Great letter, so right on!!!

For some people this debate is about a Catholic institution's right to not pay for birth control, but to me the issue goes so much deeper. Limbaugh and local UR Economics Professor Landsburg don't want to pay for women's birth control. I see other issues, see below.
For an economics professor, Professor Landsburg, doesn't seem to be looking very deeply at the economic impact of removing subsidies for birth control coverage for women. Contraceptives prevent unintended pregnancies: pregnancies that would have resulted in unwanted children, abortions, miscarriages and ectopic pregnancies, all of which cost the taxpayer much more than contraceptives. Every dollar spent on family planning and reproductive health (even if completely subsidized by the taxpayer) saves $5.33 that would have been spent on medical services for mother and child. On average American women want 2 children. Without contraceptives the average American woman would have 12 to 15 children in her lifetime. (www.familypact.org) Does Professor Landsburg think that turning the US into a third world country is economically sound?
Perhaps Professor Landsburg agrees with Limbaugh that “all the women at Georgetown University should use aspirin to put between their knees,” as a form of contraception. This would be laughable if it wasn’t so cruel when you know the hard facts:
The National College Women Sexual Victimization Study estimated that between 1 in 4 to 1 in 5 college women experience completed or attempted rape during their college years Every two minutes, somewhere in America, someone is sexually assaulted. Men perpetrate the majority of violent acts against women. In the United States, 1.5 million women are raped and/or physically assaulted by an intimate partner every year. (US Department of Justice).
What is so twisted is that the words of Limbaugh (for decades) and Landsburg (locally), besides the hypocrisy, create a climate of misogyny that encourages violence toward women. Their words give public credence and encouragement to demonizing, demeaning women.
Think I’m overreacting? I have worked in the domestic violence field for 25 years. Victims tell me all the time that violence starts with demeaning, intimidating words, words that are heard on radio shows like Limbaugh’s every day and influence weak-minded, unthinking men.
In a survey of domestic violence programs in New York State on 9/15/2011 (with 74% reporting, so it is underreported), 5021 victims of domestic violence sought help on JUST ONE DAY , with 449 turned away due to lack of services. This is a big problem! And I can tell you from experience of interviewing thousands of women in Monroe County over the last 25 years, that sexual abuse, including rape occurs regularly among these women. Without birth control, and yes, that frequently means subsidized birth control, women in these situations are forced to have baby after baby, putting even more burden on Professor Landsburg’s wallet. They might not think their words denote misogyny, but they do and they won’t be tolerated. Professor Landsburg, in particular, should be ashamed.