Straightforward, almost boring health care policy story about a government taking sensible, cost-effective measures to curb a public health problem. But the story isn't really about health care policy — the underlying narrative here is that the French are yet again making American politicians look like a bunch of out of touch prudes....
Needless to say, the measure sailed through the French legislature without any kind of political battle...
December 20, 2012
France provides free birth control to girls aged 15 to 18 — and bars doctors from notifying parents.
Amanda Marcotte approves:
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Dominique Strauss Kahn was an early supporter of this measure.
France has a negative birth rate. People must have figured out how to use birth control on their own.
The government takes care of everything in France, except for national defense. That's what the US is for.
France has been a destroyed country since the French Revolution brought pure killer statists to power.
The government hopes that by protecting young girls' privacy, it can increase contraception use and reduce the teen pregnancy rate.
We'll see, won't we. Along with the health consequences.
The lefty obsession with purported "prudery" is always good for a few laughs.
How in the world did a moron like Marcotte convince herself that people who disagree with her politics don't like to fuck?
What a stupid bitch!
If the French aren't prudes, why is it necessary to hide this from parents?
People must have figured out how to use birth control on their own.
According to the comment thread over there, France has a very high abortion rate, and this measure is an attempt to reduce it.
At 15, my kid is still my kid, and I'm responsible for him or her. So this law seems a bit intrusive to the parent in me.
Why are women's reproductive systems an issue of 'public health'? If it is about personal choices, why are politicians advocating any position/funding?This is the confusion of feminist ideals. Either we're responsible for our bodies and choices, oor the government has the best interest for us?
Who the hell is Amanda Marcotte? Oh, some internet loudmouth.
Why are women's reproductive systems an issue of 'public health'?
Eugenics! Started out that way. Hasn't changed.
This makes a lot of boys aged 15-18 much happier.
Is this the pill? Because it increases the odds that you will have breast cancer later in life.
Wonder if they'll be allowed to sue the state later on?
One thing that Ms Marcotte won't mention is that, should one of those underage young ladies have an adverse reaction, do you think that her parents will be able to sue for malpractice?
Not under French law, they won't.
I always find it amazing that people want schools officials who can't give a kid an aspirin without parental consent to start handing out birth control medications to minors.
panem et circenses
Vive La France. The French men are used to enjoying having their party girls from age 15 and over. It must be a cultural taste thing, like French cooking.
What are teen employment rates in France?
Also most teens don't use cash, they use credit/debit card most likely the account in their parents names.
That is a contributing factor.
Marcotte is an expert at preaching to her choir. But the reason she will never convince anyone of anything, is that she has no fundamental understanding of why people oppose the things she is for.
This hurts all the fathers who'll naturally assume they're shooting blanks.
In the spirit of giving in to my nagging wife...
If we just go ahead and totally cave in and give women in the U.S. (or planet for that matter) everything they want on demand for free (or more accurately payed for by the taxpayer) 24/7/365 and acquiesce to the notion that it is now in fact a constitutionally mandated right handed down from god or Buddha or whoever.......
If we do ALL of that will they in return just shut the hell up for a few minutes. Seriously!!
When one sees a law like this coming out of France, that concerns the intersection of family life & female sexuality, and it sails through the legislature with no argument, it's pretty clear who's the law's target:
French Muslims.
15 to 18 are practically middle age when compared to 6 year olds.
Bob Wright said...
"The psychology of a 6 year old is especially resistant to, you know, calm rational explanation, so I think when you are talking about the welfare of the nation, you got to accept a certain amount of irrationality."
YH, I think that's likely very true.
@Paddy,
Mais, oui, je connais bien mes freres francais.
Weren't the French complaining about burkas?
How do they intend to remain French, when Muslims immigrants, who presumably do not give out free birth control pills, will surely not be taking up this practice?
Oh I see...
I just read YH..
But you think the muslim parents wont find out?
the French are yet again making American politicians look like a bunch of out of touch prudes
Actually I don't believe American politicians need any help from the French in looking like a bunch of out of touch prudes.
Nothing to see here....except for this: the French (like so many other Western nations) are not even producing enough offspring to sustain their own populace. The ONLY population growth in France comes from.....immigration, mostly from the Middle East and North Africa nations who still understand the fine art of reproduction.
