STILL BATTLING FOR RESPECT - INTL WOMEN'S DAY

An editorial from the Sunday NY Times stuck with me.  When States  Abuse Women by columnist Nickolas Kristof  draws the obvious comparison between non-consensual penetration and the new ultrasound requirements for abortions. A Texas doctor commented for the article:

 “It’s state-sanctioned abuse,” said Dr. Curtis Boyd, a Texas physician who provides abortions. “It borders on a definition of rape. Many states describe rape as putting any object into an orifice against a person’s will. Well, that’s what this is. A woman is coerced to do this, just as I’m coerced.”

“The state of Texas is waging war on women and their families,” Dr. Boyd added. “The new law is demeaning and disrespectful to the women of Texas, and insulting to the doctors and nurses who care for them.”

As women we are required throughout our lives to have our orifices probed and our breasts squeezed in the name of preventative health and child bearing.  I don't think any of us like it, some actually dread and avoid it.  And, as we  know, the majority of men can't even think about their "junk" being handled by a medical professional, much less having it be an annual event.

Which made me wonder what if anything doctors to do before prescribing Viagra? 

Researching this proved difficult.  There are so many pages of links to sites offering free samples, and cheap Viagra without prescriptions that I couldn't find any statistics or even conjecture on how many men just skip the doctor and go straight for the pills.  If they do go the legitimate way, a urologist performs a thorough exam including a digital rectal and penile anatomy exam.  My common sense tells me most men skip that part. 

Just another example of how it is still "a man's world."  It is harder and more expensive to get birth control, it is getting harder to exercise our legal right to abortion.  We still get paid less and find fewer executive spots, seats in congress and other positions of influence.   Religious  institutions are still run by men who have no interest in promoting or championing women, and, it appears, prefer to turn back the clock and make our lives even more restrictive.

I know a lot of people are counting on women to rise up and fight against all these attacks on our freedoms.  I am certainly talking to my daughters about it, my son, too.  But sometimes I feel so discouraged and beaten down.  Why is this happening still?  Again? 

MORE ABORTIONS WHEN OUTLAWED & A BOOK REVIEW

Abortion rates are higher in countries where the procedure is illegal and nearly half of all abortions worldwide are unsafe, with the vast majority in developing countries, a new study concludes.


Experts couldn’t say whether more liberal laws led to fewer procedures, but said good access to birth control in those countries resulted in fewer unwanted pregnancies.

The global abortion rate remained virtually unchanged from 2003 to 2008, at about 28 abortions per 1,000 women aged 15 to 44, a total of about 43.8 million abortions, according to the study. The rate had previously been dropping since 1995.


About 47,000 women died from unsafe abortions in 2008, and another 8.5 million women had serious medical complications. Almost all unsafe abortions were in developing countries..


This headline popped out at me and reminded me that the lack of common sense behind the US anti-abortion campaign which has made it even more difficult for women in developing countries to have access to safe, affordable women's health services. And their goal to do the same here.

Our continuing course to the obliteration of the line between church and state is the setting of a harrowing novel I read a few weeks ago.  "When She Woke" by Hillary Jordan is a re-imagining of The Scarlet Letter.  Hannah, the conservatively indoctrinated, innocent young woman who has lived in conflict with her strict religious upbringing all her life falls in deep, passionate love with the famous, married preacher of the mega church she and her family attend.  When she becomes pregnant, she has an illegal abortion, is caught and sentenced for the murder of her unborn child and her refusal to name the father and expose the abortionist.

In this not-too-distant future, convicted felons are no longer imprisoned but chemically treated to change their skin color to represent their crime and then released back into the population to survive as best they can.  When Hannah woke following her conviction, her skin was red.

The book follows her as she tries to navigate her life as a Red, which dangerously unlike anything she has experienced in her sheltered life. In order to survive she has to leave her evangelical family behind, put her trust in strangers and embark on a road trip to her freedom. She also has to question the teachings of her narrow, religious upbringing.

I found the last quarter of the book less well realized and the ending seemed to come very suddenly and unsatisfactorily.  Overall, a compelling, chilling read and a call to look at where our society is going.