Why anti-choicers are anti-woman

Allow me to make my disclaimer up front – I understand that some people who don’t believe in abortion have honest, valid reasons and do their best to support women in other ways. I really do. This post is not directed at those individuals. Okay, got that? Good, moving on.

In my debates or mere “eavesdropping” with anti-choicers, I often hear that they’re just trying to “save the woman.” To which I say please. You could care less about that woman. You don’t even really care all that much about your precious fetus. You only care about slut-shaming.

Yeah, I said it.

How could I say such terrible things? Let’s think about this for a minute. You stand outside Planned Parenthood, a.k.a. “The Enemy,” protesting and screaming profanities at the poor women who go in there. Unfortunately, you fail to realize or accept that abortion only makes up 3% of Planned Parenthood’s services, while the rest are life-saving exams, cancer screenings, STI testing, birth control (which, hey, prevents pregnancy and abortion), and education. You berate women who choose to have an abortion for a variety of reasons. You lie about pregnancy statistics to attempt to get your way. All in the name of the fetus.

Who needs a voice anyway?

What you don’t do is support the woman, even if she chooses to keep the baby. According to the USDA, “It will cost a middle-class U.S. family about $222,360 to raise a child born in 2009 to the age of 17.” That’s more money than some people will ever make, but I don’t see you guiding these women to a better job or helping them raise their child. I don’t even see you helping women make smarter sexual choices before getting pregnant – in fact, you’re often against comprehensive sex education, which drastically reduces the rate of teenage pregnancy. Finally, you’re trying to dismantle an organization that provides this education and free or low-cost birth control to women so that women don’t have to make that difficult choice.

TRUTH.

But, wait, women have the right to choose? No wonder you hate us.

Celebrating Women’s History Month: Geraldine Ferraro

“Unlike the American revolution, which began with the “shot heard round the world,” the rebellion of Seneca Falls — steeped in moral conviction and rooted in the abolitionist movement — dropped like a stone in the middle of a placid lake, causing ripples of change. No governments were overthrown, no lives were lost in bloody battles, no single enemy was identified and vanquished. The disputed territory was the human heart and the contest played itself out in every American institution: our homes, our churches, our schools, and ultimately in the provinces of power.”

Geraldine Ferraro, 1935-2011

Women’s History Month could not be wrapped up more perfectly than celebrating Ms. Geraldine Ferraro’s legacy. Ferraro was a champion of women, fighting endlessly to improve the lives and increase legal rights for women. She became the first woman to be nominated for vice president when Walter Mondale chose her as his running mate in 1984. Although they didn’t win, Ferraro saw the good in running for office, stating, “Every time a woman runs, women win” (although Palin and Bachmann may have ruined that). Later, when she was helping Hillary Clinton run for office in 2008, she didn’t shy away from the issues of race and gender that inevitably became a part of the Democratic primaries – her comments were repudiated and she stepped down, but she did not take them back. President Obama summed up Ferraro’s work perfectly in saying, “Geraldine will forever be remembered as a trailblazer who broke down barriers for women, and Americans of all backgrounds and walks of life.”

Read more:
Geraldine Ferraro: V.P. candidate inspired a generation of women
Geraldine Ferraro

In honor of Geraldine Ferraro’s lifelong work for the rights of women, let us remember and embrace:

“We’ve chosen the path to equality; don’t let them turn us around.”

The fight to be woman

Photo: Above the Law

In the face of all of the anti-women legislature that’s being pushed through our government, it can be difficult to stay hopeful. Let’s not forget, however, that women have been working for centuries to improve their quality of rights. Below I’ve listed a reminder of a few issues that women have dealt with along the way to get us where we are:

– Starting in 1839 with Mississippi, states began to pass laws allowing women to own property separate from their husbands. Before this, any money or property that a woman had going into a marriage became the property of the husband. These laws did not extend to marital property rights, however – in divorce law, husbands still generally kept legal custody of children and property.

– In 1848, the first women’s rights convention was held in Seneca Falls, NY. Debates lasted for two days and at the end, 68 women and 32 men signed a Declaration of Sentiments, which set the agenda for the women’s rights movement. A set of 12 resolutions was adopted, calling for the equal treatment of men and women under the law and voting rights for women.

– In May of 1869, Susan B. Anthony and Elizabeth Cady Stanton formed the National Woman Suffrage Association. Their primary goal was to secure voting rights for women by means of a Congressional amendment to the Constitution.

– In 1920, suffragists finally achieved their main goal – the constitutional right for women to vote.

– 1963 brought about the Equal Pay Act, requiring men and women earn equal wages for equal work. Before this, women could be paid less, even if they worked harder or had more laborious jobs than men. As we know, the wage gap has lessened, but not been eradicated – women still earn .77 to the $1.00 that men earn.

