We have come a long way baby.............not long enough

"The fact is that women have been trapped. Reproduction is used, consciously or not, as a means to control women, to limit their options and to make them subordinate to men. In many societies a serious approach to reproductive health has to have this perspective in mind. We must seek to liberate women."

                                                                                                                    
                                                                                                                                                 Dr. Nafia Sadik
                                                                                                               Executive Director, UN Poplation Fund

It was not too long ago when a woman could not open a bank account or by land without her husbands’ permission.  And it wasn't too long ago when innocent women were being burned for being different for being independent for doing anything that did not conform to societal norms  For being different they were branded witches and pushed to the fringes of society mostly by other women who dictated to their husbands that these women deserved to be punished.  This was how the Salem witch trials started.  Right now there is a modern day witch hunt going on the United States.   Since the start of the 2012 bid for Presidency has started women have been attacked.  Issues that should be private and sacred are being used by public figures to create a divide a war and to get votes.  Why is it always women who are scapegoated?   The base of power in this country needs to be shifted.  They never put a male issue in the forefront.  Never throw down the fact that men get women pregnant then leave and don't support them or the baby.  Never talk about the fact that men control their own reproductivity by getting vasectomies or using Viagra.   The issue turns women against women because that's how we have been shaped by our culture.   Some of the most degrading comments I've heard attacking women and their choices are from women.  And the media fuels it on.  Its disgusting.  To those women I say shame on you, your subservient traitors to your own gender.  We need to stick together look at the issues and try to protect each other and other women.  Women who are less fortunate.    As women we should understand each other’s needs and help one another.   Just like men do.

One of my hot button issues is reproductive rights.  I want to see reproductive rights for all women across the globe.   I have researched countless issues on the topic, from women taking unregulated dangerous medications to terminate a pregnancy only to have deformed infants. To women who get life threatening fistulas  Who suffers from a country who turns their back on reproductive rights?  Women and babies.  Some of the most heartbreaking stories I have heard are women who don't have any choice whether they get pregnant or not, and don't have access to adequate health care of no health care.   But right here in one of the most technological advanced and progressive countries the United States our reproductive rights are being threatened. The fact is abortion and access to reproductive care is not only about the baby but about the living breathing women who have to carry them and support them when they arrive.   Real women all over the globe are suffering right now.  We have to protect them first.

Here is a list of complications that can arise from a woman carrying a baby.

Bacterial Vaginosis

Bleeding During Pregnancy

Blighted Ovum

Cervical Cerclage

Chicken Pox

Cholestasis of Pregnancy

Common Pregnancy Complications

Concerns regarding Early Fetal Development

Cytomegalovirus (CMV) Infection

D&C procedure after a Miscarriage

Ectopic Pregnancy

Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders (FASD); Fetal Alcohol Syndrome (FAS) & Fetal Alcohol Effects (FAE)

Fetal Growth Restriction

Gestational Diabetes

Gestational Hypertension

Group B Strep Infection

HELLP Syndrome

High Amniotic Fluid Levels : Polyhydramnios

Hyperemesis Gravidarum

Incompetent Cervix

Intrauterine Growth Restriction (IUGR): Small for Gestational Age (SGA)

Listeria

Low Amniotic Fluid Levels : Oligohydramnios

Miscarriage

Molar Pregnancy

Placenta Accreta

Placenta Previa

Placental Abruption

Preeclampsia

RH Factor

STD'S & STI'S During Pregnancy

Tipped Uterus

Toxoplasmosis

Urinary Tract Infection

Vanishing Twin Syndrome

Yeast Infection

No one should force a woman to have a baby.  And frankly I don’t have to believe what you believe; maybe I'm an atheist so why should I live my life according to what your religion proselytizes?  When I hear pro-life proponents talk about killing babies it’s not that I don’t understand their position, I do.  I can sympathize and hear their arguments.  However the need to protect women that are already here for me is more important.  Pregnancy can be debilitating for some women.  It can ruin their ability to earn a living, it can ruin their health, and it can ruin their social standing. 

Society judge’s women when they are not married, they judge women when they get pregnant out of wedlock.  Somehow a woman is worth less when she doesn't have a husband.   People that feel this way are the same people who preach about protecting the babies, but they show no compassion for the individual women who have to carry and take care of the baby, the mother.  Why does your compassion stop at the baby?  You hear things like "no one told her to lay on her back", or "I don't want my tax dollars going to pay for women having babies."  But you want them to have the baby?   That is why a lot of us say you are “anti-woman” when you are pro-life because the issue runs way deeper than simply "pro-life" or "pro-choice".  Society needs to stop looking at women as second class citizens and start treating them as an integral important part of society by giving them all the support they need.  It takes a village to raise a baby after all.  

That is exactly what Mitt Romney is trying to do; he talks about, getting rid of welfare, reversing Obama’s health care law, getting rid of social programs, getting rid of access to contraception through insurance.  But then at the same time he says he is against abortion?    How can these two beliefs co-exist?  Don’t women need to be healthy happy and supported by society in order to raise a baby?   That includes laws that support a woman having a baby by providing an adequate maternity of more than 12 weeks.  Laws that protect women in the workplace form getting fired for having to stay home with their sick babies and children.  Laws that make good child care affordable so women can return to the workforce feeling secure their baby is well taken care of.  Social programs and welfare that help a woman in need.    We are no where near where we need to be.  So excuse me if I think Mitt Romney is full of shit.

Here are a couple of highlights of how degrading this issue has become for women.

Here is a statement from Foster Friess a man who was funding Santorum’s 2012 bid for Presidency-

“Back in my day, they used Bayer aspirin for contraceptives. The gals put it between their knees and it wasn’t that costly."

The week of February 16, 2012 Virginia passed a bill that would require women to have an ultrasound before they may have an abortion.  Because the majority of abortions occur during the first 12 weeks that means most women will be forced to have a transvaginal procedure which is basically a cold plastic probe into their vagina and moved around until an ultrasound image is produced.  

Have you seen a vaginal probe? It’s a long plastic hand held device same as the regular ultra sound device except this one resembles a dick.  Which would only be compounded if its a male ultrasound technician using the probe. Basically you lay on a table with your legs spread while a technician violates you because your being forced to submit to an ultrasound you don't want.  

How far will they go to garner votes?  What a violation of a woman and her body.  Basically you’re raping a woman, at a time when she is most vulnerable.  It’s disgusting that people in today’s society want to shame women.  It’s never easy to get an abortion.  I can't imagine a larger violation than sticking a vaginal probe into a woman and trying to make her feel guilty.  A the while society stands by and allows the violation.   We talk about the middle east but it seems we are not much better than our muslim counter parts who blame women for arousing a man's animal instinct by having the body they do.  Though this is no choice of their own its evolution they force women to wear oppressive burka's because its the women's fault if a man can't control himself.   They also blame women for getting raped.  Blame women for not making their husbands happy.  Blame women for causing the end of their marriage.   Stone women to death for shaming their family.    Meanwhile the men breeze through life treating women like cattle.

I am against violating women’s reproductive rights.   I'm against men in politics deciding what a woman should do with her body.    I'm against countries where abortion is illegal.  I'm against countries that do not provide adequate pre-natal and post-natal care for all women regardless of their economic situation.  I'm against any country that violates women’s rights and looks down on women as second class citizens.  Anyone who votes for Romney is anti-woman; there is no other way to look at it.          

FYI, Virginia's ultrasound law passed minus the vaginal probe.