I try to stay away from political topics on Facebook. I treat that place as a place to have fun, re-connect, and be inspired, for the most part. I do have another website that I visit to discuss politics. It can be very heated, as extremes in opinions are more prevalent when you can remain anonymous. But I enjoy the banter.
However, in these blogs, I try to get to the deeper meaning of all topics. Last night, a friend sent me a message on Facebook that is circulating. It is an important message for me, and so I will take it here, to my blogs.
The past year, I have witnessed a scary trend in politics. It seems to be coming from the very right end of the political spectrum. The debate, taking place among men, for the most part, is the treatment of women.
There has always been a concerted effort by the right to take away any federal funding for birth control for women. I understand their point, smaller government, though I don’t agree with their position. After all there are women in this society who cannot afford to purchase her own birth control. She may be a single parent of three children already. She may be a married woman who has lost her job and health care. For whatever reason, she may need assistance in buying her birth control. As I said, I understand the basic premise of the extreme right.
And then there is the issue of government paying for abortions through planned parenthood. Although PP only provides 3% of its funding toward abortions, the extreme right have made it out to seem like all women are getting abortions. They suggest that abortions are a form of birth control for these women. They don’t take into account that most abortions are done to save the life of the mother, or because the woman has other things going wrong with her that require in depth surgery that would kill the child. For most women, abortion is a very difficult decision. Hardly a birth control option. But I get their “government shouldn’t pay for birth control” argument. I just don’t agree.
And then there is the “abstinence only” policy that the extreme right has been promoting for the past fifteen years. This policy has been pushed in several southern states’ schools, and guess what? It hasn’t worked. Taking away birth control options for young people has resulted in increased pregnancies and, yes, abortions. We don’t hear as much about abstinence programs anymore because of this lack of success.
But today, the exxtreme right has gained a stronger voice, and these mostly elderly gentlemen who are spouting their opinions are dead wrong, and yet, no one is truly calling them out on it. We have heard from elderly gentlemen telling us that rape victims will spontaneously miscarry. We are told from elderly gentlemen that abortion should not be used in ANY case, and they want to see it punishable by law.
These are but a few attacks that have occurred toward women. It feels like we have stepped back into the 1950s! It reminds me of a song I used to listen to, back in the 60s, as women were first gaining their independence from men.
I apologize that this video plays twice…