Since the beginning of civilization, women have been treated as inferior to their male counterparts. Historically women’s bodies have been the center of the conversation. Women have been expected strictly to have children and take care of their homes. Before we had doctors and nurses that specialized in women’s reproductive health and fertility, there was often no saving women who experienced miscarriages or other problems during pregnancy. To this day miscarriages still happen, but at lower rates because we now have specialists and medicine to help women. Since reproductive care and contraceptives have become available, more women have been able to access quality reproductive healthcare and services.
Looking through the history books, condoms were the main contraceptives until 1960, when a birth control pill was invented by Gregory Pincus and John Rock. Within the following years, a woman going by the name Jane Roe filed a lawsuit against Henry Wade, a district attorney. According to oyez.org, Roe a young woman by the name of Norma McCorvey challenged a Texas law that made abortion illegal unless it was to save a woman’s life. This court case was argued on December 13th, 1971, and was reargued on October 11th, 1972, with the final verdict being January 22, 1973. The verdict made women able to choose to have an abortion.
Fast forward to June 24th, 2022: Roe v. Wade was overturned. Women across America marched in protest, declaring that their bodies were their own, and that they should have the freedom to choose. It was an awful change, but to me what made the decision more disgusting was the fact women voted against other women’s sexual rights.
Fast forward again to 2024: Donald Trump’s victory in the presidential election resurfaced discussion about women’s rights and Trump’s history of misogyny. Trump supporter Nick Fuentes took to X, formerly known as Twitter, and posted, “Your body, my choice. Forever.” The quote became popular among MAGA Republicans, showing tolerance for violent misogyny. I wish I could say that I was surprised. But why would I be surprised by Fuentes, who associates himself with Trump, a man who views women as objects?
The women of MAGA voted away not only their sexual rights to their bodies — realize Roe V. Wade protected a lot of women who were victims of sexual violence — but also medical help for women who are more likely to die due to pregnancy complications. They voted away their jobs as well. DEI stands for Diversity, Equity and Inclusion, and eliminating DEI programs was a major part of Trump’s campaign. But without DEI, if you are not a cisgender white man, you are pretty much excluded. They fail to realize that while they sit on their high horses without DEI, women can easily be excluded from job openings. Without a job, how will they support their children if the father does not have a job or is not in their lives? I find it funny how JD Vance expects there to be a spike in birth rates, yet they took away the right to contraceptives. I believe that if Kamala Harris had been elected, the birth rates would probably spike. But come back to reality, and we are now in a world where contraceptives are essentially being banned. Banning contraceptives can, in fact, make the birth rate lower. What they did not consider was that without access to methods of having safe sex, people may simply avoid sex entirely. Without access to contraceptives and abortions, if pregnancies were to occur, individuals may stoop to desperate measures.
Ladies, within these next few years I suggest that we stay safe and stay prepared. To anyone who didn’t vote for this reality, I’m sorry, but we must stay hopeful in a time where hope is scarce.