The French (and many circles in the US) praise those who praise Gayness in general, and readily free contraceptives and/or abortions. I'm not making a social judgement here (or maybe I am), but if you can't see that praising that which ends your existence over that which continues your existence is problematic, then I'd say nature is doing what it does best: weeding out the unnecessary and letting the strong (i.e. the re-productive among us) survive.
It's a callous statement, but the facts support me. Japan, most of Europe, and now the US are all very enlightened about preventing births. Japan and Europe are dying. We are shortly behind them. And we encourage great careers over creating families. We shun and disparage stay-at-home moms (or dads). We are so enlightened that, in due time we shall no longer be. But, hell...we are smart, aren't we?
Amanda Marcotte...does she have any children? Would she be fighting to get contraceptives for her 15 year old daughter? 'Anything...just don't make me be a responsible parent. Please, just let me have my ''Real Time" with Bill Maher" so I can feel even more sure of my intelligence.'
I presume the French girls are already well acquainted with the pill.
This is a French "reach out" to the Muslim Community.
Does this woman have any children? Daughters?
In Texas, my daughters(3), as minors, are required by law to get parental consent for piercings! They can get abortions WITHOUT my consent! Parental notification is required, but, of course a sympathetic judge can waive all that nonsense!
Tattoos are strictly forbidden in Texas before the age of 18!
In the US, the ideal is that parents discuss these issues with their kids and are responsible for them, including the decision of whether their daughters should be on birth control. The ideal is also that parents are the ones who should pay for any birth control.
In France, the ideal is that the government is responsible for both.
Marcotte should live in France where the default view is that fellow citizens cannot be trusted to take care of themselves or their kids so the government must do it.
Sorry. I got my progressive lingo mixed up.. I should have said community "out reach"... community "out reach".
Ha ha ha Marcotte thinks France provides free birth control. That there's just flat funny.
Knowing that it's France, I'm surprised they don't start at puberty.
A society in which the State aggressively inserts itself between parents and children, ostensibly on behalf of children, is sure to succeed, spectacularly.
Not.
"This makes a lot of boys aged 15-18 much happier."
Not likely, girls don't like boys.
Girls like cars and money.
prudes?
or usurping parental authority?
"Look what I found in your sock drawer, Aaliyah!!" honor killings starting in 5...4...3...
Everything is very expensive in France. Basic necessities cost a fortune. Puzzling? */
It's as if high tax rates and the high cost of living are paying for all the stuff that's "free!"
This makes a lot of boys aged 15-18 much happier.
Also men looking to have sex with girls age 15 to 18 without having to worry about pregnancy or her parents finding out.
"Also most teens don't use cash, they use credit/debit card most likely the account in their parents names."
What? Where? In America or in France?
Who would hand their kids debit or credit cards to use?
(For the record, I don't own and wouldn't use a debit card, and I didn't get my first credit card until I was 36. I have added one since then, for a total of two in my possession.)
When men take hormones to change the way their bodies function, the hormones are called "steroids" and we are reminded continuously how bad it is for the men, how much incidence of cancer goes up, etc.
(For the record, I don't own and wouldn't use a debit card, and I didn't get my first credit card until I was 36. I have added one since then, for a total of two in my possession.)
I'll bet you don't have a TV either!
You're a regular Lisa Simpson!
"If we just go ahead and totally cave in and give women in the U.S. (or planet for that matter) everything they want on demand for free (or more accurately payed for by the taxpayer)24/7/365 and acquiesce to the notion that it is now in fact a constitutionally mandated right handed down from god or Buddha or whoever.......
If we do ALL of that will they in return just shut the hell up for a few minutes."
No. Ignorant question.
I'm sure that'll help France's HIV infection rate, which is already one of the highest in Europe. Of course, for liberals, pregnancy is a malady worse than death.
Look, people, a principal goal of feminism is to take sexual matters out of the hands* of men. This is why the mannish and uglified Amanda Marcotte likes this French law. It ain't really parental notification that gets feminists all upset, it's paternal notification that they want to eliminate.
_______________
*Heh.
"I'll bet you don't have a TV either!
