SUPREME'S BUFFER ZONE MORE IMPORTANT TO NATION THAN WOMEN'S RIGHTS

Justice Roberts (photo courtesy of Business Week).

Justice Roberts, in response to the question of whether it is problematic to enjoy a 98 foot buffer zone around the Supreme Court while striking down a 35 foot buffer zone for women entering or leaving a women's health clinic, said, not at all, and that it "prevents the appearance of the court as a body swayed by external influence."

He characterizes abortion clinic protesters not as protesters, but as "counselors who seek to engage in personal, caring, consensual conversations with women." And it's obvious, isn't it, that one cannot have a personal, caring, consensual conversation from 35 feet away?

I am disgusted by Roberts' lack of rational thought. He clearly disregarded everything said during arguments in defense of the buffer zone. He clearly thought he knew better, and was more informed of the reality of what women endure when trying to access a women's health clinic than he is. Roberts' statements also make clear his antipathy for women, and for a woman to make a decision about her reproductive health and destiny. Does he think that allowing "sidewalk counselors" (who "advocate" against baby killing with horrid pictures and harsh words of damnation) access to women seeking birth control is going to SWAY them? If so, it is apparent he believes that women need to be swayed.

With his statements, Roberts expresses his underlying belief that women are incapable of acting in their own best interests, or staying the course they've chosen. Women must be both stupid and impressionable. By assuming that protesters intend to engage in meaningful and consensual conversations, and that it may persuade a woman to change her mind about seeking an abortion, he assumes the best about protesters and the worst about women.

After the birth of my son, I had several miscarriages. The last one was particularly awful because my body did not reject the non-viable fetus. That's right. I had a fetus in my womb that was not alive. No fetal heartbeat. My doctor told me my body would reject it, but it wasn't happening. I called the doctor about two weeks later to schedule a D&C (also known as an abortion). My husband and I were sent to the same clinic that performs abortions in our area.

I think it's safe to say my procedure was NOT an abortion in the common use of the word. I think it's safe to say the procedure was medically necessary to prevent my body from going through a complete pregnancy which, because the fetus was dead, was not healthy for me (especially because the birth of my son resulted in primary high blood pressure - 180/120 - stroke numbers). 

Yet, as we walked to the entrance, protesters pressed horrible pictures into my hands; they hollered at me and my husband; they tried to block our ingress to the building bodily, and they moralized. Oh, how they moralized! These people thought they had a right to tell us we were bad people for killing our baby, even though they had absolutely no idea why we were there that day.

So, it is from personal experience that I can assure readers that those people who tried to intimidate me, those fools who knew nothing about me or my circumstances, those aggressive, mean-spirited people trying to impose their will on me, had NO relation to caring people whatsoever. There was no indication of any wish to provide counsel or communicate facts or even beliefs held dear. Their goal was to stop me from entering that building at any cost. They did not care about my doing the "right thing," only that they prevented me from doing the "wrong thing." They are the most self-centered, illogical, self-righteous idiots I have ever seen. They do not protest so much as delight in causing other humans pain and misery. It is my considered opinion that such protesters only feel like it's been a good day when they know they've made women cry, and men angry, and made several people lose their cool.

(I felt pity for any teenage girl trying to pass through the gauntlet I endured. To think she might have to visit the clinic more than once while addressing her gynecological health was outrageous. More than one visit is often necessary if dealing with birth control, STD's, pre-natal appointments, follow-up exams . . . so many things other than abortion.)

As mentioned, my fetus was dead already. Sure, the protesters had no idea. But isn't that the point? That I have a right to seek medical care for reasons of my own, without being harassed and abused by strangers? That if they really, really care about me, and want to counsel me, they would not have behaved with such extreme hostility?

Those people enjoyed my distress, and were tickled to think they had provoked it.

My ugly ordeal, from learning my baby was not going to be born, that my son wasn't going to have a little sister or brother, to facing the bitter hatred of the protesters, occurred before Hill v. Colorado, the first case upholding the notion of an 8 foot buffer zone around women's health clinics. Looking back to that period, I recall murders of abortion doctors and nurses, violence by protesters, and the real worry that women's rights were being completely overlooked. I would have loved being allowed the dignity 8 feet can provide as I lived through that day.

