Women’s Rights On Trial

Posted on by under Law and justice, Political commentary, Racism & Bigotry, Social commentary

Alabama is back on my radar again … if I had to choose one state in this union to give away, it would be Alabama.  My friend Herb takes me to task for this, reminds me that there are 6 people in Alabama who are kind, compassionate and intelligent, and that I shouldn’t lump all Alabamans together.  So, my apologies to those six … you guys can move up north before I sell Alabama to Mexico.

I have concluded that lawmakers and judges in the State of Alabama do not respect women.  Not. One. Bit.  First, there was the passage of the most restrictive law on abortion, completely illegal and going against Roe v Wade, the law of the land.  The Alabama law sets women’s rights back at least 46 years, more likely hundreds of years.  But on to the latest outrage …

Meet Marshae Jones.Jones-Marshae.jpgLast year on December 4th, Ms. Jones was five months pregnant when she was shot in the stomach.  She survived, but her baby did not.  The shooting transpired during an altercation with another woman, the woman who pulled the trigger, one Ebony Jemison.  The argument was over the father of Ms. Jones’ child.  Initially, police charged Ms. Jemison, the shooter, with manslaughter in the death of the fetus.  The grand jury, however, failed to indict Jemison because police concluded that it was Ms. Jones who started the argument, so prosecutors turned their sights toward the victim of the shooting, Ms. Jones.

On Wednesday, a grand jury indicted Ms. Jones, she was arrested, and tossed into Jefferson County jail pending a $50,000 bond.  Why, you ask?  Because, according to Pleasant Grove police Lieutenant Danny Reid, she shouldn’t have started the fight, she was pregnant and should have been home behaving herself.

“When a five-month pregnant woman initiates a fight and attacks another person, I believe some responsibility lies with her as to any injury to her unborn child. That child is dependent on its mother to try to keep it from harm, and she shouldn’t seek out unnecessary physical altercations.”

Let that one sink in for just a minute. But the real reason is … well, look at her picture.  She has two strikes against her – female and black.  You don’t get a fair shake if you are either of those, in Alabama. Or, to be fair, Louisiana, Mississippi, or any number of other states, particularly south of the Mason-Dixon line.

Seems to me the town of ‘Pleasant’ Grove better re-name itself.  Perhaps “Misogyny Meadows” would be more apt, for when a woman can be charged for the death of her own child simply because she was a participant in an argument, there is nothing ‘pleasant’ at all about that town.

Fortunately for Ms. Jones, advocacy groups have taken up the gauntlet.  Yellowhammer Fund, part of a nationwide umbrella advocacy group, is one such.  Executive Director Amanda Reyes said …

“The state of Alabama has proven yet again that the moment a person becomes pregnant their sole responsibility is to produce a live, healthy baby and that it considers any action a pregnant person takes that might impede in that live birth to be a criminal act. Tomorrow, it will be another black woman, maybe for having a drink while pregnant. And after that, another, for not obtaining adequate prenatal care.”

She’s right … this opens a whole can of worms that we didn’t need opened.  If Ms. Jones is found guilty and convicted, it will be a blow to equality, to women’s rights, to civil rights.  This cannot be tolerated, it simply cannot, for if it is allowed, the poison will spread, and before long, women will be paid less than their male compadres (in many industries and areas, they still are), will have lost their rights to make their own decisions, and what next?  Somewhere along the line, the male-dominated legislatures decide that she should not own property, or vote?  Far-fetched?  Sure it is … today.  But yesterday, a woman being put on trial for being shot while pregnant was far-fetched and unthinkable.  That was yesterday.  This is today.  What does tomorrow hold?women

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32 thoughts on “Women’s Rights On Trial”

  1. Hello Jill. As you say the Republican cult of tRump and the evangelical want to take this country back in time to what they think is the glory days. But those days in the past were not great for everyone, just white males. Females, POC, and the LGBTQ+ all knew their place and did not question the white men in charge. Gays were hidden, women were subservient sexual playthings and incubators for men, and POC had no rights and were by worth less than whites by laws. This is the glory days the MAGA crowd is fighting so hard for. Hugs

    Liked by 1 person

    • Yep, they are fighting hard to take us back at least 100 years, if not more. Frankly, I’m starting to work on my escape plan, for I no longer wish to live in this country. I will stay and fight for now, but if Trump wins the election next year, I’m outta here. Hugs!

