“It is frankly rather incredible how often the rationale of ‘for the children’ gets used by political pressure-groups as a ‘beard’ for their own barely hidden agendas. I’m not speaking here of liberal ‘progressives’ seeking more funding for the government schools or the welfare system, but of some members of their ‘conservative’ opposition, who are using ‘child protection’ as a cover to block medical breakthroughs (as well as existing methods), intended to shift medical costs and obligations away from remedial aftercare and toward preventative methodologies. What is really sad is how often this sham is used, for purposes likely to be to the detriment of those very same ‘children’ … or how often the moniker is applied to adolescents on the verge of adulthood, in order to infantilize them and make them excuses for further tyranny on the adults around them. Two issues are at the forefront of this: (1) A new vaccine against cervical cancer; and (2) Barr Pharmaceutical’s application to make the emergency contraceptive Plan B available over the counter.” (11/07/05)