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Women’s Right Are Human Rights
A perspective from Laura Stillman
While the infamous 2nd Amendment is getting all the attention these days, the Republicans, right on cue, defend that Constitutional declaration in spite of every reason to protect Americans from the ravages of easy gun access. They will defy any attempt to prevent even one person from owning any kind of gun at anytime rather than recognizing the danger such leniency is creating in places we gather.
We should all be equally passionate about what is happening to the 14th Amendment to the Constitution, the one that has been called the “most relevant to American lives today”. This is the Amendment, passed in 1868, which famously guarantees equal protection under the law, and prevents state government from infringing on our right to privacy. It establishes the sanctity of our civil rights for all citizens.
A woman’s right to choose is protected by the 14th Amendment. Yet the Supreme Court, with its ultra-conservative, religious bent, are now threatening this very Amendment. Red states are not even waiting for a final decision, as they rush through legislation to make it more and more difficult to make a choice at all, or even to be criminally charged for having done so. While women obviously are the ones who give birth, this action by the Republicans in the Supreme Court and in the red states should frighten and anger men every bit as much as it does women.
Since Roe vs Wade became the law of the land (and it still is!), women have had the opportunity to plan their careers and their families, along with their partners, and this opportunity has served America very well. Women have thrived in the workplace, in education, in all walks of professional pursuits, and in their own financial independence. What is not to like about such a liberating experience? Men who have wives or partners who work are benefitting as well with improved family finances, and freedom to enjoy a better life. How do they feel about the fact that red states for now, and perhaps others at some point, will demand that these women give birth no matter what, perhaps leaving the workforce for long periods of time or not able to return at all? That has an enormous impact on men and they should be joining the fight to protect every American’s right to privacy. In addition, businesses and corporations depend on women to staff the workplace and to bring their expertise and perspective to the economy. It is going to hurt, mightily, if more women are forced to stay out of the workforce to bear children and assume the primary responsibility for childcare. And let’s not kid ourselves about what women do in America: Very few are at the top of the corporate ladders, and most of the lowest-income jobs are performed everyday by women – whether it’s in healthcare, hospitality services, or in the schools. Who, really, will replace all of these workers if they are forced to complete their pregnancies, even multiple times, and stay at home? That will be an impossible task to find enough men who are willing and able to take these jobs on. This is yet another unintended consequence of this un-American and un-democratic opinion by the Supreme Court.
Why should men care? Because not only will their own personal lives be disrupted, but the Supreme Court and its allies in red states will not stop at abortion. They can use the same twisted logic to go after contraception, interracial marriage, gay marriage, and whatever else their religious bias finds abhorrent.
Think about it: Over 60% of the gun owners, and thus the proponents of the 2nd Amendment as if it were the Bible, are men. No wonder that the Republicans dig so deeply to oppose any changes. They could care less about the 14th Amendment and trampling it to push an anti-abortion agenda. They love to pick on women, the most vulnerable, and the least empowered. Don’t be fooled, though. They won’t stop once they have women under their thumbs. This fight is real, and it calls for everyone to join women in opposing the misguided overreach of a government who is hell-bent on forcing the rest of us to go along with their world view or else. Your wives, partners, sisters, daughters, and granddaughters need you now more than ever. Women’s rights are human rights.
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