"You're a regular Lisa Simpson!"
Oh, I have a tv.
I've also never carried a credit card balance over from one month to the next. I try to use my cards as seldom as possible, and when I do use them, I pay the balance in full as soon as I receive the bill.
This is what happens when the state becomes your parent.
Cheers
I can't wait till we achieve total European governance. The state supplies the birth control to 15 year olds and sanctions me banging my neighbor's 15 years old daughter.
FORWARD!
I wonder how much of this is aimed at the North African immigrant community. Their views on sexuality are very different than the native French, they are having more children than the native French.
But phrasing it as girl's rights doesn't sound racist.
I pay the balance in full as soon as I receive the bill.
I wait until the bill is due.
(For the record, I don't own and wouldn't use a debit card,
I bet you are also that asshole that carefully watches the cashier scan each item in your shopping cart, and only then get out your checkbook and start searching for a pen.....just swipe the damn debit card, punch in your PIN and get the hell out of our way.....
Hmm. How did they decide on 15-18. What about 14-year-old girls? I know that a lot of them are having relations as well. Isn't that at least as big a public health care issue?
Is there any age at which Marcotte will feel that there is an argument to be made that the parents have a role to play?
Amanda Marcotte is a true believer, and perhaps only under a few terms of Obama, with the rise of progressivism, do such illiberal, repressed, true-believing totalitarians make it this far out into the public square.
So the morality keeps declining.
Next 'free' abortions and no notifying parents.
Then 'free' euthanasia for those wanting to die and no notifying kin.
Then 'free' infanticide for those with mental or health problems and septuagenariancide for old people who are not useful.
And of course soylent green will be people.
I've also never carried a credit card balance over from one month to the next
On this, I envy you.
C'mon guys, you know government is the only thing we all belong to.
On this, I envy you.
You haven't seen his tv.
"I bet you are also that asshole that carefully watches the cashier scan each item in your shopping cart, and only then get out your checkbook and start searching for a pen.....just swipe the damn debit card, punch in your PIN and get the hell out of our way....."
I pay cash at the supermarket.
Spain will soon be the new Greece, economically.
France will soon be the new Spain, economically.
Shortly after that, when France becomes the new Greece, the Germans will march in, economically, and occupy Paris. It will be only a virtual occupation, of course, but when you pay the bills, you get to own stuff.
I knew it!!!
Anybody who pronounces "Fluke" as "Fluck" has to be french.
Red Robert Cook doesn't need your monetary system nor your technological innovations you filthy capitalist pig-dogs.
He'll be running the bread lines in the socialist paradise.
Towards a theme: Robert Cook seems proud of this abstention from daily life, a quest for purity almost, why, it's almost a religious impulse, but he must hate religion.
Then you take Amanda Marcotte's pale, anaesthetic appearance, almost dowdy and proud of it like she was ordained at the feminist nunnery and she's denying the material world for pure truth...and maybe you have a theme:
In lieu of pursuing religious ideas, the socialist and the radical 3rd or 4th wave true believing feminist have a lot in common.
And like many true believers, they want to impose their ideas and quest for purity on you, and everyone else.
And people wonder why liberals aren't really so liberal anymore...
Marcotte is practically SALIVATING at the power that the French State has to enforce the right ideas and control everyone else, including those Muslims.
You didn't build that girl.
Don't let you daughters eat refined sugar but give them all the hormones they need so that they can expose themselves to STDs, pregnancy due to birth control failure, and low self esteem due to be used as a sex object.
Don't let you daughters eat refined sugar but give them all the hormones they need so that they can expose themselves to STDs, pregnancy due to birth control failure, and low self esteem due to be used as a sex object.
It's hardly surprising that a Socialist government would expand state control over the means of reproduction.
If it's "needless to say", why did she have to say it?
'Motorcycle' said, "If we do ALL of that will they in return just shut the hell up for a few minutes. Seriously!!"
There are some women who will not shutup until they figure out how to reproduce without using any of that nasty male stuff.
BTW, an interesting read:
http://www.amazon.com/The-Shore-Women-Pamela-Sargent/dp/0330301160
Roman Polanski is funding this initiative.
