“Under patriarchy, no woman is safe to live her life, or to love, or to mother children.  

Under patriarchy, every woman is a victim, past, present, and future.”

           Andrea Dworkin

Harsh Words in Harsh Times.

What’s a Nana to do?

I’m a Woman.

I’m a Mother.

I’m a Grandmother.

I’m Pro-Kids.

I’m Pro-Choice.

And, I’m Pro-Sick and Tired of the Abortion Debate.

Misogyny

Hatred, dislike, or mistrust of women, or prejudice against women.

Thesaurus, you neglected to add the “by women” part.

Take a good look at the picture above. What do you see?  I see six White men. I’ll refer to them as; “The Old Coots.” In the middle stands a proud virtuous woman, the Governor of Alabama; I’ll call her, the “Wicked Witch of the South.”  I also see two Black men standing just a step back to the left and right of the group. I’ll call them the “Bookends.” 

Shift your eyes from the main protagonist and study the background faces. You can learn a lot from their faces. Who are these men, I ask?  Once upon a time, they were sweet innocent little boys.

Perhaps they’re fathers, grandfathers, uncles, husbands, and lovers.  Or maybe no one loved them at all. It must feel good to be in this position of power to determine what a woman and can and can not do with her body.  Vibrant, and in charge.

The Culprit.

Viagra

On my second look at that same photo up above, I thought, we have got to ban “Viagra.” There’s way too much progesterone in that picture frame. These guys are bursting at the seams with happiness, arrogance, and joy. They just passed the most restrictive limitations on a women’s right to choose in the entire country. Don’t you love it?

Some will argue,

“Well, the Governor is a woman, and she signed it into law!”

Right?

And, Senator Terri Collins co-sponsored that bill!

Right again.

And, five other Republican women voted for it! Only five? They did indeed. What about the rest of them? Oh, there weren’t any.

 

All Women Don’t Think the Same.

 

Some vote for a Woman’s Right to “Choose,” which doesn’t always mean abortion.

Others fight for the “Unborn.”

Kenan Malik, for “The Guardian,” “It politics, not gender, that creates the abortion divide.”  According to the Pew Research Center, almost six in 10 Republicans believe that abortion should be illegal in all or most cases, while three-quarters of Democrats think it should be legal.”

 

 

• Many Republicans believe the Alabama anti-abortion law went too far when they excluded exceptions for women who are raped or sexually assaulted by pedophiles. Ivy disagrees.

 

• Republicans have been chipping away at Roe v. Wade since the Supreme Court handed down its decision for 50 years.

 

• The latest strategy is to get one of these state abortion roll-back laws in front of the highest court and get it repealed.

“Under patriarchy, every woman’s son is her potential betrayer and also the inevitable rapist or exploiter of another woman.”

Andrea Dworkin

Meet Some of the “Viagra Warriors” for the “Unborn” in Alabama.

And, I mean, take a long look.

“Republicans have ripped off their masks. They don’t care about the health of the mother. They don’t care about victims of rape or incest. They don’t even care about the “unborn,” as evidenced by their stubborn refusal to provide nationalized and free prenatal care.

 All they care about is controlling women’s bodies. Limiting reproductive choice is a way to control women; that’s all they’re in it for.”  Elie Mysta contributing writer for The Nation. 

What’s Miss Katies’ story?

Kay Ivey, Governor of Alamba, never had children of her own. Why? Her choice, right? Perhaps not.  Seth Meyers, Psy.D., a licensed clinical psychologist writes on women hating by women in Psychology Today,

“I find that the majority of female criticism stems from feeling inadequate in any area of life they value highly.  For example, I have a female client who is extremely critical of other’s parenting styles. Still, it’s simultaneously worth noting that she has had great difficulty becoming pregnant and is currently in the midst of fertility treatments.

Women Hating Women.

 Miss Katie believes the only kind of birth control a woman should use is “long-acting reversible contraceptives,” but only after the delivery of a child. According to her, you’ve gotta’ have that first baby.

Intrauterine devices, injections, or implants, birth control, can be more cost-effective than condoms or another method. The state is willing to pay for IUDs. Will these devices stop sexually transmitted diseases?  Nope. Where do women with no health insurance get them?

