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Echidne of Echidne of the Snakes, while applauding inquiries by Senators Hillary Clinton and Patty Murray** into exactly how the Bush administration might be lumping contraception and abortion in federal rules, reminds us of a joke that dates back to the introduction of the first hormonal contraceptives in pill form: the only “morally” acceptable birth control pill is an aspirin firmly held between the knees.

Which, I gotta tell ya, speaks volumes about the grievous limitations of the conventional 24/7 “missionary” fetish lifestyle wherein intercourse can only occur when the woman lies on her back with her partner lying between her open legs.

I’ve even heard that in some parts of the world (for instance the Americas, Eurasia, Australia, Antarctica, and myriad islands) lovers often have intercourse while spooned together. In which position both partners could hypothetically entertain themselves by trying to keep an aspirin between their knees during intercourse. (The unspoken assumption to all that aspirin talk, of course, being that not only is closed-leg intercourse impossible, but also that it’s the woman and not the man who has to use it.)

Anyway, the point being that not only is the abstinence-only/aspirin-between-the-knees theory of contraception barkingly inadequate health policy, it’s not even credible anatomy!

[** Speaking of which, as Dana Goldstein asks at TAPPED why the sphinx act from Senator Obama’s campaign? Even if it’s busy (he’s traveling in Iraq and Afghanistan) he’s got enough Stateside advisors and spokespeople, not to mention, y’know, actual Senate staff that someone ought to be able to handle this. —fl]