Prop. 73 is about more than fetuses

According to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services,
over 50 percent of women aged 15-24 using contraceptives in 2002
chose birth control pills as their preferred method.

With so many women depending on the pill to prevent pregnancy,
it is a wonder that so few of them are taking up the battle for
female reproductive health or calling themselves feminists.

Perhaps today’s young women simply do not know what is at
stake.

The debate over abortion has less to do with figuring out if a
fetus is alive, and more to do with government control of
women’s bodies, futures, lifestyles and sexual behaviors.

Take Proposition 73, which would require doctors to notify the
parents of a minor before an abortion procedure.

Supporters claim it protects teenagers by getting parents more
involved in their lives, by allowing the presumably more
level-headed guardians to offer guidance to the wayward, naive
adolescent girls who must lack the life experience to decide what
is best for themselves.

One stipulation of Proposition 73 states that if a girl wants to
waive the notification requirement, she can take her case to court,
where a judge will resolve whether or not she is mature enough to
make the personal choice of terminating her pregnancy.

Essentially, this proposition puts a young woman’s fate in
everyone’s hands but her own. The attitude behind it is that
young women aren’t capable of governing their own lives.

According to the official voter guide for the November election,
those in favor of Proposition 73 hope it will help minors
“avoid the reckless behavior” which can cause unwanted
pregnancies ““ also known as sex.

Did we all get that? The 45 percent of polled voters in favor of
this proposition want the government to have the power to regulate
women’s sex lives. This is really the bottom line.

Even those college women who are against abortion should be
disturbed by these archaic attitudes toward female autonomy that we
are on the brink of writing into law.

The half of you taking birth control pills, as well as anyone
who has ever had a condom break, should also be concerned.

Oral contraception and the morning-after pill (known as plan B)
are also under attack by some conservatives.

Since these methods only prevent and do not actually end
pregnancy, it is clear that opponents have something on their minds
other than “saving unborn children” ““ otherwise
they would be supporting such techniques for their success in
limiting unplanned pregnancies ““ and therefore abortions.

Judging from the current debate on whether or not pharmacists
should be allowed to refuse to fill prescriptions for these
contraceptives, the idea that women are having sex for pleasure and
not for procreation is highly threatening to many people.

After all, if a pharmacist objects to handing a student a pack
of Microgestin contraceptives on account of moral reasons, what is
he really saying?

Young women need to start reading between the lines of
reproductive health and privacy laws.

It isn’t the fetus that conservatives are truly losing
sleep over ““ it’s the sexually active woman.

Cohen is a member of the executive committee for the UCLA
chapter of the Feminist Majority and a third-year women’s
studies student.