Is it pain-free to “install”?

Your healthcare provider can insert the IUD if you don’t have a healthcare provider, too bad. It’s a nonsurgical procedure. Katie tells us and typically takes just a few minutes to place in through your cervix and into the walls of your uterus. Oh really? So, it just slips up into your uterus like a tampon?

Does this device also work for men?

 

• Can it be inserted into the ejaculatory duct?
• Will he have to visit his health care provider?
• Will he get paid for the day off to get this non-surgical procedure done?
• Men don’t want vasectomies. They don’t want more kids, and often, they don’t want her to have an abortion either. So, what do they want? Not to mind their own business is what.

Will the state pay?

Oh,  and Miss Katie, the “Wicked Witch of the South,” is pro-unborn but a pro-death proponent.

Me Too Little Boy!  Me too!

Ding. Ding. Round One.

Does It Matter If You’re in a “Vegetative” State? Nope.

• A young woman declared to be “brain dead” in an Arizona Nursing Care facility was raped repeatedly, and on December 29, 2018, she gave birth to a “healthy” baby.   The Phoenix police arrested a 36-year-old male nurse after DNA testing showed he was the father.

 

• Staff members at Hacienda Healthcare told a 911 operator that they had not known she was pregnant. And, that a baby just came out. Was this in any way related to the story told of the birth of Jesus?

 

• I don’t buy it.  The woman’s family claims they were regularly visiting her.  Wouldn’t they have noticed the pregnancy?  How do you hide that from people who are caring for you, wash you, change your diapers, and feed you?  Come on now?  She’s 29  so, either they knew and didn’t want her to have an abortion, or they were lying about going to see her.

 

• Sexual assault on the disabled is, unfortunately, common.  But, many support the rights of the “unborn” over the Mother. Just carry it to term, they scream, and then we’ll figure out what to do with it.  Or give it to Miss Katie or another family. How do you explain to a child that when her Mother was vulnerable in a nursing care facility, a nurse repeatedly raped her?

 Murderers, they called them!

I remember covering these marches for a woman’s magazine, “Equal Times,” when I was 19-years old, and the Women’s “Reproductive Rights” marches and rallies were in full swing. How many more rights will we have to fight for again?  I remember when some Black men called abortion genocide. I wasn’t too interested in hearing from any of them because I knew too many of them had abandoned their kids.  The Women above were covering all their bases.

Millions of women had “illegal” unsafe abortions.

Million used unsafe birth control, including IUDs at the time.

“A woman’s body belongs to herself alone. It is her body. It does not belong to the Church. It does not belong to the United States of America or any other Government on the face of the earth.

 The first step toward getting life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness for any woman is her decision whether or not she shall become a mother.”

Margaret Sanger, “Suppression,” Jun 1914.

Early Birth Control Methods

—My Grandmother had 17 live births. I have no clue how many miscarried or died shortly after their birth.

—My Nana had 12 live births. Again, no clue how many miscarried or died shortly after birth.

—My Mother had five live births. One baby died after her birth, and she had multiple miscarriages.

 

 

Accordingly, Jamie Utt, author of “The Change From Within,” writes, “But we’re saying that the life of the fetus is EQUAL to the life of the Mother. There is no room for equality of livelihood when one being’s livelihood depends entirely upon the livelihood of the other being.”

With that in mind, he continues, “How can we possibly tell a woman that her life is less important than the potential human life that grows inside of her?

Why should a potential human being dependent on its mother have rights that supersede her own?”

Can I get an answer?

” Without the protection of Roe, all other legal and civil rights, are meaningless. If you can’t determine the fate of your body, all other rights are pale.”

A former President of Planned Parenthood

 

The Missouri House of Representatives passed House Bill 126, “The Missouri States for the Unborn,” in a 110 to 44 vote. The sweeping anti-abortion package bans abortions after eight weeks into a pregnancy, among other restrictions, and does not have an exception for victims of rape or incest.

 

The Witch That Got Away.

