Did we just ring in 2017, or pre-1973?
When I was growing up, I was raised by a brilliant and strong woman who taught me that there was nothing in this world I could not do or could not achieve simply because of my gender. I was raised on grit and grace, maturating under the absolute fact that my femininity did not equivocate with frailty. My gender would never be a punching bag. It would not be the punch line of a vulgar joke dripping in sexual innuendos and blatant misogyny. I would not blindly fall to my knees in front of men, because there was nothing more superior about them. I was raised to believe in the Phenomenal Woman.
But it seems that conservative politicians do not share that same belief. My gender has been reduced and degraded to my reproductive parts, belittled to the point that I am seen as a baby-maker first, citizen second. My brain, my dreams, my wit and my ambition, all reduced to static background noise and replaced by the presence of my ovaries. And, with one swift resolution on the GOP's behalf, the foundation of female reproductive rights were violated once again.
On Thursday, January 6, House Speaker Paul Ryan announced the GOP's plan to strip Planned Parenthood of federal funding, as part of their process of disassembling Obamacare.
The motivation behind PP's defunding, as stated time and again by Congressional conservatives, is the fact that the medical clinics perform abortions as part of their services.
Yet, what Congressional Republicans fail to report is that none of the federal funding Planned Parenthood receives goes toward funding abortion services — in fact, abortions are performed off of donations the medical clinics receive. According to Planned Parenthood's 2013-2014 annual report, abortion services made up only 3 percent of the total aid they provide patients. Contrary to popular belief, the bulk of their work is dedicated to STI testing and treatment (42 percent), contraception and birth control (34 percent) and cancer screenings and other women's services (9 percent and 11 percent, respectively).
While Planned Parenthood does indeed perform abortions, what most fail to realize is the number of abortions they have prevented through their contraceptive services. A 2014 report by the institution found that an estimated 216,000 abortions are avoided each and every year because of the alternative birth control methods provided by the clinic.
The GOP's decision to defund a federally-recognized program that has assisted roughly 2,840,000 women, men and young adults in the United States yearly is a gross representation of how out of touch the GOP is with healthcare issues. Despite the persistent denial on conservatives' part, abortions have been federally-recognized as legal and integral parts of a woman's right to privacy since the landmark Roe v. Wade decision was announced in 1973.
The motivation behind conservatives' stance on abortion is simple: Christianity forbids it. But, since when is your God allowed a say in my reproductive rights?
The problem with modern conservatism and Republican rhetoric on reproductive rights is that they fail to separate their theological principles from federal political ones. There is a reason for the separation of Church and State. In a country that prides itself on Freedom of Religion, as outlined in the First Amendment of our nation's Bill of Rights, the GOP's battle with Planned Parenthood is a sobering illustration of how fictitious that freedom is.
The 114th Congress boasted 80 percent men, with women only representing 1/5 of sitting federal politicians, despite making up 50 percent of the general population. When 4 out of 5 politicians in a room do not have a uterus and will never face the risk of unplanned pregnancies, the fact that these same men are the ones deciding the legality of my sexual and reproductive rights is a gross trampling of my right to privacy and my own body.
My body is not a political statement, Paul Ryan.
No uterus? No opinion.
