Marco Rubio is coming to take over the CDC. I expect they’ll welcome him with open arms.
Okay not really, but based on the last week of news it doesn't seem entirely out of the question.
Last week the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention released the bizarre recommendation that any woman not using birth control should refrain from drinking. Yes, women must pick between getting busy and happy hour. And during a recent interview after the last Republican presidential debate, Marco Rubio clarified his belief that abortion should be illegal even in the case of rape. “When you find yourself in a crisis pregnancy, that's a very difficult situation,” the candidate held, “But I have to choose between the right of a person to do with their body with the right of an unborn child to live. And I choose to support the right of an unborn child to live.” Apparently a hypothetical baby trumps a woman’s right to bodily integrity in every circumstance, whether it’s having a glass of wine after a long day of work or deciding not to bear your rapist’s child.
The CDC recommendation is as bizarre as it is unrealistic. While the goal of preventing fetal alcohol syndrome is certainly noble, telling all women to refrain from drinking just because they might become unintentionally pregnant is naïve and impractical. There’s also a key step or five missing between drinking a glass of Pinot Noir and, poof, having a baby bump.
The CDC also lists other risks for “any woman” that consumes alcohol, including “injuries/violence” and “sexually transmitted diseases.” Again, we’re missing some key steps here. Is the CDC implying that women who drink are likely to be assaulted? Or be given an STD? Because that’s a whole lot of victim blaming wrapped up in a pathetic-looking infographic.
The CDC is only adding to the ever-lengthening list of things women must do to “protect themselves” from things over which they have absolutely no control. Don’t walk alone at night. Don’t wear a short skirt. Don’t forget your pepper spray. Don’t wear shoes you can’t run in. Don’t leave your drink unattended because someone might drug it. Don’t drink alcohol in case your body might become a sacred vessel. Don’t drink alcohol because someone might assault or rape you.
In this long list of don’ts that women spend their lives fruitlessly navigating, something, or rather someone, is mysteriously absent. Where are all the men?
The CDC has no fancy pregnancy infographic for men who drink. But if I remember my high school sex-ed correctly, men are 50 percent of the equation when it comes to making a baby.
If the CDC is worried about unintended pregnancy fueled by alcohol usage, then why aren’t they focusing on men just as much? Why not tell men to refrain from drinking unless they use birth control or get vasectomies? Why not tell men that if they have unprotected sex their babies might have fetal alcohol syndrome? Why not tell men to refrain from drinking so they don’t contract an STD? Why not tell men to refrain from drinking so they don’t become violent and rape someone?
Recommendations for men to abstain from drinking unless using birth control make a lot more sense than the current recommendations for women; condoms are a lot easier to find. Any drug store, most gas stations, and free clinics are filled with condoms men can buy and use. No prescription necessary.
Birth control for women? Find a gynecologist, drive dozens of miles, get an exam, talk through different birth control options, start the pill, have your body freak out on that particular pill, switch pills, wait a month for it to be effective, take the pill at the same time every day, forget a day, get a new pack, pay to see a doctor every few months for a new prescription, deal with pharmacies that refuse to dispense birth control for “religious reasons,” et cetera, et cetera, et cetera. Doesn’t seem too difficult, right? Teen girls, women in abusive relationships, poor women, working women, women with kids, busy women, essentially every woman, has no time for this.
If the CDC wants women to use birth control or refrain from drinking alcohol, then birth control needs to much more widely available. The pill should be over the counter. We should be expanding the number of clinics like Planned Parenthood that provide contraceptive services instead of trying to shut them down. If Republicans want to see fewer abortions, then Planned Parenthood should be their best friend; it is one of the biggest providers of contraception and family planning services.
This is what the CDC-Rubio world looks like: Sarah is a straight-A student and at the top of her high school class. Sarah refrains from drinking because her uterus may one day house a child. She sees alcohol and runs the other direction because alcohol clearly causes “injuries/violence.” Sarah wants to get birth control for her painful periods but can’t because she needs a prescription without her parents knowing, and the nearest free clinic is more than a hundred miles away.
Sarah decides not to have sex with her boyfriend because she wants to wait until she’s married, a choice her parents and boyfriend support. One day Sarah’s boyfriend drinks a lot of alcohol, gets tired of waiting, and rapes Sarah. Sarah is now pregnant. President Rubio has banned abortion in all cases, including rape, so Sarah is forced to carry a baby she never wanted. Sarah is ostracized by her family and community and loses out on the bright future she once had.
Women can try to follow every single rule given to them. But those rules do not protect them from unexpected outcomes or violence. Women cannot spend their lives living under a rock, paranoid about what might happen to them. Until we address systemic problems, like toxic masculinity, attacks on women’s reproductive care, and violence against women, the CDC is just shouting useless recommendations into the void.
Dana Raphael is a Trinity junior. Her column runs on alternate Mondays.
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