Why is the Republican Party Trying to Control Women’s Bodies?
The Republican Party’s unnatural preoccupation with controlling women’s bodies and the resulting backlash sparks hot debates from coast to coast
Just when you thought it couldn’t get any weirder within the Republican party and the subject of private matters pertaining to women’s choices regarding their bodies, it has. The need to control women’s bodies within the party has recently been at the forefront of the news, sparking heated debates across the country on all sides. So what gives? Why are they interjecting their opinions and trying to impose their will onto such private matters as women’s accessibility to things like birth control? Better yet, why is it any of their business?
The recent flap over the Sandra Fluke case where ultra conservative and right-wing nut job Rush Limbaugh went on a days’ long attack of the college student for merely testifying in regards to the Affordable Care Act that the need for affordable birth control was not only necessary but the right thing to do, all things considered, has brought the topic crashing into living rooms and offices all across America. For weeks it was the topic of discussion at water coolers everywhere as people weighed in with their thoughts on it, many of them as misinformed and misguided as the party’s seeming need to control women’s bodies in the first place.
So what is behind it? First it was the long-standing and widely controversial topic of pro choice versus pro life. But it didn’t just end there. Besides the latest intrusion into women’s lives it seems they’ve become the moral guardians of our sexuality as well. If ultra conservative Rick Santorum had his way, we’d all be barefoot and pregnant and kept out of the workforce so as not to invade the inner sanctum of a man’s world by taking their jobs that apparently we have no right to in his opinion. Where did these outdated draconian notions come from in this day and age? Hadn’t they quit rearing their ugly heads decades ago?
Apparently not. Just weeks after the Fluke debacle came the shocking passage of a bill in Utah deeming it unlawful to teach sex education of any form in its schools. Why you might ask? Good question. It seems the conservative Republican party in Utah in their infinite wisdom feels that it’s wrong to have anything taught about sex other than it’s sinful unless conducted between a married man and woman. What they’re neglecting to consider is sex education isn’t just about teaching young adults about sex. It’s about human chemistry and bodily functions as well, something that all educated people should know about.
When asked whether they had concerns that many kids would not therefore receive any counseling on the subject due to their parents being ill at ease with the subject matter and might never find out about the birds and the bees until it was too late and an unwanted pregnancy or unnecessary STD was introduced into their lives, they waived the question aside citing it was a parent’s right and God given prerogative to keep them in the dark if they so chose. This is astounding and begs further consideration as teen pregnancy rates and life-threatening venereal diseases are bound to be on the horizon in Utah’s near future.
And what about Kansas and several other predominantly red states where they’re fighting to severely limit women’s rights to speak for themselves when it comes to their bodies? A recent sweeping bill in Kansas on the topic of abortion prompted opponents to come out in full force and enraged women across the state, including incurring the wrath of Rep. Annie Kuether (D-Topeka) who demanded to know of them why Kansas legislators had the time to debate bills that discriminated against certain peoples and in short allowed men to dictate to women what they will do with their bodies.
And so it goes that the fight against women perpetrated by the Republican party at the hands of its male members continues to amaze those of us that feel it’s our right and our business to conduct our daily affairs with respect to our bodies and no one else’s.
Sources:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/05/04/kansas-abortion-bill_n_1478706.html
admin @ August 7, 2012