– In 1973, as we all know, the U.S. Supreme Court passed a law allowing women to have (rightful) reproductive choice – states could no longer restrict women from choosing to have an abortion during the first three months of pregnancy.

Other areas of struggle: Women prostitutes were prosecuted while their male customers remained unpunished (still an issue to this day); women earned the right to divorce in the mid-1800s, but were not looked upon favorably until mid- to late-1900s; women would be prosecuted at maximum sentence for shooting a man, but men would have a much lighter sentence. I could continue on for pages, but you get my point.

We know what struggle means and we can keep fighting for our innate rights. Equality is not just a possibility – it’s our future.

Read more:
http://www.infoplease.com/spot/womenstimeline1.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_women_in_the_United_States
http://www.america.gov/st/peopleplace-english/2007/February/20070226171718ajesrom0.6366846.html
http://msmagazine.com/blog/blog/2011/03/21/how-women-became-citizens-hint-it-didnt-happen-overnight/

Celebrating Women’s History Month: Victoria Woodhull

“Woman’s ability to earn money is better protection against the tyranny and brutality of men than her ability to vote.”

Photo: McHenry County Turning Point

My woman of honor this week might be a little less familiar to you, but Ms. Victoria Woodhull and her sister, Tennessee, became the first women to establish a banking and brokerage firm on Wall Street called Woodhull, Claflin & Company around 1870. It should be noted that this was a time when women were expected to be managing money from the home, not in a bank. This was a huge step in the women rights movement. But this was just the first step. In 1870, Victoria decided to run for presidency – the first woman in U.S. history to do so. Obviously, she didn’t win, and considering that she supported ideas such as free love when women weren’t even allowed to vote, that’s not too surprising. Victoria didn’t let that stop her. In 1871, she became the first woman to deliver a memorial to the House Judiciary Committee – about women suffrage. The leaders of the Women Suffrage Movement were so impressed that they asked her to speak at their convention – the following day. The speech Victoria delivered at the convention catapulted her into suffrage leadership – in fact, she became known in newspapers as “the ablest advocate on Women Suffrage.”

Unfortunately, having that much sway in such a tumultuous time meant that she had powerful enemies, and these enemies didn’t stop until they had taken Victoria out of the game. Victoria was cornered during a speech at Steinway Hall, where she was badgered into sharing that she was a free lover, which turned the crowd against her. Things went downhill from there, but Victoria remains a champion of women rights to me. She proclaimed that women should be free to love whomever they choose, emphasizing the injustice of shaming women for doing what men do without consequence. That’s my kind of lady.

Read more about Victoria Woodhull:
http://www.lkwdpl.org/wihohio/wood-vic.htm
http://www.victoria-woodhull.com/whoisvw.htm

“Women must rise from their position as ministers to the passions of men to be their equals. Their entire system of education must be changed. They must be trained like men, [to be] independent individuals, and not mere appendages or adjuncts of men, forming but one member of society. They must be the companions of men from choice, never from necessity.”

Celebrating Women’s History Month: Ida B. Wells-Barnett

“If this work can contribute in any way toward proving this, and at the same time arouse the conscience of the American people to a demand for justice to every citizen, and punishment by law for the lawless, I shall feel I have done my race a service.”

Photo: ElegantNatural

Ida B. Wells-Barnett (1862-1931)

In continuation of celebrating Women’s History Month, today I’d like to honor Ms. Ida B. Wells-Barnett. Wells worked tirelessly against the overwhelming prejudice against Black people and helped establish the organization that eventually grew into the NAACP. At one point, she left the country to avoid being killed and worked to gain supporters in England. She also worked to promote the rights of women, providing a fantastic example of how feminism and anti-racism can work hand in hand to eradicate injustices.

“What becomes a crime deserving capital punishment when the tables are turned is a matter of small moment when the negro woman is the accusing party.”

Read more:
http://www.lkwdpl.org/wihohio/barn-ida.htm
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ida_B._Wells
http://www.duke.edu/~ldbaker/classes/AAIH/caaih/ibwells/ibwbkgrd.html

Celebrating Women’s History Month: Susan B. Anthony

As we all know, March is Women’s History Month. In honor of women worldwide, we’re going to post about historical women throughout this month.

“The fact is, women are in chains, and their servitude is all the more debasing because they do not realize it.”

Susan B. Anthony (1820-1906)

To start the celebration, Id like to honor Ms. Susan B. Anthony. I won’t always post about someone as well-known as Ms. Anthony, but I felt like she was an ideal start to our month-long celebration. She dedicated her life to the women’s suffrage movement. She and fellow suffragist, Elizabeth Cady Stanton, worked for 50 years to push the suffrage movement, and their actions paved the way to the 19th Amendment in 1920. She’s a hero!

“The older I get, the greater power I seem to have to help the world; I am like a snowball — the further I am rolled the more I gain.”