had access to it. My dorms had condoms for a dime apiece, Today sponges & spermicide were easy to pick up at the More 4 pharmacy, my experiments with the Pill were courtesy of Minneapolis' Planned Parenthood, and my IUD was covered by insurance. I'm a middle-class white person; there will always be resources available for me.

This is not true for lower income women, many of whom are women of color, who rely upon federally funded community clinics for health care services. Our increasingly unhinged House of Representatives has introduced legislation that would strip federal funding from many of these clinics, including the Planned Parenthood that I visited when I was an uninsured college grad, simply because SOME clients go there to obtain abortions. I was at that clinic for cheap pills precisely because I DIDN'T want an abortion, but try telling that to the Republic of Gilead....oops, I mean representatives including Minnesota's own Michele Bachmann and John Kline.

For more on why stripping Title X funding from community clinics is a "public health disaster," please watch my baby sis Erin Matson on the following CSPAN clip. Her appearance on this program is a big fat Valentine to anyone who cares about women's health. If you have candy money left over, why not make a donation to help her keep up the good work? Tell her that Cupid (or a renegade sperm!) sent you.