Friday, March 7, 2014
Alaska state senator does not want state to pay for birth control because sex is "recreation" and the state shouldn't pay for "other people's recreation."
A state senator says he doesn't think access to contraception is a problem in Alaska.
In a floor speech, Republican Sen. Fred Dyson said he researched the issue after a colleague suggested the number of abortions could be reduced by improving access to contraception.
The issue of the state providing expanded family planning services has arisen during discussion on a bill that would further define when the state would pay for abortions under Medicaid.
Dyson says condoms cost a dollar apiece and for the price of four or five lattes, a woman could get birth control pills for a month.
Dyson says sexual activity is largely "recreation" and the public shouldn't be required to finance "other people's recreation."
Okay now my head hurts again.
For one thing the state of Alaska spends a fortune financing "other peoples' recreation."
From maintaining hiking trails, to providing traffic control for concert events, to maintaining state roads that take us to our fishing and camping destinations, the state invests quite heavily in supporting numerous recreational activities.
However the important point is that the costs of purchasing birth control pale in comparison to the cost to the state of having another child born.
If the child has parents who are not financially stable, the state may end up paying for medical needs, nutritional support, education, foster care, and the list goes on and on.
It should come as no surprise that Dyson is a Republican, a curmudgeon of the first order, and clearly is not somebody who gets a great deal of recreational sex.
Speaking as a lifelong Alaskan, who has been hiking, fishing, camping, and snowmachining, I would have to say that my very favorite Alaska recreational activity has always been the one that DIDN'T require goggles, hip waders, or a helmet.
(The Huffington Post has more here.)
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