There are many questions in the world today, some important, some not. How does one know which line is to be drawn and how to deal with it? I am no expert but certainly have my own take about that question. One clue to what and when to do something is in a letter written by Thomas Jefferson to James Madison.
"I hold it that a little rebellion now and then is a good thing, and as necessary in the political world as storms in the physical."
It is time to take the temperature of the electorate, the American people. There is a huge outcry of frustration, of anger and extremism. People began not to hear each other or not even make an effort to appear as if they are doing so. From Tea Party adherents to those of the left, there was no more compromise, no talking, just demands, threats, and near governmental shutdowns.
One of the top issues and one that is major in my book is that of the right to choose. That right varies with the time and if one examines it closely it ties in with a prevailing view of women. When they are valued, truly valued for their minds as well as bodies, when the highest praise a man can give is not the one that states, "Oh, the glory of motherhood" but rather "Look, at the ideas, the contributions. The best person for the job. Capable of making her own decisions."
After a long battle, Roe v. Wade gave women the right to choose. No longer would they be forced to carry to term an unwanted child, a fetus really, be it a result of rape or incest, failure of contraceptive methods, or a child that could not be supported financially and/or emotionally, or had irreparable damage that in itself would lead to pain and death to that fetus, that embryo.
No more would women be forced into back alley abortions, wire hangers ripping apart a women's innards. No longer would the woman be forced to face consequences while the man got off scot free. Women were coming into their own, breaking down barriers, busting up glass ceilings, valued for their knowledge, their contributions and then.... and then BAM! Suddenly the backwards nations of the world, and even those who were supposedly advanced, those who put women on "pedestals" who worried so much about the "honor" of their women, that they shrouded them up in swaths of cloth, in veils, immured them in back rooms, cut off their education, beat them, cut off their noses, married them off at 9, who engaged in sex slavery and human trafficking - these viewpoints began to surface once more and the attacks on the right to choose began.
Abortion is not a decision one makes carelessly, without great thought. One does not skip to a clinic on that day. It is a major decision and often one must make that decision if sanity is to survive, if that woman can go on with her life, grow, take care of her business, her family whatever, but suddenly, once again the men appear and state that they know best, they know better what is right and good for the women.
So in their name they close down clinics where help of all kinds is given, where women's health is tended to, where women can come and talk to someone. They stand outside these clinics and these people who say they care so much about and for women, call and scream at them as "baby killers" as "murderers". These are the same people who now say with great big steps backwards, trying to run away from their own words that "Oh, no, women must not be punished - just no right to choose." Well, open up the eyes, please. What is it but punishment when a women is forced to carry to term an embryo of rape, a child of incest, a dead embryo, a damaged one with no chance for any kind of meaningful life other than one of pain, when the man still gets away with his part. Trump, who so carelessly said that women must be punished, when asked about a man, said that "oh, no. The man needs no punishment, does not get one. "
Actually, if society would put their money where their mouth is, if they would provide for the social programs that are necessary to help that mother and child with proper nutrition, education, chances for a positive future, then I believe there would be fewer abortions. But no, society just wants that woman to carry to term and then, whoosh! they are gone. Day care, affordable daycare, that is, food programs, help beyond the pittance that a young mother gets as she juggles home and work demands, but the world, these people who stand there and scream, these people who TAKE lives in the name of saving lives - where are they then?
And yes, I know there are good people out there who sincerely believe that they are right, who will not scream but will instead stand and pray, or who might even know of organizations that can help AFTER the birth - but they are rare and they too must realize that a woman has the right to control her own body, make her own decisions and does not need men, hypocritical men, men who will fly their own relative to a state where abortion is attainable but will deny that to others with impossible and unnecessary restrictions, to make these decisions for them, to deem them incapable of knowing what is best for them. They admit that it will be back to back alleys and horrific consequences for women but do they hear their own words, do they understand the consequences and the bigger picture? Nope!
This is all part and parcel of the whole issue of women's rights, here in the USA and all around the world. It is when female embryos are aborted because they are female and then when the sons grow up and need wives, these scarce women are then kidnapped, married or not, of age or not. It is when there is still honor killings allowed. It is when the woman is stoned, STONED! to death. It is when women are denied education, when a teenager, a young girl advocates for education and in return for these efforts is attacked. It is when the candidates for President of the United States think that insults of the wives is the way to go, when a woman is judged on her husband's infidelities, when a woman's clothes are criticized and made to be a major issue, and the men? None of that.
We have a long way to go for equal rights for all, for discrimination to be a thing of the past. For sexual identity matters to be treated routinely and as none of our business unless someone is a crook just as we do for straight people. We need to remember that no one group has the advantage over another in so far as human and civil rights are concerned and no one group has the right to violate the rights of others, no matter what justification they think they have. One day, one day perhaps there will be peace amongst all nations - but it begins with the recognition of the equal value of all. Listen to the song One Day by Matisyahu and perhaps you too will join in the chorus.
Yes, revolution, a bit of it is sometimes needed, but we must look and evaluate and make sure that the revolution is one of positive outlook, of righteous cause and can actually take place within the law and turn bad laws out and reinstate good ones. One day.... but can we not start NOW?
And just by the way of a closing thought: Remember, if one can be forced to have the baby, with no say so over one's own body, then one can forced to NOT have a baby, not be allowed to live a normal life. Ring bells? Scary thought? It should be.
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