Anti-abortion laws oppress women. Now put the shoe on the other foot?

In recent years the U.S. government has restricted abortion rights, especially related to our international aid programs.

Within the U.S., states have passed more than 400 restrictions to reduce abortion access and rights since 2010.  (Source:  Page 56 of The American Prospect’s Winter 2019 issue.)  See www.prospect.org for a very informative article on pages 56-60.

Some states that severely restrict abortion are inadvertently CAUSING UNWANTED PREGNANCIES by failing to provide accurate sex education courses in schools.  Then when pregnancies occur, the women are denied a reasonable remedy.  This seems counter-productive.  Why don’t we REQUIRE that EVERY school provide ACCURATE sex education, including factual information about contraception?

Many, many times men have taken the lead in restricting women’s right to an abortion.  That seems very one-sided.  There’s an old saying that “it takes two to tango,” so why can’t we pass laws that restrict men in matters of sexuality and reproduction?

Some laws require very intrusive and oppressive “counseling” to try to discourage women from getting abortions.  When states do that, why don’t we ALSO REQUIRE COUNSELING FOR ALL sexually active MEN to make sure they understand:

  • how to avoid impregnating women
  • the responsibilities of being a good father, including how to be a good parent and the need to provide financial and emotional care for children
  • how to make informed choices about reproduction
  • and other relevant topics

Why should ONLY women be imposed upon?  Why should laws impose serious punishment for women but let men go free?  Why not prosecute men who negligently create unwanted babies?

Would male state legislators persist in their oppression of women if they faced equivalent amounts of oppression and micro-management of their sexual activities?
I am not really urging oppression for the other half of the population.  Rather, we must stop oppressing the half of the population that is currently oppressed.  But imagining laws to balance things out might change some people’s thinking and politicking.

 

 

 

About GlenAnderson 1499 Articles
Since the late 1960s Glen Anderson has devoted his life to working as a volunteer for peace, nonviolence, social justice, and progressive political issues. He has worked through many existing organizations and started several. Over the years he has worked especially for such wide-ranging goals as making peace with Vietnam, eliminating nuclear weapons, converting from a military economy to a peacetime economy, abolishing the death penalty, promoting nonviolence at all levels throughout society, and helping people organize and strategize for grassroots movements to solve many kinds of problems. He writes, speaks, and conducts training workshops on a wide variety of topics. Since 1987 he has produced and hosted a one-hour cable TV interview program on many kinds of issues. Since 2017 he has blogged at https://parallaxperspectives.org He lives in Lacey near Olympia WA. You can reach him at (360) 491-9093 glen@parallaxperspectives.org