I honestly believe that my right to travel to and from a medical facility are at least as important as the right of a Supreme Court Justice to travel to and from their place of work. I think the staff of women's health clinics have just as much a right to get to their place of work as the Justices do. It is ONLY the entitled ego of Justice Roberts that tells him his right is greater than the rights of others to do the same thing -- to go to work unmolested . . . to live their lives unmolested.

Dear Justice Roberts, 

Climb down off your gilded pedestal and rejoin the world, please, and start looking out for the people of the country. We ought to be able to rely on you to think of the greater good, and not your own biases, when considering any issue of our rights. We ought to be able to rely on you to ferret out facts, if needed, rather than being swayed by emotions and personal beliefs. Worse still, you give the appearance of having been SWAYED by corporate interests, and it pisses us off.

Sincerely,

America

FEW ORGANISMS CAN ASEXUALLY REPRODUCE...

...AND NONE OF THEM ARE WOMEN!

I get tired. Tired of reading about how women are such hoochie-mamas these days. About how women are selfish and we all want something for nothing. About how women want "free birth control" because they can't keep their knees together.

Babies aren't the result of asexual reproduction. Babies don't appear as if by magic. Babies aren't brought by the stork.

Men have as big a stake in the event of pregnancy as women.

But no one mentions that.

There are several categories of men, and many men who can't be easily categorized. Think about it:

• A responsible family man realizes the limits of his (or their) earnings, generally, and has an idea of how many children he (or they) can afford. This category can be broken down further; a family man who is also devoted to his wife, or one who is not, a group that can be divided further into those who remain in a relationship with the mother, and those who do not.
• Any disaffected dad soon realizes that parenting doesn't get easier from outside the home. And he is heartbroken because he was left, or begins to regret doing the leaving. And it's expensive. 
• Deadbeat dads are a category worth bringing up. There are plenty of them, though they haven't been mentioned in regard to the birth control debate. This category can be further split into those who flee the state each time a garnishment order is placed on earnings, and those who don't flee, and can't imagine how they will dig themselves out of the hole they've created by getting in arrears of child support. Oh, and some of them manage to work for cash, screwing the woman who raises his child, the child, and the taxpayers who fund the government to take care of the kids and help support the mother.

If you want to talk about welfare moms, you should be willing to understand that it is also the obligation of fathers to take responsibility for the children they create. It's high time we take a good look at the consequences that result when a father won't be a dad.

Fatherless children are likelier to live in poverty. Single mothers often rely heavily on public assistance and social welfare programs. These humans, these mothers and children, bear the stigma of "our" rage at the "takers," those who don't take "personal responsibility" for themselves, and who take advantage of us "decent, hard-working, taxpaying citizens."

Single mothers don't spring into life without the help of the man who planted his seed.

SO I SAY, MEN HAVE AS BIG A STAKE IN THE EVENT OF PREGNANCY AS WOMEN.

Characterizing all women who believe in the importance of easy-to-get, affordable contraception as sluts really isn't doing much good for the overall relationship between the sexes. Slut-shaming is all around us, and it is now being directed at women because they express concern about losing control of their reproductive health and choices. No, not overtly and IN YOUR FACE like... Worse. It's sneaky and passive aggressive instead.

A friend I really like asked me what the big deal is that Hobby Lobby won't "cover" 4 of the 20 "FDA approved" methods of birth control mandated under the ACA. He said women want it both ways: we want the birth control and we want somebody else to pay for it. He made other comments, none of them a direct insult. He just knows that I, and women who think like I do, am wrong morally, logically, emotionally. The words "crying" and "selfish" came up, but not directed AT me. The argument that religious views are more right and valuable than the way the left sees things was mentioned. The assertion that birth control IS affordable tied back to the selfish characterization. The fact that he'd paid out of pocket for his vasectomy was brought up repeatedly, to contrast with how unrealistic and selfish women are. Or to illustrate how things "should" be done. It was stated that a woman doesn't have to keep her job if she is so mistreated...

