I’ve been quiet until now about the attack on women’s rights happening in the US mostly because I’ve just been angry and in shock and disbelief at how blatantly it’s happening. I’ve also been appalled at how there’s enough women who are foot soldiers of the ridiculous religious fundamentalist patriarchy (The Alabama law was crafted by a woman and signed into law by one as well). My anger has just increased as more details have come out and I’ve looked back at the patterns under this Dump administration and now I can’t help but rant a bit.
The simplest way to put my core thoughts on this whole matter is this — bodily autonomy is something that shouldn’t be up for debate or legislation, and people (especially cis men) shouldn’t be allowed to legislate against what others can or cannot do with their bodies.
That’s really all that it should be and I’m being very intentional when I say “others” because bodily autonomy extends not just to cis women but across all genders. I also totally agree with the notion that this is just another manifestation of the rise of the far right around the world, as male supremacy seems to be a cornerstone of these movements.
The hypocrisy of the nonsensically labelled “pro-life” arguments is nauseating, as the only thing they’re pro, is the fetus and birth. This focus and their anti-abortion stance, for a myriad of reasons, is just there, as AOC suggests, as a means of controlling women’s bodies and sexuality. When it comes to things that can actually be pro-life like healthcare, childcare or even just caring about women with dangerous complications like ectopic pregnancy, they couldn’t care less. On top of this, criminalizing abortion doesn’t stop it, it just leads to more unsafe abortions that lead to more women dying of health complications associated with that. Then again, the people making these laws probably don’t even know anything about women’s reproductive health to start with.
Even prior to these legislative moves, the existing anti-choice laws in the US were already putting women in jail for no fault of their own. Now, under this new Alabama law, to add additional levels of monstrosity, doctors can be punished with upto 99 years imprisonment (which is likely a worse punishment than most rapists get), while in Georgia, the…
