Editor,
Upon reading Sex seminars examined by Erin Griffith in Tuesday's Post, I was angered to learn that Ohio University's health center requires women to attend a seminar on sexual responsibility before receiving gynecological services.
As I see it, the problem with this requirement is not that the seminars are offered infrequently, but that women are being denied access to the immediate health care they need. When a woman seeks out a gynecologist, whether for illness, birth control, pre-natal care or for her annual exam, she is already taking responsibility for her reproductive health. She should receive this care with respect.
The information provided in the seminar may be valuable, but no one should be forced to attend it before receiving health care. These seminars should be advertised and available for both men and women who choose to attend.
Recently I learned that the Ohio University student health insurance will no longer cover health care services sought outside Hudson Health Center if those services are provided there: this includes annual pelvic exams for women. I was annoyed when I learned this because I prefer to remain with the OB/GYN who delivered my son last year and who already has an understanding of my health-care needs. I was willing, however, to get these services at Hudson in the future to save money. Now, I must say that being respectfully treated like the adult woman I am is worth the cost of seeking these services elsewhere.
Hayley Mitchell Haugen
hayley.haugen@ohiou.edu
Sexist health requirement
Editor,
Hudson Health Center's policy of reproductive health seminars is sexist, insulting and homophobic. If a woman has a problem with her reproductive organs, she may go to Hudson's walk-in hours and see a physician or a nurse practitioner, but not a gynecologist, who is available by appointment only. To schedule this appointment, a two-hour sex-ed seminar is required.
This policy, which has the best of intentions, places the full burden of the sex act onto the female. Men who have problems with their sexual organs are not required to jump through any such hoops for their health care.
Hudson is assuming that all sexually active women are heterosexual and thus may become pregnant. I find it preposterous that if a lesbian needs her annual pap smear to test for cervical cancer, she must attend a two-hour lecture on contraception first.
Sexual responsibility is a personal matter in which we've been instructed since the fifth grade. As a 20-year-old woman, I don't need to be taught that the pill doesn't protect against STDs or how to properly put on a condom; I'm well aware of those facts. Hudson is a university health-care provider, but I don't need to be told that I can't see a doctor because I don't meet their prerequisite.
This seminar is an excellent option for those who feel they need to know more to protect themselves, but it should be just that - an option. Right now, this attempt to educate is keeping timely and much-needed reproductive health care out of the reach of women at OU.
Rebecca Williams
rw335802@ohiou.edu
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