By Scott Tibbs, June 20, 2017
It is a common misconception among Leftists that if the government does not fund something, they are restricting that thing or depriving someone of their rights. We see this in many areas, but it is most prevalent in debates over subsidizing birth control or funding clinics that perform abortions.
Of course, Leftists are wrong.
We even see this locally. I posted my most recent letter to the editor a couple weeks ago. In the Facebook comments, someone said "Get out from women's baby ovens." Of course, in the context of the city council funding Planned Parenthood, that is not the issue. If the 2019 city election saw nine abortion opponents elected to the city council, they would still not be able to get into anyone's baby oven. This is because abortion is regulated by the state legislature, not by local government. The city council has no authority in this area.
It is absurd to paint the issue of the city council funding Planned Parenthood as an issue of abortion rights. If the city were to never give another penny to PP, the "clinic" would continue to operate and the "doctors" would continue to murder babies every week with no interference from city government.
This has been the prevailing argument over birth control as well, with the folks at Salon hysterically screeching that a proposal by the Trump administration "would give employers unprecedented power over women’s lives." This is utter nonsense, and is the perfect example of the #FakeNews decried by the President and his supporters. No one is going to impose their religious beliefs on anyone. No one is going to have any control over anyone else's personal life. It may be that some women will have to pay for their own birth control out-of-pocket. Many methods of birth control are extremely affordable and there are programs to help women pay for it without forcing employers to do it against their religious convictions.
It is really simple, folks. If government declines to take my money by force at gunpoint and use it to buy you something, your so-called "rights" are not being violated in any way. In fact, in that case the government is taking a truly pro-choice position.
