As I sit here waiting for word from Mississippi...I am a mix of emotions. I am anxious, scared, hopeless, angry and determined. The idea that a group of men think they have the right to control my womb - is insulting, degrading and infuriating. I realize this vote is only binding in Mississippi - but don't think for one second that these "Personhood" groups will stop there. They are an insidious outgrowth of the anti-abortion fringe. Their goal - to make women slaves to their reproductive capacity.
I CONTROL MY UTERUS - NOT THE OTHER WAY AROUND!
It is patently ridiculous that in a state as poverty stricken as Mississippi that this would even been thought about! What they need is more sex ed, more use of birth control and more assistance for the families stuck in the cycle of poverty. Their infant and maternal mortality rates are a joke, yet every woman should have to carry any egg is fertilized to term, or die trying.
Let's be perfectly clear - those of the Personhood movement, those of the anti-abortion movement - could care less about the poor, the disadvantaged, the handicapped - because well, they aren't politically divisive. These types of issues are nothing more than a rallying cry for their base, so that while doing all these things - they can get their ultra right-wing, uber-pro-business-at-all-costs-corporations-are-people candidates elected. Think about it - if it was geniunely a concern for human life - why would they be working against health care reform, against public education, hell - even some of the "pro-life" people are anti-pell grant!
I fear that if *we* (I mean all women) lose in Mississippi - we are on the way to losing elsewhere. I am not trying to be alarmist - but the consequences really are that dire. All I can say is that until doctors will perform hysterectomies on demand - they will pry my birth control pills out of my cold, dead hands.
EDITED TO ADD: YAY! The Amendment Failed! The voice of reason and the rights of women won this round - but make no mistake - the war rages on.
To those that might find this post from the state of Mississippi - reach out to the legislators that supported this amendment. Ask them what they plan to do about infant and maternal mortality, the high rates of teen pregnancy, the high rates of STDs - the cycle of poverty that is eating at your state. Don't let them off the hook!
I CONTROL MY UTERUS - NOT THE OTHER WAY AROUND!
It is patently ridiculous that in a state as poverty stricken as Mississippi that this would even been thought about! What they need is more sex ed, more use of birth control and more assistance for the families stuck in the cycle of poverty. Their infant and maternal mortality rates are a joke, yet every woman should have to carry any egg is fertilized to term, or die trying.
Let's be perfectly clear - those of the Personhood movement, those of the anti-abortion movement - could care less about the poor, the disadvantaged, the handicapped - because well, they aren't politically divisive. These types of issues are nothing more than a rallying cry for their base, so that while doing all these things - they can get their ultra right-wing, uber-pro-business-at-all-costs-corporations-are-people candidates elected. Think about it - if it was geniunely a concern for human life - why would they be working against health care reform, against public education, hell - even some of the "pro-life" people are anti-pell grant!
I fear that if *we* (I mean all women) lose in Mississippi - we are on the way to losing elsewhere. I am not trying to be alarmist - but the consequences really are that dire. All I can say is that until doctors will perform hysterectomies on demand - they will pry my birth control pills out of my cold, dead hands.
EDITED TO ADD: YAY! The Amendment Failed! The voice of reason and the rights of women won this round - but make no mistake - the war rages on.
To those that might find this post from the state of Mississippi - reach out to the legislators that supported this amendment. Ask them what they plan to do about infant and maternal mortality, the high rates of teen pregnancy, the high rates of STDs - the cycle of poverty that is eating at your state. Don't let them off the hook!
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