Is This A War On Women? What Do You Think?
By EOM Staff
The Republicans keep denying that they are waging a war on women. Let’s review the facts:
17 Republican led states have passed or are attempting to pass stringent anti-abortion laws, including forcing the woman to have a trans-vaginal ultrasound and listen to her doctor read from a government mandated statement prior to proceeding with an abortion. Do you want the government to control what your doctor tells you?
They claim that women “don’t understand” what they are doing when they terminate a pregnancy. We are the ones who get pregnant. I think we know better than men what a pregnancy means. A recent survey by the California State University, San Francisco, followed 467 women who had abortions. They were all offered (not required) to view an ultrasound image of the fetus. 60% chose to do so. After viewing the image, all 60% went through with their decision to terminate the pregnancy. Once a woman has decided to have an abortion, she usually doesn’t change her mind no matter what hoops the government might make her jump through.
Republican Senator Roy Blunt (Missouri) attempted to pass a bill allowing employers to opt out of insurance coverage for “any treatment to which they have a moral objection.” This could include birth control, pre-natal care for an unmarried woman, even treatment for cervical cancer which is caused by a virus that is transmitted sexually. How does this make health care more accessible and affordable for anyone? Do you want your employer to get between you and your doctor?
Republicans would like to defund Planned Parenthood, which provides millions of women and children (and some men) with general health care (cancer screenings, immunizations and vaccinations and birth control.) They want it to close because they think that Planned Parenthood is using federal funds for abortions, which is illegal. Planned Parenthood has opened their books for inspection and no evidence has ever been found that federal funds are used for abortions. Planned Parenthood provides, in many cases, the only health care that some women and children receive.
The state of Texas has greatly reduced its funding of sex education and is one of the states that requires women to jump through hoops prior to terminating a pregnancy. Young women will be much better prepared to avoid an unwanted pregnancy if they are provided with more information on how to prevent one (sex education.)
Now the great state of Wisconsin is proposing SB 507 which is aimed at penalizing single mothers by calling their unmarried status “a contributing factor in child abuse and neglect”. This bill criticizes social workers for not agreeing that children “should ONLY be raised by two married biological parents.” It would also amend existing state law by “requiring the Child Abuse and Neglect Prevention Board to emphasize non-marital parenthood as a contributing factor to child abuse and neglect”. So instead of congratulating these women for choosing not to abort, they are accusing them of being guilty of child abuse. And they seem to forget for every unmarried mother there is an unmarried father out there somewhere. I’m sure that some of these women chose to be unmarried. I believe some of these children live in a home with both biological parents, who just aren’t married. I’m also sure that a much greater percentage are unmarried because the fathers of their children chose to bail out of the relationship. And some of these women are unwed mothers because they left an abusive relationship. Would the children benefit by living in an abusive household?
I work for a small employer in Modesto. There are 13 employees there. Among those 13 employees, I am aware of 5 young children whose fathers have chosen not to be involved in their lives and make no financial contribution to the care of their children. Yet Wisconsin would say that these mothers are guilty of child abuse. What about the fathers? Don’t they bear some responsibility for these children?
Nobody believes abortions are a good thing. But they will occur whether they are legal or not. The goal of both liberals and conservatives is to reduce the number of abortions performed. How can banning birth control possibly do this? How can prohibiting sex education prevent unplanned pregnancies?
When you consider all this information, this can only be seen as an attempt to control women by preventing them from being in charge of their own health care and their reproductive lives.
I’d call it a war on women. What would you call it?
Eye On Modesto 