Power Struggle: Creating a New History
Why representation matters for women and the planet
During Women’s History Month, I’m reminded of the challenge my father gave me when I decided to become a physician. He told me that I had to be better than a man because “I was taking a man’s role in the world.”
This is the same man who had strict rules on when and how my mother worked outside of the home.
What he said was discouraging, but his comment wasn’t completely wrong. I did have to work harder to gain the same respect and earn the same pay as male colleagues. His words also made me more determined to succeed. Because these realities are not exclusively mine, and I wanted to fight that injustice.
Women across the United States are subjected to sexism. In fact, according to the World Economic Forum, the United States ranks forty-fifth out of 144 countries in gender equality — way behind Estonia and just ahead of Kazakhstan.
And gender equality isn’t just about the equal pay or professional success. It’s also about political representation that helps advance policies that take women’s health and rights into account.
Yet, nearly one hundred years after American women got the right to vote, less than 20 percent of Congress is female. That lack of representation has real consequences — especially for reproductive rights.
Most recently the Trump administration announced guidance that abstinence and “natural” family planning would receive priority funding under Title X. That policy promotes the least effective means of birth control and will restrict access to contraception for low-income women.
State politics are similarly skewed. Twenty-nine states are hostile to legal abortion. Many states also block access to contraceptive choice. Across the country, there are large contraception deserts that make accessing reproductive healthcare difficult. In Texas, for example, nearly 70 percent of women reported facing barriers to contraceptive access after giving birth.
It’s worth noting that the same politicians who have low regard for women’s reproductive freedoms are among the first to sell off the environment and the future of our planet.
That’s not a coincidence. Oppression of people and nature often go hand-in-hand. The devastating effects of climate change and pollution disproportionately affect low-income communities and people of color, particularly women.
And the solutions to these problems are also closely related. According to Pew Research, women understand that climate change will impact them personally much better than men. And when women have access to effective family planning they can choose if, when and how many children to have. That enables them to better care for their families and face the challenges of a changing climate.
But reproductive choice has even more direct environmental benefits. One of the most effective personal actions an individual can take to address catastrophic climate change is to choose to have one less child. This lowers their carbon footprint more than 22 times as much as going car-free.
Ninety-nine percent of American women use birth control at some point in their lifetime. But to truly be able to choose their own family size, everyone needs access to reproductive healthcare and the ability to choose the right contraception for them.
Doctors like me can help with this, but there also needs to be policies that support these choices. Contraceptive options need to be accessible and affordable. Funding for family planning shouldn’t have political strings attached.
We need more female representation to push for these policies. And that change is coming. More women and people of color are running for office and winning. As we honor women during Women’s History Month, let’s push for more political power — for women’s rights, healthy communities and the environment.
Catherine Thomasson is a senior population campaigner for the Center for Biological Diversity.
