Michigan becomes the latest to join other states that are passing laws prohibiting a woman’s right to choose, right for contraception and right to privacy. Michigan passed a bill that requires women to purchase an insurance rider to cover abortions should they ever think they would want this service if they were to be impregnated by a rapist. Yes, we actually have to plan for rape and decide if the gamble is worth it. But realistically, only one out of every four women in America are raped or sexually assaulted during their lifetime. So, if you are feeling lucky and think you will fall into the 75% of woman that do not suffer at the hands of a male perpetrator, don’t waste your money. BUT – if you do not want to bare the child of a rapist that may be stalking you now, you best invest in the Rape Insurance rider option that states like Michigan are now passing. But wait – these same states are also passing laws making it illegal for this insurance option to be purchased by women in these states. In short, the laws don’t directly state abortion is illegal, they just make it impossible to get one by closing most clinics, disallowing insurance coverages and other such limiting measures.
We are also now seeing a move to make birth control of any kind impossible to get. Being pushed by extreme conservative special interest groups, “personhood” laws are now being written that make it illegal to prevent egg and sperm from meeting. Additionally, there are laws being passed that can even charge a woman with murder for having a miscarriage unless she can prove she did nothing to provoke the miscarriage. Since medical science can not always determine the cause for a naturally terminated pregnancy, it is hard to imagine how quickly we will fill prisons with mothers unable to carry a full term pregnancy through no fault of their own. We can only hope the woman does not already have young children at home, because they won’t have a mother anymore.
I suspect the root cause of this ongoing march backward to the 13th century regarding reproductive rights is yet one more manifestation of the “under my thumb” mentality that has always seemed to pervade this entire planet as regards treatment of females. The source of this way of thinking, and I hate to give it credence by even referring to it as “thinking”, is fairly obvious and not worthy of mention (but I reserve the right to subsequently allude to it). I was raised in a culture of “a real man keeps his woman in line” and have always choked on the notion of the concept. I have come to a conclusion as to why. Either 1) I am not a real man, or B) I am just too lazy.
I have always suspected that if guys got pregnant, you could get an abortion at any Ace Hardware (aisle seven, I’m thinking) and this would so be a non-issue. After getting a vasectomy (mid -eighties) I had a Baptist preacher to tell me I was going to hell because I had thwarted God’s will. I asked him how in the world could a little nothing like me thwart the will of the Creator of the Universe? I’m pretty sure an entity with that much power could reverse the operation with a snap of his/her fingers if they so desired.
Twenty years ago I had two of my female customers confront me and ask me my views on abortion. I explained to them that since I had never been in the position of being with child and never expected to be, I didn’t really have a view on it one way or the other. They said, “No that’s not good enough – you have to have an opinion on it.” So I made ’em a deal. I said, “You answer me this question first and then I will give you my views on abortion. Knowing abortion is against your religion, If you could go back in time, abort Adolf Hitler and save millions of lives, would you do it?”. I’m still waiting for their answer.
I have noticed over the years that “real men” seem to derive some (perceived only to themselves) benefit from their “women as chattel” mentality. I, on the other hand, and regrettably this has continued to stay in the abstract, have spent a lifetime daydreaming about the benefits of a world where women are treated as equal human beings.