Legacy of Carol P. Christ: The Morning After Pill and Obama’s Daughters

This post was originally published on May 13th, 2013

By now it should be clear to feminists that when Barack Obama thinks about women, he does not view us as independent individuals, but rather as he said in his 2^nd term inauguration address–to my consternation—as “our” mothers, wives, and daughters.  Obama does not address us–he addresses the men he expects to make decisions for us.  I almost wrote a blog on this egregious error in perception and judgment on the part of the President in January, but in order not to be seen as nit-picking, I held my tongue.  The recent decision of the White House to continue to restrict the availability of the Plan B , brings this question to the fore again.

Plan B is a brand name for the “morning after pill.”  If taken within 3 days of unprotected intercourse, it will prevent conception.  There is now a much cheaper generic version as well.

After reviewing the effects and side effects of Plan B, the Federal Drug Administration found it safe and reliable and advised the US Department of Health and Human Services that it should be made available without prescription or age restrictions.  In late 2011, the Obama administration and Kathleen Sibelius made the unprecedented decision to overturn the recommendations of the FDA and to allow Plan B to be purchased without prescription only by women age 17 or older.  Just over a month ago, US District Court Justice Edward Korman of New York ruled that the Plan B and the generic alternatives should be made available without restriction.  Before the ruling could take effect, the Obama administration lowered the age restriction to 15, while announcing that it would appeal Justice Korman’s decision to make the morning after pill as available as aspirin.

“Current and former White House aides said Obama’s approach to the issue has been heavily influenced by his experience as the father of two school-age daughters.”  

So let us ask: supposing one of the daughters of the President had unprotected sex and was under 17 (according to the original position of the Obama administration), or under 15 or over 15 but without a legal ID showing her age (according to recent policy), does the President really think his daughter would come to him within the 3 day limit when Plan B is effective?

Let us be clear. Allowing 15 year olds to buy Plan B with a legal ID begs the question of how a 15 year old who is too young to drive is going to have a valid ID with her age on it.  Or how a 17 or even 21 year old girl without access to her own or a family car is going to prove her age?

The President may hope his daughters would never have unprotected sex, and he may imagine that they would speak to him within the 3 day period when the morning after pill is effective if they did.  I suspect that President is often “not available” or “in a bad mood” or “tired” for two and three days running. I suppose he hopes that his girls would talk to Michelle.  Maybe they would.  Maybe they wouldn’t. If the President’s daughters are being encouraged not to have sex, even they might hesitate to say that they had violated their parents’ wishes.

Suppose one of the President’s daughters was on a date and “went too far.” Or that she drank too much and was not capable of saying no.  Or that (like far too many girls her age) she was gang-raped at a party when she was not capable of saying no.  Does the President really think his daughter would come to him or Michelle within three days to ask permission to buy the morning after pill? Let’s face facts. After making “a mistake,” most young girls would rather hope they are not pregnant than tell their parents. Are the Obama daughters any different?

In any case, focusing on the Obama daughters obscures the point that not all girls are Obama’s daughters.

Some girls who need the morning after pill have been raped by their own fathers, grandfathers, uncles, brothers, or boyfriends of their mothers.  Others live with parents who view sex before marriage as a sin.  Some know they would be punished or beaten or even thrown out of the house if they admitted to having sex.  Some simply don’t want to disappoint their parents and are afraid to speak to them. 

Does Obama really want young girls like these to be denied access to the morning after pill and then to find themselves  pregnant at age 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, or 17?  Would he rather these girls have abortions, or would he prefer they become mothers?  Does he expect them to put their children up for adoption without regret? Or does he want them to have to struggle to complete their education so they can support children?

Mr. President, you may not know your own daughters as well as you think you do.  Let’s hope they will never need the morning after pill. Let’s hope that if they do, they will come to you.  But, Mr. President, can you please consider that not all girls are your daughters?

Mr. President, women and girls are people just like you. We come in all shapes and sizes and from different families and circumstances.

Mr. President, you have admitted that you made mistakes as a teen-ager.  If you had been a girl, wouldn’t you have wanted unrestricted access to the morning after pill?

Mr. President, it is high time you started thinking of women and girls not as “your” wife, “your” daughter, or “your” mother—but as persons.  As a person in her own right, every woman and every girl should have the right to a pill that prevents an unwanted pregnancy in her body.  Judge Korman understood that. Why can’t you?

Update May 10: A federal judge on Friday denied the Obama administration’s request to delay his order that the Plan B morning-after pill be made available over the counter without age limits. The judge sharply rebuked the administration for appealing his decision, calling the move politically motivated, “frivolous,” and “something out of an alternate reality.”  …  Following Friday’s ruling, the government has until noon Monday, May 13, to file a stay motion with the 2nd Circuit to delay compliance pending its appeal, or it will be forced to lift the age limit on the pill.

Mr. President, please let the judge’s decision stand.  If you really care about girls, make a realistic, reasonable, and rational decision–not an emotional one based on what you want for your daughters!

Update May 13:  (Sadly) the government has filed a last-second appeal that will delay the sale of the morning-after contraceptive pill to girls of any age without a prescription.

Author: Legacy of Carol P. Christ

We at FAR were fortunate to work along side Carol Christ for many years. She died from cancer in July, 2021. Her work continues through her non-profit foundation, the Ariadne Institute for the Study of Myth and Ritual and the Goddess Pilgrimage to Crete. To honor her legacy and to allow as many people as possible to read her thought-provoking and important blogs, we are pleased to offer this new column to highlight her work. We will be picking out special blogs for reposting, making note of their original publication date. View all posts by Legacy of Carol P. Christ