Saturday, March 10, 2012  Cough Drops - The Mandate  I hope
everyone has enjoyed the media firestorm about whether the
government should be able to force the Catholic Church to
provide birth control pills to its employees.   I also hope that
you'll take just a few minutes from your busy day to enjoy this
bit o' brilliance from Reason magazine:  Here's a modest
proposal from the great Virginia Postrel about selling birth
control pills over-the-counter:  Making the pill available over
the counter could reduce the amount of outrage and invective
available for entertaining radio audiences, spurring political
fundraising and otherwise amusing the American public. But the
medical risks are quite low....   Aside from safety, the biggest
argument for keeping birth- control pills prescription-only is,
to put it bluntly, extortion. The current arrangement forces
women to go to the doctor at least once a year, usually
submitting to a pelvic exam, if they want this extremely
reliable form of contraception. That demand ma