Right, because the state has total control over your children in France. Thanks for reminding us about that Amanda, you dumb twat.
1. What does the legal term “parental responsibility” mean in practical terms? What are the rights and obligations of a holder of parental responsibility?
The rules governing parental responsibility, whatever the parents’ situation, are included in the Civil Code under the same heading as parental authority. This is defined as a set of rights and duties attributed to the father and mother in the interest of the child while the child is under age.
The parents have a duty to protect the child in terms of security, health and morality and to provide for their education and to allow the child to develop with due consideration for their personality. Each parent must contribute towards the child’s maintenance and education in proportion to their financial means and those of the other parent.
http://ec.europa.eu/civiljustice/parental_resp/parental_resp_fra_en.htm
considering the bolded portion, how is giving kids birth control without getting consent. Not govt inserting itself into parents business. That gets into issues of morality AND health.
How in the world did a moron like Marcotte convince herself that people who disagree with her politics don't like to fuck?
Because nobody who agrees with her wants to fuck her either?
@MikeR
A French roommate told me that it is legal to have sex with a 14-year old in France, as long as you had parental consent.
I always wondered how that worked in practice.
I always wondered how that worked in practice.
Reciprocal babysitting?
You can consent to sex at 15 in France, though you can't get married until 18 without parental or court consent.
Actually this is the one liberal/statist policy I could agree with. Birth control should be be abundant, easily accessed, and virtually free. The numbers of the parasitical and dysfunctional will be reduced and society will win.
Ha ha ha Marcotte thinks France provides free birth control. That there's just flat funny.
Bears repeating. The fact that it costs nothing does not mean it's free.
Gerard Depardieu, for example, has shelled out -- what was it -- 145M euros over the course of his life in taxes (!) to pay for it. How fair is that!!
@Broomhandle,
The numbers of the parasitical and dysfunctional will be reduced and society will win.
No, broomhandle. Did you miss the opening scenes of Idiocracy?
Young women who are bright & with it are bright & with it in managing their birth control. But clueless chicks stay clueless about their birth control, too. They just THINK they're protected.
Do you think the rampant use of abortion in the underclass is because they can't find pills or condoms or UIDs, or whatever?
If I have a 15-year-old daughter (and I once did; she's an adult now), I don't want her having sex at that age. (Same for a boy of the same age.) Not because I'm a prude, but because I'm confident she's not remotely prepared for it emotionally. I'm pretty confident that's not an unreasonable position; and I think I could make an argument that the contrary position is unreasonable. In any event, the government should not step in to facilitate behavior that I as a parent reasonably believe to be strongly contrary to my child's best interests.
Oh, but the French are soooo cool and hip!
"Red Robert Cook doesn't need your monetary system nor your technological innovations you filthy capitalist pig-dogs.
"He'll be running the bread lines in the socialist paradise.
"Towards a theme: Robert Cook seems proud of this abstention from daily life, a quest for purity almost, why, it's almost a religious impulse, but he must hate religion."
Hahahaha!
Rather, I prefer to be frugal. I buy things, but I save up for them if they are more expensive than something I would pay for out of pocket. I saved up for a couple of years to buy a high end Mac and a 30" Mac flat screen monitor. I can't stand the thought of carrying debt.
bpm4532 said...
This makes a lot of boys aged 15-18 much happier.
Don't know France very well, do you?
It's the men 21-45+ who are the more likely beneficiaries.
My daughter worked as a waitress in a hard cider and sandwich bar in Paris when she was 19. She was propositioned on nearly a daily basis by mature French (male) strangers. At work. Before work. On the way to work. Going home. At leisure. You name it. Talk about a war on women.
Broomhandle has not been to Texas!
I can't stand the thought of carrying debt.
Just wondering...do you also pay cash for cars? Maybe you only take public transit or ride a bike?
Own a house?
I understand an aversion to consumer debt. I just wonder if your aversion carries over to secured loans.
Interesting. Neither the woman nor man are willing to accept responsibility for their voluntary behavior. Not before, during, and certainly not after. Perhaps their voluntary genocide is for the best. They are not well suited to enjoy the benefits of liberty.
Chip S.:
Regulating production and reproduction? Welcome to the Soviet Union... or China.
