Our Uterus is Overly Monitored
July 24, 2017, CBS News Reports that the 1 clinic that provides abortions is on the verge of closing as there are lines of people who are pressuring women to not have an abortion through chants about them being murderers as they enter and exit the clinic. There are 21 women called “clinic escorts” that walk women in and out of the clinics in a sea of protesters.
Around the US, in 2017, there are 7 states that have 1 clinic open: Kentucky, West Virginia, Missouri, Wyoming, South Dakota, North Dakota, and Mississippi. Women’s reproductive choices are so heavily regulated. Even when women think they have one victory, men change the rules.
There is 1 state that has no abortion clinics – Hawaii. On October 5, 2017, the American Civil Liberties Union filed a lawsuit to help the abortion pill, RU-486, to be provided to women at the pharmacy. This medication provides freedom for women to make choices about their reproductive system.
October 5, 2017, the White House allowed any institution to opt out of including birth control in their health insurance plan due to moral and religious reasons. Trump stated that this decision is really to thwart risky sexual behavior amongst teenagers. For the sake of protecting our teen girls, 64 million women around the US are now at risk of not having birth control funded through their health insurance policies that these women pay for each month.
In 2017, women are fighting for their reproductive lives. It feels as if we are the closest as we have ever been to eliminating the strides women have made in regards to managing if and when they want to have children. Yes, in 2017, policies are telling women that reproduction is the only purpose for sex and how dare they have sex for pure enjoyment.
All of this is happening in the face of the highest number of women serving in Congress. There are a total of 104 women out of 435 members. This leaves 331 mostly white men to determine women’s health care. It is these 331 men who do not care enough to know more about our needs and wants, yet they are making decisions for a country that has more than half of the US population being female.
Women, we are left to do nothing but resist. We can’t afford to be complacent since our very lives are at risk. When policies are now reflecting men’s beliefs about how women are in need of protection and they cannot possibly make decisions that affect them, then women are in danger of being marginalized. In 2017, we need to keep marching and pushing within and outside of the system for people to understand that women are capable of making decisions and can contribute to our society.