“In light of the recent war on women, we are calling for a nationwide sex strike from April 28 to May 5. All women should withhold from having sex with their partners,” instructs LLoL’s website. “This will help people understand that contraception is for women and men, because men enjoy the benefit of women making their own choices about when and if they get pregnant. Once congress and insurance agencies agree to cover contraception, we will then resume having sex. Until then men will have to be content with their left hand.”
This latest action of the group started with a team of OB-GYN doctors who put up the website SexStrike.org. Annette Maxberry-Carrara, the founder of Liberal Ladies who Lunch, expounds on some of the ideas of the OB-GYN group:
“We are choosing the sex strike to bring attention to the fact that if women don’t have access to affordable birth control, the only choice they will have is to say ‘no’ to their husbands and boyfriends, unless they are willing to have children. Men will also have to say ‘no,’ if they don’t want children. It’s an issue that equally impacts the choices and sex lives of both men and women.
“Our reproductive freedom paved the way for women to work outside the home and have fulfilling careers of their own. Our strike is to bring attention to the freedoms at risk. This is not a partisan issue, this is a human rights issue. There are women and men on both sides of the aisle who don’t want to see women lose access to birth control and their right to choose.”
Enforcing abstinence to draw attention to contraceptive issues has roused many critics. Commenter Terry Thompson responded, saying “Excellent! This is the best form of birth control for liberals there is. See, you had the right to birth control all along and you all were not bright enough to figure it out. Keep up the good work. You’re finally doing something right. This process will also increase the number of STD’s out there.”
Another commenter said, “You can buy [birth control] at target for 9.99 with a doctor’s prescription. I do not want to pay for all you libs to have sex.”
In response to the flack the group has been getting, with more criticism than support on their Facebook page, Maxberry-Carrara has replied:
“They seem to think that would have actually been an option if we didn’t have the sex strike. I find that hilarious! I am continually surprised by people on all sides of an issue who feel they have to resort to personal attacks on people they disagree with.
“To me it is a symptom of immaturity and very low self esteem. Rush Limbaugh’s example found it necessary to call a young woman he had never met a ‘slut’ and a ‘prostitute’ simply because he disagree with her stance on the birth control issue. Why can’t we debate these issues like adults instead of resorting to name calling?”