British society. British life. British medicine. All victims of insult, ridicule and damning comment - from time to time. With regard to the latter, and specifically the NHS, currently time to time is all the time. However, there are some things that we take for granted in the UK and in the light of what follows, perhaps we should be standing on the roof-tops and declaring what a fantastic country this is.
Women here - since the sexual revolution of the 1960s - have the right to choose if and when they get pregnant. The contraceptive pill is to thank for a reduction in numbers of women dying as a result of botched, back-street abortions. Yes - I mean dying! Bleeding to death, or dying from an overwhelming pelvic infection, are both horrible ways to go. And preventable. The contraceptive pill is not 100% safe, no medication is, but the newer ones, taken correctly, are over 99% effective in the prevention of pregnancy.
We take for granted our right to choose. And so far the British state supports this.
It should send shivers up all our spines then, that some right wing fundamentalists in America are, not only suggesting that the teaching of contraception be stopped in schools, but are also proposing a law, that would allow employers to penalise women who take the pill for contraceptive, and not purely medical, reasons. They even have a potential presidential candidate who has apparently stated that raped women should be forced to have their 'gifts from God' and be denied abortions. I wish I was making this up!
Maybe, prohibiting contraception is an underhand way of making professional development impossible for women in America and thereby increasing the rate of male employment. Or is that too cynical?
I am scared by this. And I think we all should be. I hope that, in this case, the observation where America leads, we follow is not prophetic.
Apologies to anyone looking for funny anecdotes about Littlest and Four-legged-friend. I'll get back to that tomorrow.
In the meantime, perhaps living in Britain is not so bad after all.
Women here - since the sexual revolution of the 1960s - have the right to choose if and when they get pregnant. The contraceptive pill is to thank for a reduction in numbers of women dying as a result of botched, back-street abortions. Yes - I mean dying! Bleeding to death, or dying from an overwhelming pelvic infection, are both horrible ways to go. And preventable. The contraceptive pill is not 100% safe, no medication is, but the newer ones, taken correctly, are over 99% effective in the prevention of pregnancy.
We take for granted our right to choose. And so far the British state supports this.
It should send shivers up all our spines then, that some right wing fundamentalists in America are, not only suggesting that the teaching of contraception be stopped in schools, but are also proposing a law, that would allow employers to penalise women who take the pill for contraceptive, and not purely medical, reasons. They even have a potential presidential candidate who has apparently stated that raped women should be forced to have their 'gifts from God' and be denied abortions. I wish I was making this up!
Maybe, prohibiting contraception is an underhand way of making professional development impossible for women in America and thereby increasing the rate of male employment. Or is that too cynical?
I am scared by this. And I think we all should be. I hope that, in this case, the observation where America leads, we follow is not prophetic.
Apologies to anyone looking for funny anecdotes about Littlest and Four-legged-friend. I'll get back to that tomorrow.
In the meantime, perhaps living in Britain is not so bad after all.
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