A young woman discovers she is pregnant with the child of her rapist. She decides to terminate the pregnancy, and visits an abortion clinic to terminate the pregnancy that she never wanted.
Another young woman gets a birth control prescription, which is ultimately fulfilled.
A third young woman walks into a drugstore after a mishap, and purchases emergency contraceptive Plan B.
All of these hypothetical situations are actually very probable and very common. Unfortunately, however, they might not remain that way.
Within the past couple of weeks, there have been headlines upon headlines outlining extreme changes being made throughout the country.
Alabama, Georgia, Ohio, and Missouri have pushed to ban abortions. North Carolina is said to be next. Ohio is also pushing to limit access to birth control and contraceptives.
In case that isn't bad enough, these laws are being put into action by..... yep! You guessed it. Men.
How does that make any sense?
Yeah, that's right. It doesn't.
These bans are directly affecting women and our bodies. So why should men, some of whom don't even understand what "consent" is, as was made clear by a Missouri lawmaker, have more of a say?
The short answer is that they shouldn't.
Even more horrifying is that many of these lawmakers are using religious perspectives as a means of justification for these atrocious bans. Alabama lawmaker Clyde Chambliss said, "When God creates the miracle of life inside a woman's womb, it is not our place as human beings to extinguish that life".
Excuse me? Come again? Are you seriously trying to use religion to justify your idiotic laws?
This statement very clearly establishes a God-above-all dynamic, putting human beings on a much lower pedestal. This is an unacceptable method of lawmaking.
This country was founded on the basis of separation of church and state., and doubling back on this fundamental United States value is absolutely unacceptable and in opposition to everything our country stands for. Or rather, everything our country was meant to stand for. I don't think it is appropriate or accurate to say that those values continue to be upheld, thanks to the government in power today.
I refuse to be complacent within an American society that moves to implement laws with religious implications and foundations. There is no national religion in America, and that is not for nothing. Combining religion and law is un-American at its very core.
I have seen countless people pushing pro-life agendas through the use of religious imagery, statements, and citations, and quite frankly, this is such an embarrassment. Oh, and by the way? These were men.
In what world is it okay to dictate what someone else does with their own body? How is it acceptable to be controlling what a woman decides to do with her own reproductive health?
This is truly a war against women, and if you don't believe so, you aren't paying close enough attention. Even more, outlawing abortions will not stop them from happening. It will only force desperate women to take desperate, and dangerous, measures, potentially ending in her death. Anyone who was truly pro-life would be valuing the life of that woman moreso than the unwanted, and sometimes unwarranted, fetus.
One of the most meaningful hypotheticals that I have read is the following:
The very premise of this hypothetical proposal so clearly demonstrates the problem here. If men were being placed under the same kind of pressure and restriction that women are experiencing, the outcomes would be so very different. Yet somehow these men see nothing wrong with governing women's bodies in the exact way that they would not want their own to be governed.
Even further, it's as if these lawmakers are forgetting basic biology, or choosing to not acknowledge it. Many people have taken on the mindset that a pregnancy is somehow the woman's own fault, or that a woman who does not want to get pregnant shouldn't have sex. I'm sorry.... aren't we forgetting something here?
Regarding pro-life women, I have this to say to you: if you don't want an abortion, don't get one.
Imagine if legislation was put in place that forced you to terminate a certain pregnancy. The extent of emotion and opposition you would have in reaction to this is exactly the way that women who are forced to carry an unwanted pregnancy full term feel.
If you wouldn't want your body governed against your will, don't govern other peoples' bodies against theirs.
