Buying A Gun Is Easier Than Getting Birth Control


America’s gun culture is out of control. We have seen the horrific school shooting in Oregon at the start of this month and the two school shootings last week. Almost daily there are gun “accidents” or road rage incidents in the news.

To combat and highlight the idiocy, Amy Schumer produced a faux-commercial for SNL on guns. The Weekend Update did a hilarious segment on things that are harder to get than a gun. Humor doesn’t help. Suffice it to say that guns and gun safety are a topic on pretty much everyone’s mind.

Many try to claim that gun control will only harm responsible gun owners. Yet, what about the harm done to responsible women by the massive conservative push to take away their reproductive healthcare rights?

I grew up in the South and still live below the Mason-Dixon line. I know plenty of people with guns, including those who feed their family with their hunting spoils. I am not going to sit here and say we should ban every single gun. But I realized this weekend, it is a disgusting indictment of our country, when I can purchase an AK-47 from the classified ads more easily than I can go get a prescription for birth control.

Let me break down just how easy it would be for me to get a gun right now. (And FYI, I am using Alabama for this example since that is where I currently reside.)

If I wanted to buy a gun:

  • First of all, there are three stores within a 10 minute drive from me.
  • But that would require me to fill out paperwork, and go through a background check, and I’m just super lazy and all.
  • So if I wanted to avoid those pesky background checks, I could just look at the classified ads for a gun.
  • And what do you know – I found out that there is a sig sauer, a glock, and an AK-47 all available for purchase locally!
  • And since background checks are not required for sales between private parties, all I have to do is contact the person, set a time and place to meet, and bring them the money.
  • Plus, since there is no state permit required to possess a gun and open carry is allowed, I could literally waltz on home with my AK-47 strapped to my back.

Yet, if instead I wanted to make a reproductive healthcare decision for myself, such as getting a birth control prescription or (God forbid) an abortion, the entire process gets much more complicated and takes much longer.

If I wanted to get birth control pills, I would need to:

  • Find a doctor who can accept my insurance
  • Call and make an appointment
  • Go to the appointment
  • Pay a copay to see the doctor
  • Explain why I need the birth control
  • (Hopefully) Obtain a prescription for birth control
  • Leave the doctor’s office
  • Drive to a pharmacy that accepts my insurance
  • Go to the pharmacy counter and give them my prescription
  • Hope that it is covered by insurance (though it might not be)
  • Wait while they fill the prescription (or leave and have to come back)
  • Get my prescription
  • Do the same thing again at the pharmacy every month to get refills

If I wanted to get an abortion, I would need to:

  • Locate the nearest abortion clinic (which for me, is 2 hours away)
  • Call and make an appointment
  • Drive the 2 hours to the clinic
  • Go to my appointment
  • Be forced to receive state directed counseling that is designed to discourage me from getting an abortion
  • Be forced to undergo a medically unnecessary ultrasound
  • Be forced to either view the image or sign documentation saying I don’t want to see it
  • Then I must wait 48 hours, which means I would need to either
  • Drive 2 hours back home and then drive 2 hours back 2 days later or
  • Get a hotel room and stay for 2 days
  • Both of which likely will mean I miss work and/or have a large out of pocket expense
  • This will also likely cost me out of pocket to pay for the abortion since Alabama mandated that health insurance through the Healthcare Marketplace (which is what I have) cannot cover abortions.

At what point does the sheer absurdity of the fact that I could get an assault rifle faster and more easily than a packet of birth control pills make sense?


And if the argument by “pro-lifers” is that they are “protecting innocent lives” – then what about the concern for the 33,000 lives that are cut short each year by gun violence?

I wish I knew the answer.

 

Image Credit: ACAOS licenced under Creative Commons 3.0