This isn’t directly related to birth control, but I think gender equality is important in talking and making decisions about birth control, so pushing for it in a more public arena can only help bring it about privately. Women in America earn less than 80% of what men earn, and for African-Americans and Hispanics, the numbers are 63% and 52%, respectively. The issue of race and poverty (and the issue of gender and poverty) is also relevant to sex education and access to information about birth control. When the structures that should be providing this information fail–and they do–the people with the most outside resources come out the best.
You can show your support for fair pay for women by contacting your Senators and telling them how you feel about the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act, which would better enable workers who are victims of discrimination to seek compensation from their employers through the law. If you’re fortunate enough to live in Texas, you can join me in writing to John Cornyn and Kay Bailey Hutchison, or you can use the form provided by the National Women’s Law Center. I wouldn’t feel bad about doing that since you’re lucky to even get a form letter back from either of those two.
Broken Rubbers 