But aren't all those arguments pretty self-righteous, instead of realistic? Aren't they short-sighted, and especially unforgiving of women? Don't they completely leave out the importance of men in every possible way, from the sex to the parenting and financial stability of the child? Don't such arguments punish women for allowing men to have sex with us? If women are sluts who get pregnant and just take from society, what are the men who don't contribute to the financial health of the mom and child? What should they be called?

Since men have as big a stake in the event of pregnancy as women do, why aren't men speaking up about how access to affordable birth control benefits them, too?

Men, too, benefit from sharing in the reproductive choices that affect the union of marriage and the health of the family. Men do better when they have a say about how many children the family can afford. And single men who actively participate in being sure they don't become daddies definitely benefit from affordable, available birth control.

So who wants to start talking about how much MEN need birth control, too?

Image: Asexual Reproduction in Plants Wikispaces.com

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You Can't Be Pro-Life AND Anti-Women's Healthcare

(Photo courtesy of Flickr.)

Abortion has become an issue fraught with venom. People who are against the medical procedure moralize and want to penalize abortion providers, as well as those who have the procedure.  On the other side, Americans who want to continue to allow this Constitutionally protected procedure find themselves demonized by the right.

One would think we have no alternative to abortion for preventing pregnancy.

Aha!  Birth control is a reliable way to prevent pregnancy, but it also has come under the scrutiny of the right.  Historically, the Catholic Church opposed ANY use of birth control. In modern times however, even the Church has taken a less rigid stance, choosing instead to just keep mum.

At the heart of the issue today are the ultra right wing Christian corporatists, who view it as their right to dictate what treatments can be covered by insurance.  Apparently, by virtue of employing you, the Hobby Lobby lobby feels entitled to make your reproductive health choices for you.

Meanwhile, affordable, accessible birth control becomes more and more a thing of the past for some women.  In rural east Texas for example, the right wing 'minding-your-business-for-you' faction has shuttered every single provider of reproductive health services for low-income women, just because SOME of the services they provide relate to abortion.  What about cancer screenings?  What about pre-natal care?  What about a place to pick up free condoms, for that matter?

Places that allowed themselves to moralize away health care for women are likely to see huge increases in their state budget in the coming years. It is also likely they will be unhappy with the consequences of their own actions.  

Funds will be needed for:

• Additional pre-natal care, and labor and delivery costs;
• Feeding additional kids and larger families;
• Welfare programs, in lieu of significant improvement of employment opportunities;
• Child care for the lucky women who manage to get a minimum wage job, since she won't be able to pay the bill;
• Public education, and more schools and teachers; and
• Health care for children.

All of these areas will become more urgent as some states come face to face with their decision to make women’s health care unavailable to millions.  Women with advanced breast and cervical cancer diagnoses will come to the state for help, too late in receiving a diagnosis to make treatment affordable or effective. Advanced disease is very costly to care for, as common sense tells us.

States who failed women are going to see what their actions have brought to bear.  Failing to care for women is mean and unforgivable….and it will end up blowing budgets in many states across America.

It's a fact:

WOMEN'S RIGHTS: IMPORTANT FOR EVERYONE

The simple phrase "Women's Rights" tends to make so many from the right jump straight into their "baby murder" response.  But Women's Rights are about so much more than abortion.

This is a reflection on women's rights, and what they mean to all of us.

