As a Compromise, How About a Federal Sex Tax?

Feb. 17 (Bloomberg) -- Here’s a modest proposal: Let’s taxsex and use the proceeds to fund birth control for women whosehealth plans don’t cover it. Surely this compromise would resolvethe controversy over contraceptives and religious organizations.All women would have access to contraception, and religiousobjectors wouldn’t have to pay a penny.

Before you start laughing, consider the policy arguments.It’s heterosexual sex that creates the medical problemcontraception is intended to avert, so we would be aligning theincentives properly. Moreover, by all accounts there is plenty ofsex going on in America, so the tax would generate a great dealof money. (If 200 million sexually active citizens have sex twicea month, a $2 fee would amount to about $10 billion a year. Ofcourse, we would have to rely on self-reporting, but that’s aseparate issue.)