Why Women’s Rights Affects You (Yes, all of you)
It’s time to stop with the apathy. Too often when we talk about communities that are facing oppression and having rights stripped away we are met with members of other communities claiming they can’t possibly get involved or care because it’s “not my place” or “this doesn’t affect my life”. History has shown when one group falls we all fall, and right now we are watching women fall.
I know writers like me are really drilling the significance of abortion bans into the ground and I know people are becoming numb towards claims that the United States is becoming Gilead, but if you’re one of the people still skeptical of those claims stick with me while I try to explain more. No one wants to live in that world, including the religious extremists who were formerly brainwashed into making it happen. Government control is absolute, you can be killed for your opinions no matter who you are and anyone who steps out of line (not just women) is in danger.
It begins with convincing society at large that one group, in this case women, can’t make decisions for themselves and that this larger group has a responsibility to keep the smaller group safe by making choices in their best interest. Here is where abortion restrictions come in. The larger group has decided to “protect women” by outlawing abortion, making birth control inaccessible, banning talking about their bodies during puberty, and enforcing genital examinations by non medical professionals in order to take part in social activities. What this could look like in the future for men includes a failing economy with many women dying in childbirth since the United States maintains the highest maternal mortality rate of any developed nation and continues to worsen or being forced back into the homes to deal with the increased average number of children per household, birth control options for men including condoms and surgical options being made inaccessible leading to an STI crisis, lack of understanding of their own or their partner’s bodies, and invasion of privacy inside and outside the home.
Everyone likes to talk money so we’ll focus there. Almost 1 million Americans died from Covid-19 in 2020 and 2021 and we can easily see the result on our economy. Everyone is always screaming about all of the help wanted signs and how every business seems to be claiming they’re understaffed, yet unemployment rates are at an all time low. It doesn’t take too much effort to connect those dots and see that taking 1 million people out of the work force in such a short time means everyone has to work overtime to even out the workload. As of 2020 about 24 of every 100,000 American women die in childbirth. Compare that to the approximate number of women in the U.S. in 2020 and you get over 40,000 dead women just from pregnancy and childbirth related issues. Recognize that in the U.S. that mortality rate has been climbing for years and consider how many more women would have died had they been denied life saving treatment including terminating non-viable pregnancies, and you could see the entire American economy collapse just from this dwindling workforce.
As frustrating as it is to have to try and convince people to care about human rights, one of my goals is to help people see this topic from an angle that will resonate with them and make them truly care. If the thought of your mom or sister or daughter being treated like government cattle isn’t enough, maybe the thought of these laws leading to your own restricted life or the collapse of the economy that sustains you will.
