It has been almost 40 years since Roe vs. Wade established my right to privacy regarding choices affecting my own body.
Instead of celebrating the progress we have made as a free and equal society however, Republican lawmakers are bent on prioritizing and passing regressive legislation to strip women of privacy, rights and freedom. Adding insult to injury, they are doing so despite the immediate concerns of our unemployed economy and warming planet.
Efforts to redefine rape on a federal level, to mandate unnecessary and non-consensual medical procedures that constitute statutory rape on a state level, and to de-fund and block preventative care services at both levels - are just some of the most violent efforts in this Republican waged War on Women.
In 2011 alone, the Republican controlled U.S. House of Representatives took eight votes on choice related issues - the highest number of recorded votes on choice since 2000. Similarly, 26 states enacted a total of 69 anti-choice measures - just one short of the most recorded in 1999.
Outside of legislative efforts, there is an increasingly dangerous undercurrent and tone of hatred towards "un-submissive" women in the abusive language used by Right wing voices such as Rush Limbaugh. This cannot be condoned or allowed to continue on any level.
If we are to continue as leaders of the free world, how can we condone the verbal abuse of women on a national platform? Furthermore, how can we consciously enact legislation that will revoke the rights of an individual in order to protect the freedom of an institution?
This isn't progress and this isn't just about the issue of abortion, this is about the issue of freedom.
This is about the danger of a nation that will put the freedom of an institution before the freedom of its people.
Make no mistake about it - women are being subjected to the abuse of power regarding our fundamental rights and to verbal abuse on a national platform.
As the debate and war continues into this 2012 election, we will see an effort from the Right to change the hot-button issue of abortion and contraception into an issue of religious freedom. Do not let them off the hook for these egregious actions and language.
Remember, fundamentally this is about preserving an individual's right to freely choose - not an institution's freedom to restrict individual liberty. This isn't just a woman's issue or a woman's fight - it's yours.
Stand up and march with me on April 28th in the Unite Against the War on Women March. Help defend women’s rights and pursuit of equality. Join Americans all across the United States on April 28th, 2012, as we come together as one to tell members of Congress in Washington DC and legislators in all 50 states, “Enough is enough!”
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Reposted by Kelly Rivas
