Letter to the Editor: Women’s rights are on the chopping block
Mail-in ballots will be delivered in a few days, and as polling stations for midterms open nationwide, women’s rights are on the chopping block!
Fifty years ago, a woman’s Constitutional right to make her own reproductive choice was affirmed by the Supreme Court. This year, with the Dobbs v Jackson decision, and for the first time in history, a settled Constitutional Right was reversed by a decidedly partisan, conservative court. The conservative justices supporting that decision were appointed by three Republican presidents, two of whom did not even win the popular vote (due to the racist, non-democratic Electoral College). The results are catastrophic, leaving abortion access, for the moment, in the hands of the individual states. But this is only the beginning!
Republican appointed members of the Supreme Court have indicated that access to contraception may be the next target of the Supreme Court. Republican members of Congress are proposing bills which will ban access to abortion nationwide. This will affect all women in every state, even here in California. States with Republican legislatures have gone so far as to ban access to abortion in all circumstances, even if a pregnancy is due to incest, rape, or threatens the life of the mother. The civil rights of the woman or victimized child have no relevance, because they no longer exist. There can be no liberty or freedom for women without reproductive choice! Women who have lost personal autonomy over reproductive choice have been relegated to second class citizens!
History tells us that when a woman loses her personal autonomy in a chauvinistic, misogynistic society, other standards of gender equality also fall. Equal pay, equal opportunity, respect in the workplace including opportunity for advancement further victimizes women.
The loss of reproductive choice does not only affect women, it also affects their families. If the far right and evangelical religious right prevails, husbands and wives may not be able to plan for the size of their family. If access to contraception is lost, the economic security of their family is at risk. Regardless of the love you have for your child, additional children require additional care and cost. These needs could lead to the loss of economic income if a parent must leave the work force to care for the young child. Women’s careers will be disrupted and the income they provide will be tenuous. This is not the future we want for our daughters, sisters and working mothers!
Who you vote for in the midterms will determine the future of women in America! When you vote this November, and voting is critical at this juncture, vote for candidates who will protect a woman’s right to personal autonomy and a “Right to Choose”!
Congressional candidate Dr. Kermit Jones supports a woman’s right to control her own body! Both Dr. Kermit Jones and Belle Sandwith, who is running for State Assembly, will protect women’s rights! Please vote for Belle and Kermit!
Faith Strailey
Quincy