It's 2016, and as a society, we have made so many great advances forward in things like technology and medicine. While we have made many steps forward, it's hard to believe that we have so far to go. One of the things that we can't move forward on is the idea that a woman's body is her own and that she has the right to choose what she wants to do with it. It's all the law seems to be focused on sometimes: should a woman be allowed to have an abortion, or even be allowed easier access to birth control?
The closings of Planned Parenthood clinics, not believing sexual assault victims and spreading lies about abortion are only some of the ways that women are denied the rights to their own body. Politicians, mostly, if not all, male, have been actively trying to pass bills that would give a fetus personhood, give mandatory waiting periods for those who are getting an abortion, as well as also trying to pass laws that would allow abortions after 20 weeks to be illegal.
An example of limiting access to birth control, would be the case of the emergency contraceptive Plan B One Step. Before it was available over the counter to everyone, there was an age limit on who could get it. Anyone 17 years and older could get it without a prescription at the pharmacy counter of a drugstore, while under 17 years old had to get a prescription from a doctor. It wasn't until a few years ago, that it was finally approved to be sold OTC to anyone, regardless of age, but still with the same price: around $50 for one pill.
It has been extremely annoying, to say the least, to have to watch all the arguments unfold, from people who it mostly does not apply to. There have been a few politicians who have been in the news for saying things like “If it’s a 'legitimate rape', the female body has ways to try to shut that whole thing down," or for failing to understand that the stomach and the vagina are not connected to each other (has he ever taken an elementary school biology class?). It also seems that politicians have their hearts set on not allowing birth control to be more easily accessible, or for accurate, non-abstinence, based education (that not only show PowerPoints of various STIs with the conclusion of "don't have sex") to be taught in schools. Hell, if Congress really was "pro-life," then why aren't single-parent families being better taken care of? How about those with disabilities? Why should Congress have the power to dictate what everyone does with their bodies? I bet that if someone tried to tell them what to do, there would be an uproar.
No matter what anyone's opinion on pro-choice or pro-life is, at the end of the day, we really need to ask ourselves: why do we care if it's not our body? What other people do is not anyone's business but their own. Need to have an abortion? Want to keep the baby? Want to use birth control without having to go through obstacles? We should all be able to have help and access to safe clinics, with supportive doctors. No matter what our choices are, don't let some close-minded politician let you think otherwise.