However, where in those two nations a left-wing regime was forcibly installed to replace a left-wing regime, in France, people elect to exchange their liberty for submission with benefits.
Les Miserables, indeed. They barely notice that their replacements are waiting in the wings and were invited by their purported benefactors. Without a care in the world, they choose a hedonistic end.
"Just wondering...do you also pay cash for cars? Maybe you only take public transit or ride a bike?
"Own a house?"
I live in NYC; I rent and travel via public transit. Ah, the luxury of not having to own a car! (I did own a car before I moved to NY; I bought it from my brother...a '75 Dodge Dart. It's also convenient to own a car, but all things considered, I'd rather not.)
heyboom,
14s the age of legal fuck in Canada and no need to tell the parents.
I wonder if the French in Quebec had anything to do with that.
Good for Robert Cook.
Before we were married, my husband helped me understand what he called "the miracle of compound interest". He thinks he should RECEIVE compound interest, not PAY compound interest.
Because of this belief, he has always saved money for cars and paid cash for them. Even in college. If I had been in charge of our finances, we would have car payments and our kids would have student loans. But he convinced me that you pay your car payments before you buy the car. You pay them to yourself. Then, when you want a car, you write a check for it. The car is cheaper in the long run because you didn't have to pay interest on a car loan.
We have five cars. All but one were bought new, and all of them were paid for in full by personal check.
We have been living like this for 27 years. It really works. The only thing that anyone could ever repossess from us is our house, but we have decided to pay it off too.
I have a 0.9% car loan at a time when the annual inflation rate is around 2%.
I consider that a miracle.
I didn't read the whole article or all the comments so forgive me if this has been said, but.. "public health problem"? Is pregnancy a disease now? 15-18 year olds shouldn't be getting pregnant, but it's not as if this is a contagious illness that they happened to catch by touching the bathroom door handle at the supermarket. Yeesh.
"Who the hell is Amanda Marcotte? Oh, some internet loudmouth."
...said in earnest by a pseudonymous commenter on a blog.
"just swipe the damn debit card, punch in your PIN and get the hell out of our way....."
Man, I use a debit card but even I can see that comment is shot through with the stuff of dystopian science fiction.
Hey guy, there's more to life than getting things done quickly and efficiently. Open your eyes a little.
Why would it be wrong to mess up the natural cycle of a wetland area but it would not be wrong to upset the hormonal cycle of a young girl? Why can't Greenies see the contradiction?
Sounds like sensible public policy. If a girl that age is having sex, she sure doesn't want her parents involved.
Robert Cook cares about his money so much, I can't understand how he's not a conservative. We have no debt either and live very frugally, which makes me all the more angry when the government takes our money to people who waste it on cheetos and beer.
Assuming he pays income taxes, Robert Cook is in plenty of debt, like the rest of us. It was all borrowed on his behalf by the federal government.
I wonder what Marcotte thinks of Bobby Jindal's proposal that the federal government change the birth control pill to an over-the-counter? Saves the cost of going to the doctor and puts the decision in the hands of the individual, along with the cost of paying for it.
But is the government obliged to somehow enable parents to exercise some control over their nubile daughters by requiring it to be kept behind the counter and for pharmacists only to dispense it to girls under 18?
That should be not to dispense it to girls (under 18) without parental consent.
"Robert Cook cares about his money so much, I can't understand how he's not a conservative. We have no debt either and live very frugally, which makes me all the more angry when the government takes our money to people who waste it on cheetos and beer."
I was raised as a conservative in a Republican family. As I grew up I saw the world wasn't so neat and binary as I had been raised to believe, and, particularly, I came to know people who relied on government assistance. I saw how badly and truly they needed it and what a pittance they received. I cannot begrudge people in desperate financial circumstances the little help they get, especially when the real thieves of the public's treasure are the alpha hogs at the trough: the corporations; the bankers; the Pentagon; the war profiteers; Wall Street; and their ilk.
If we were ever to root out the real and substantial theft of our public monies by these big players, then maybe we could spare some time to focus on the chiseling of crumbs by those at the bottom.
France is plying their 15 year old girls with birth control because their economy sucks. It's a plan to compete with Thailand for sex tourism dollars.
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