Before the show "The Handmaid's Tale" blew up, I originally fell in love with the 1985 Margaret Atwood book. I was drawn to the dystopian society that feels more real as each day passes. Tuesday, watching protestors stand outside of the Alabama State House sent me back to the exact moment I picked up the book.
One of the most restrictive abortion laws in the country was passed on Tuesday. Women in Alabama will be forced to carry regardless if it was unwanted, even in extreme circumstances such as rape or incest. Doctors could be sentenced up to 99 years in prison, which is longer than the convicted rapists face.
In the book "The Handmaid's Tale," the women who are able to carry no longer have control over their body. Offred, the narrator, must have impersonal sex with the Commander while being held down by his wife. Her sole purpose is to bare a child for the Commander.
While we are not officially at the point of being forced into having sex, we are at the point of being forced into having a child. As if the foster system is not overflowing with children who aren't being adopted, now the government feels the need to continue to push more children into the system.
It's not just happening in Alabama, either. Last week, Georgia's governor signed to ban abortions after six weeks of pregnancy. The Heartbeat Bill is a bill that prohibits abortion once a fetal heartbeat is detected, which in most cases is before a woman even knows she's pregnant. A woman could get up to 10 years in prison for a six-week termination of a pregnancy. Some physicians won't even perform abortions before or around six weeks, considering an embryo could be so small that it is not visible on an ultrasound.
Why the hell are we treated like property because the governors want to push the pro-life agenda onto all of us? You can be pro-life without shoving your opinion down someone else's throat and forcing someone to do something they do not want to do. Instead of forcing people to have more babies, why not help the babies in the foster system? Why should we not help those who are in need of help first?
Here are some ways we can help, though!
Speak out!
Do not just shake your head and accept. Continue to speak out and fight against this.
Donate to pro-choice businesses.
Whether you prefer small local businesses that help and stick by pro-choice or Planned Parenthoods, donate to these businesses. This will give women a way to not feel overwhelmed or lost during these hard times.
Volunteer at a local clinic.
You can support abortion rights by becoming a clinic escort, assisting women to and from the clinic.
We have to do something. Anything. This is a cry for help. We are too close to the world falling apart to just sit back and do nothing.
