The term “War on Women” is a catchphrase used to describe all the legislatures that are seen as restricting reproductive rights, mainly through Republican Party initiatives.
To start off, here are some numbers for you: Alone in 2011, 1100 provisions restricting women’s reproductive rights were introduced by state legislatures across the United States. Only in the first quarter of 2012, 944 provisions were introduced in state legislatures, of which half would restrict access to abortion.
The World Health Organisation defines reproductive rights as follows: “Reproductive rights rest on the recognition of the basic right of all couples and individuals to decide freely and responsibly the number, spacing and timing of their children and to have the information and means to do so, and the right to attain the highest standard of sexual and reproductive health. They also include the right of all to make decisions concerning reproduction free of discrimination, coercion and violence.”
To name only a few examples of what these rights include: the right to legal or safe abortion, the right to birth control, the right to access quality reproductive healthcare, the right to education and access in order to make free and informed reproductive choices etc. etc. etc. Please note, that these rights are not only rights for women, but rights for couples and individuals and thereby also rights for men!
What does it mean to have a right? It means you have the choice whether or not to exercise that right. If you don’t like what a specific right permits you to do, then I say just don’t do it. If you have the freedom to be anti or pro abortion for example, what makes you think you can force your political or moral view on someone else by prohibiting them by law to exercise their part of the freedom?
I will know compare the abortion situation in Switzerland and America to try to make a point. Abortion in Switzerland is legal during the first trimester, upon condition of counseling, for women who state that they are in distress. It is also legal with medical indications – threat of severe physical or psychological damage to the woman – at any later time. Health insurance is compulsory for all people living in Switzerland and abortions are covered. Persons performing illegal abortions are subject to payment of a monetary penalty or imprisonment of up to five years. A woman who procures an illegal abortion is subject to a payment of a monetary penalty or imprisonment of up until three years.
Abortion in the United States has been legal in every state since the 1973 Supreme Court decision Roe v. Wade. Roe established a “trimester” system, such that states were prohibited from banning abortion early in pregnancy but allowed to impose increasing restrictions or outright bans later in pregnancy. The health care coverage of abortion doesn’t even come close to what we have in Switzerland.
So far so good. But now to the current development of the abortion matter:
In Switzerland the tendency is for even more liberalisation. Initiatives we’ve had to vote on, that abortion not be covered by the health insurance anymore or even that abortions be banned all together, were declined by the swiss people with more than 70%.
In America, many states passed legislation in 2011 and 2012 requiring women to undergo government-mandated ultrasounds. Some states require women to look at the ultrasound or even listen to the heart beat. In some cases women are forced to undergo transvaginal ultrasounds. In February 2011, South Dakota state legislators considered a bill that would change that state’s definition of justifiable homicide to allow the killing of abortion providers. A Kansas bill passed March 2012 requires doctors to warn women seeking abortions that they are linked to breast cancer, a claim that has been refuted by the medical community. In February 2012, Republican Congressman Darrell Issa convened an all-male panel addressing contraceptive mandates for health insurers. The legislative policy initiative described as a War on Women has included a drive to eliminate state and federal funding for Planned Parenthood. Texas, Indiana and Kansas have passed legislation in an effort to defund the organization. Luckily though, a court has stepped in to protect Planned Parenthood funds in Indiana. If that could only serve as an example!
Needless to say, everything that’s happening in America right now around reproductive rights is very peculiar. I will say that I’m not a fan of the term “War on Women”. But when i hear men like Richard Mourdock or Todd Akin talk about women not being able to get pregnant from “legitimate rape”, or when rape does result in a pregnancy, that it was something God intended, I have to sit back and ask myself, if maybe there is something to the idea of this “War on Women”??
For me it’s clear, and all the women and yes, normal thinking men should realize that there’s something cooking here! Both men and women can be pro-life! And there is absolutely nothing wrong with that. But you cannot just apply “your truth” on everyone else’s lives, much less force others to abide by “your rules” by pushing for discriminatory legislation.
This brings me to this years presidential elections!
In a 1994 debate with Senator Ted Kennedy, Romney said: “One of the great things about our nation … is that we’re each entitled to have strong personal beliefs, and we encourage other people to do the same. But as a nation, we recognize the right of all people to believe as they want and not to impose our beliefs on other people. I believe that abortion should be safe and legal in this country. I have since the time that my mom took that position when she ran in 1970 as a U.S. Senate candidate. I believe that since Roe v. Wade has been the law for 20 years, that we should sustain and support it, and I sustain and support that law, and the right of a woman to make that choice, and my personal beliefs, like the personal beliefs of other people, should not be brought into a political campaign.“
At the May 2007 Republican Presidential debate in South Carolina, Romney stated that “Roe v. Wade has gone to such an extent that we’ve cheapened the value of human life.” He has promised to nominate Supreme Court justices who would help overturn Roe v. Wade, allowing the states to individually decide on the legality of abortion. Throughout the 2012 presidential campaign, Romney vowed that he would eliminate all federal funding for Planned Parenthood if elected.
I personally find it very sad, that Romney’s position on this subject matter has changed from a progressive view to what i would call a regressive, unmodernised and outdated view. I truly believe that we owe it to all the men and women who have fought for the women of the current generations to have more opportunity, more rights and a better chance at equality than ever before, to not let everything they went through be in vain.
Women have no right to see themselves as victims here. Don’t feel sorry for yourselves! Stand up and say something! Take action! You’re not week or powerless and therefore don’t get to assume the role of victims. So many men with their heads on straight are fighting this fight with us. And if generations of women could be strong before us, so can we. Get motivated and see this as an opportunity that can’t be wasted! And don’t forget about the respectable men along the way that have been on the right side of history!
Now don’t get me wrong, I see all around me that people are being grateful on many other days of the year and I also take so many things for granted in my life if I don’t constantly make an effort to do exactly the opposite. Being grateful is a lifestyle! It’s not supposed to be something you just do on occasion whenever it suits you. The important thing about this lifestyle of gratefulness is that you live it and not pretend to be living it because it makes you a better person. For example declaring on the social media everything you are thankful for today. Yes, you might actually be feeling truly thankful for everything you mentioned, but the one thing that counts is that you make that feeling of true thankfulness a part of your everyday life. I know that people are very busy and don’t always have time to stop and be grateful for just a minute. But that’s why we should make it our lifestyle to be grateful. We wouldn’t have to take a minute out of everyday to be grateful, but it would be omnipresent!
Political ideas and evaluations of a Law student/non politician! 