I've always had a strong personality and with that personality means I fight for what I believe in. After the election was over and Donald Trump won the presidency I was upset but after a day of listening to Beyonce I got over it and knew I had to keep fighting for what I believed in which is human and women's rights.

On January 12th, at one in the morning, the Senate took the first step in repealing the Affordable Care Act. How does this deal with women you may ask? Under the Affordable Care Act birth control became much more affordable when the healthcare law expanded the coverage to include many types of birth control. After the vote insurance companies are no longer obligated to provide a no-copay for birth control which will increase the price of birth control. (YAY!!) If this passes, birth control can go from being free to $50 a month or more.

The next four years are going to be a really big fight for reproductive rights. Since the House and Senate are now mostly Republican so passing pro-life laws are on the agenda. Last year Congress brought up a national abortion ban that will challenge Roe vs Wade. They are also trying to make abortion after twenty weeks illegal. Most abortions happen before 21 weeks and only happen later in pregnancy due to complex circumstances. This ban is apart of the agenda to ban all abortions and is unconstitutional due to Roe vs Wade. You may not approve of abortions but the fact of the matter is the government shouldn't be controlling women's bodies.

This right isn't just about reproductive rights. Having a man like Donald Trump as president, a man who has been degrading women for decades makes it okay for men to degrade women. The President of the United States is the most prestigious position in the US government. If it's okay for the President to make degrading comments about women and people besides white males then what is going to stop people in general for doing the same thing. Many women and men are trying to get rid of the gender stereotypes and have the genders equal to one another but this new direction will set us back.

In a very conservative United States we could be going back in time and erasing all the positive strides women and men have made in the past decades. This article isn't anti-Trump propaganda, I just wanted to say some of the crucial things that will be happening the next few years. To all the women reading this, do not be afraid, do not hide in fear of your rights being taken away. Stand up and fight for your rights and for what you believe in. We as women have been put down for too many years and have fought too many battles to give up now. The fight to keep our rights is a battle worth fighting for.