WOMEN'S RIGHTS INCLUDE:

EQUAL PAY 

• Republicans vote against equal pay every chance they get...ALL OF THEM
• Equal pay relates to the full range of payments and benefits, including basic pay, non-salary pay, bonuses and allowances
• Women pay the same job related expenses as their male peers do, such as gas, parking, car repairs, etc.
• Single women often have additional expenses that their single male peers don't tend to have, like child care

EQUAL RETIREMENT

• By virtue of earning less than men, women's social security and medicare accounts are robbed of legitimate funds meant to help in retirement
• Women tend to live longer than men, with fewer resources
• Not all grannies want to shack up with an old coot to make ends meet

EQUAL OPPORTUNITIES

• Women are heads of household, women are sole providers for their families, women carry the responsibility of providing when men leave, and are therefore deserving of equal opportunities for advancement in the work-place, and equal opportunities in hiring practices

BIRTH CONTROL

• Oral contraceptives are commonly used to treat endometriosis, hypermenorrhea, dysmenorrhea, polycystic syndrome, acne, among other things
• Only 42% of women using oral contraceptives use the pill exclusively for preventing pregnancy (Beyond Birth Control: The Overlooked Benefits of Oral Contraceptive Pills, by Rachel K. Jones of the Guttmacher Institute)
• Studies show that improved access to birth control lowers rates of abortions (and that when abortion is legal, the number of abortions performed does not increase)

ACCESS TO HEALTH CARE

• Women need health care that men don't throughout their lives (the same is of course true for men, but no one is having a problem with paying for or allowing access to care that is specific to men)
• Breast cancer, cervical cancer, etc. screenings and treatment must be available to women from every economic class
• Equal access to gender specific care, just like men
• Insurance is paid for by all policy holders, and authorized procedures ought to be paid to providers without consideration of gender
• Men aren't really "paying for" women's health care any more than they ever have just as women continue to "pay for" men's health care (it's how insurance works)
• D&C is a legitimate medical procedure that does more than abort, and opponents of abortion do not give consideration to the fact that D&C is used to treat any number of medical issues

SEXUAL VIOLENCE AGAINST WOMEN

• Despite the awful, misogynistic things said publicly by Republicans (Akin - there's no such thing as legitimate rape), rape is a violent crime
• Rape is about power and control, not sex
• Rape can and does happen within the marital relationship
• Rape doen't happen because of what a woman wears, how she acts, or any other "reason," it is the fault of the rapist
• Rape is under-reported in large part because of how men react when "their" woman is the victim
• Rape is under-reported because of a presumed social stigma that SHOULD be borne by the rapist, not the victim
• We all have a responsibility to make sure our local law enforcement officials KNOW it is our priority to prosecute rape, as a community
• Rape is committed against boys and men, as well, and how we as a country address the issue of rape will help ALL victims

SEXUAL VIOLENCE IN THE MILITARY

• All women deserve a workplace free from sexual violence
• The reported events of rape in the military do not reflect the actual occurrence of rape because of under-reporting
• There continues to be a lack of understanding, even by women, about the occurrence of rape in the military (Liz Trotta, an American journalist, criticized departments created to "support women in the military who are now being raped too much," which speaks to the complete disconnect between what rape is, and what a reasonable response to rape is)
• Women who protect the freedom of Americans must be protected from those among their peers and superiors who would attempt to victimize them

SEXUAL HARASSMENT

• Women do not deserve to be belittled, bothered, or disrupted during the course of their day
• Sexually charged comments have no place in common discourse, or from strangers
• Harassment is often meant to "put you in your place," or to establish the male dominant world view that makes some men feel satisfied
• Harassment is not far removed from sexual violence, in that it is also intended to make women uncomfortable, ill at ease, or defensive

VOTER ID LAWS THAT DISCRIMINATE AGAINST WOMEN

• Voter ID laws requiring the name to be exactly the same on all other ID's have a disproportionate impact on female voters because of name changes due to marriage and divorce
• Women vote more than men do, and preventing women from voting benefits the GOP and TP platforms
• Out-of-state students tend not to have proper voter ID's since they are still citizens of their home state and since there are more women in American colleges than men, the impact on female students is greater
• Poor people have more trouble staying informed about new voter ID laws, they tend to have more trouble with transportation and with having cash on hand to purchase ID's or the records needed to get ID's that satisfy new ID laws, and since more women are poor than men, new voter ID laws impact women more than men

This is by no means a complete list of women's rights, or the ways in which they affect us.  When women's rights are ensured, the rights of others are protected, as well, so it is good for women, good for men, and good for the country to protect women's rights.

image credit Ursulinemagazine