Representative Holly Rehder, a Republican from southeast Missouri, believes that rape and incest were not reason enough for exceptions. “To stand on this floor and say, ‘How could someone look at a child of rape or incest and care for them?’” she said. “I can say how we can do that. We can do that with the love of God.”

Where the HELL is Dorothy when you need her?

Missouri HB339

Establishes the “Pain-Capable Unborn Child Protection Act.”

Ding-Ding Round Two

Georgia Gov. Kemp signs the “Heartbeat” bill.

 Look at the girl to the left, and the wise-ass “Coot” in training beside her.  Who is the blond chick? Those boys better watch their backs.

Excuse me?

According to CBS, “This year alone, state lawmakers have introduced more than 250 bills restricting abortion access, according to a study conducted by Planned Parenthood and Guttmacher.  And six-week abortion bans, like Georgia’s, are up by 62 percent.

Liars.

My Grandmother and the majority of women in my family, including my mother, died from breast cancer? These women had enough children to protect them. It seems having too many kids could be a problem.

 

Missouri wants all women to have Two Pelvic Exams Before, and then another after a 72-hour wait.

 

 

Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, and Ohio have neared approval of measures barring abortion once there’s a detectable fetal heartbeat.  It could be six weeks, 12 weeks, or in some cases, the monitors won’t register for months. Better yet, the people who claim to know, don’t.

How will doctors know if there is a heartbeat? All women are subject to an ultrasound or visit a Doctor before she could terminate a pregnancy? They’ll be rolling that machine (which is expensive) out to detect a heartbeat the size of the tip of a pencil under these requirements.

 

Meanwhile, while they’re so keen to roll out those machines to record fetal heartbeats, how come I can’t get an ultrasound instead of getting my breasts smashed to kingdom come in an x-ray machine for a mammogram unless they see something a little strange on the film.

When I asked the technician said that it was safer but “too” expensive.  Should I tell the Doctor I think I’m pregnant, and while they’re at it, can they slide that hand-held Doppler and do my breasts for any signs of cancer?

Meanwhile, No money for the Mothers of the “born.”

Research shows that more women have to return to “their” homes because they can’t afford the price of childcare. The Center for American Progress reports that “Mothers who were unable to find a child care program were significantly less likely to be employed than those who found a child care program, whereas there was no impact on fathers’ employment.”

“What we Demand.”

Control Over Our Bodies

Free Healthcare

Respect in medical facilities.

Extensive Maternity Leave.

Free Daycare.

No job discrimination

More spending on children. Less on the Defense Budget.

Automatic yearly bonus for Mothers and Kids-not tax deductions.

We have guaranteed decent housing.

Free Birth Control of our choice.

Stricter punishments for men who desert their children.

Ding! Ding! Round Three.

A five-decade-long argument. 

How Many Women Got Paid to Lie?

•  In 1969, Jane Doe, who lived in Texas, was 22, unmarried, and looking to terminate an unwanted pregnancy. But she couldn’t.  In Texas, having an abortion was a crime unless a woman’s life was at risk. Similar statutes were in place in nearly every other state.

 

•  So Norma Leah Nelson McCorvey (i.e., Jane Doe to protect her identity) seeking to safely and legally abort her pregnancy, sued Henry Wade, the Dallas County District Attorney, in 1970. Note: Turns out Ms. McCorvey recently revealed on her deathbed that to the tune of a half a million dollars, she “was paid by evangelical Christian groups to take an anti-abortion stance.”  It doesn’t surprise me.

 

• In June 1970, with some good lawyers, a Texas district court ruled that the state’s abortion ban was illegal because it violated a constitutional right to privacy. Afterward, Wade (Texas district attorney of Dallas County, where McCorvey lived.) declared he’d continue to prosecute doctors who performed abortions. Sound familiar?

On Jan 22, 1973, the Supreme Court, in a 7-2 decision, struck down the Texas law banning abortion, effectively legalizing the procedure nationwide.

 

 In a majority opinion written by Justice Harry Blackmun, the court declared that a woman’s right to an abortion was implicit in the right to privacy protected by the 14th Amendment.

 

Before the ruling, abortion was illegal in most of the U.S.

