Angry Voters
As I write this, I will cite information mainly for women in the USA, but it is also very true for women all over the world, unfortunately.
There is a swelling tide of angry women surging in front of the upcoming elections, but it has been gathering strength bit by bit since the Supreme Court overturned Roe v Wade last year. It has grown with each new confusing and right-diminishing law passed in several states. Women are unsure of their rights, doctors are unsure of their duty, and the victims of this legislative morass are women.
The anger is baseline and is focused on women not being represented in the legal process. Right now, even the women in congressional positions both state and federal do not represent our needs as they swear allegiance to outdated and undereducated male colleagues.
As women, we have an onslaught of discrimination on a daily basis. It is so institutionalized that it barely goes noticed. At the check-out counter simple body care products such as shampoo, soap and deodorant are charged more than their male counterpart for the exact same product produced by the same company—just packaged differently. Women pay more at the cashier for underwear and clothing. Even adult diapers are sometimes charged more for women than men.
In the workplace we still only make 83 cents to every dollar a man makes. Our social security ends up being less when we retire. Even women who have good high-salary positions end up paying more percentage wise than their male counterparts who have reached and surpassed the cap. Single moms often end up working two or three jobs to make ends meet.
Those are the institutional slights we have put up with for years. All for the almighty profit dollar.
But now, the draconian laws being passed are affecting the rights of women who even assist other women to get an abortion. And there is a rich vs poor double standard there as well. The richer can afford to go to a place and get a safe abortion. The poor cannot.
I speak from a very unique perspective of someone who grew up without Roe, saw Roe passed, and then saw it overturned. In some states now, miscarriages can be investigated as a crime. In one state they require girl athletes to register their periods, or they cannot play.
Now the Supreme Court of Alabama ruled on February 16 that human embryos, even those in the suspended development of a deep freeze, are “children” under the state’s Wrongful Death of a Minor Act. We can’t count on the courts to straighten out the constitutionality of these laws? And as a mother, yes, a stepmother but I am still a mother, and for my daughter-in-law, and my granddaughter I want these laws off of our bodies. We are the best people to decide what is right for our personal situation.
But these rights are not the only ones endangered. People are trying to legislate what we read, what we can and cannot learn, misrepresenting history, the people we can love, what bathrooms can be used, what prayers you can say and where you can say them or demanding that you must believe a certain way. Many rights and freedoms are at risk now.
I am advocating for common sense. To regain our right to choose and to live in a free society. And I encourage everyone to exercise their right to vote their own mind.
This is my opinion and my opinion only and does not represent the viewpoint of Ojo del Lago.
- Editor’s Page – December 2024 - November 30, 2024
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- Editor’s Page – October 2024 - September 28, 2024
Well said. Amen, Madame Editor!