• The court divided pregnancy into three trimesters and declared that the choice to end a pregnancy in the first trimester was solely up to the woman.

 

• In the second trimester, the government could regulate abortion, although not ban it, to protect the mother’s health.

 

• In the third trimester, the state could prohibit abortion from protecting a fetus that could survive on its own outside the womb, except when a woman’s health was in danger. A lot of people didn’t like that and spent a lot of their time promoting the “unborn” rights doctrine.

 

• Some states have added regulations that women have to wait 24 hours after “spiritual counseling,” often guilt- based along with watching grueling videos. Do those videos include watching messed up abortions?

 

• Girls under the age of “consent” have to get parental permission.  Some laws would require women to inform their husbands though I’m not sure how he can stop it if she decides to go ahead with it.

Ding-Ding Round 4

• A 17-year old detained immigrant denied access to abortion even though she was clear she didn’t want to continue the pregnancy.  Women get raped on their trek to the U.S. border, and when they end up in detention centers, they request abortions. They wouldn’t let her out without a sponsor; meanwhile, the clock was ticking.

 

• Though a lengthy court dispute, she was eventually granted the abortion after the court ruling. An article in “The Guardian” reports that she, her name was not disclosed due to her privacy, clearly stated that she said, “I made my decision, and that is between God and me.”

 

Let’s start growing babies in plastic bags.

Dr. Sarah Prager, who directs the University of Washington School of Medicine’s family planning fellowship, says,  “Technology and science have given women unprecedented options and control over fertility since 1973. Back then, single women had only recently gained access to birth control, thanks to a 1972 Supreme Court ruling.”

Dr. Prager also states that “A woman can get the morning-after pill without a prescription and keep some in her medicine cabinet for emergencies. Her smartphone sends birth control reminders. Or, if she prefers, a matchstick-size implant gives her no-hassle contraception for years at a time.

Ending pregnancy with mifepristone and misoprostol now accounts for about 30% of U.S. abortions.

How Come, Nana?

I thought you guys took care of this?

Sorry, Granddaughter.

I thought so too.

Half a century ago, your Nana, along with other women, fought so you wouldn’t have to fight for your right to make decisions about your body.                      

         

I’m also sorry.

 

• You’ll have to bind your breast in uncomfortable bras, so men don’t see your nipples and go rabid.

 

• You’ll have to sit with your legs closed tight at all times except when a man wants to look, and even then, it won’t keep you safe. Women in Muslim countries report being groped by men on public transportation even veiled or wearing appropriate head coverings. What’s up with that?

 

• If you dress “indecently” in public, you’ll attract the wrong kind of attention. It’s your fault if you get raped or become a victim of incest or sexual abuse. You were asking for it. You swished when you should have stomped.

The bottom line: You shouldn’t have been born female.

 

• It doesn’t matter if you covered-up from head-to-toe in a black body tent wearing gloves you still run the risk of being harassed, pinched, groped, raped, or attacked in public. Men find you more desirable when you are all covered up I’ve learned. It’s all in those kohl-lined eyes.

 

• There is a risk that you’ll be kidnapped and sold into sexual slavery, and therefore join the ranks of American Women who are kidnapped and sold into sexual slavery. What happens when these women get pregnant? Who pays for their abortions. Doctor appointments when they get sexually transmitted diseases?

 

• You’ll make less money than a man doing the same job. If your male partner leaves you high and dry, they’ll blame you.

 

• If you are brain dead, you run the risk of being sexually assaulted, and no one will even know it until you give birth. It will still be your fault.

Sorry Grandson

You’ll have to fight for your life as a Black Man and for your sister’s right to choose.

Accordingly, an article in Newsweek states, ” The internet is overrun with examples of women advocating for their safety and sexual autonomy.  Gamergate was an internet controversy when women gamers, who started calling out the sexism within the gaming community, were met with everything from disbelief to death threats.” It continues,

“Some men even kill women who reject their sexual advances. This fatal outcome of misogyny is enabled by a society that does little, if anything, to educate men of any age about sexism and gender violence and hold them accountable for their actions.”

Nana’s Advice

 

or

Forever and a day.

Either way, it’s going to be nasty!