      Liked by 1 person

    • Progress and Enlightenment died on 20 January 2017 when a moronic bigot took the oath of office. This nation is doomed to repeat the mistakes of the past … again … and again … and again … ad nauseam.

      Liked by 2 people

    • I had never read that book, but I’ve heard our situation of late compared to it so many times that I finally bought the book. Started reading it. Too damn depressing!!! I have set it aside for lighter fare, like … War and Peace!

      Liked by 2 people

      • Nope, no deep breaths. Folks who implicate laws like that are dwellers in the lower regions of the body. It was my job to implicate laws and I know the different between being a complete jerk and an administrator, and they an’t administrators.

        Liked by 2 people

        • You are right, of course … I just worry about your well-being, for I know how upset you get. Just take care of Roger, for Sheila needs you, as do many of the rest of us, including the Fabled Five. (After Nala died, they could no longer be the Significant Six, so I had to think of an “f-word” to go with five. You probably already know what my first choice was. 😉 )

          Liked by 1 person

  7. Jill, this is quite unbelievable. So, it is OK for a retired judge to misuse his power as a county DA, but it is not OK to get shot while pregnant. This is a travesty regardless of race, but the former is a white man and the latter is a black woman. Keith

    Liked by 3 people

        • Y’know … I’ve made the point quite well, that trickle-down economics is a myth, a fallacy, that it simply doesn’t happen. However, there is one area in which the “trickle-down effect” works quite well, and that is social behaviour. When the ‘man’ at the top of the food chain, so to speak, promotes white supremacy, and denigrates people based on their skin colour, ethnicity or gender identity, that bigotry seems to trickle down quite effectively, doesn’t it? People seem all too eager to hate and fear … much more eager than they are to embrace diversity and love.

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  8. OMG, Jill! This beyond unbelievable. I’m with Dennis – very strict sanctions against Alabama until the voters there put an end to legalized misogyny. .

    Liked by 2 people

    • Yes, it is incredible, and I agree, too, that since Trumpie is so sanctions-crazy, he could impose some on Alabama. But, alas, those pious Alabamans are the evangelicals who are keeping his polls over 30%, and without them, he will sink like a lead balloon. If only. Sigh.

      Liked by 2 people

  9. This is now past the point of ridiculous, and If kicking Alabama (etc.) out of the union would teach them something, I would agree with you. But they are part of your union, so you cannot turn a blind eye.
    I would love to see the women of Alabama start a “rdiculous” protest in answer, “No more babies till we get our rights back!” but I know it will never happen. The men would just rape them and justify themselves with the males right to sex. A dubious but effective right in a male-controlled society.
    So what can you do? Collectively jump on them, and put economic sanctions on them. Basic foods, and all medicines including birth control methods, but nothing else that isn’t produced there unless it is necessary to life. A huge trade boycott! Let them learn first-hand what they are doing to countries like Iran and North Korea, at the same time as telling them that these strict actions against women are unacceptable. Just suggestions, but something has to be done. This cannot be allowed to continue unchecked.

    Liked by 2 people

    • I like your idea of the women’s protest in Alabama just fine, however I suspect that most women in Alabama see themselves as second-class citizens, as subservient to their “better halves”. They were raised that way. Their mommas told them to do what their husbands tell them, to learn to cook and clean, to take care of the “young-uns” … it’s a whole different culture there than what you and I have always known.

      I agree with you wholeheartedly, but at present, we have not only a president, but a Senate who support the “values” of the evangelicals, and that is what this all boils down to. Extremist religion, shoved down the throats of the masses. Personally, if I had to go somewhere, and the route took me through the state of Alabama, I would stay home.

      Liked by 1 person

      • I wouldn’t blame you for staying home. I don’t want to go anywhere either, which shocks me cuz I like uprooting and changing my life. But I guess I am losing my wanderlust. That almost scares me. I figured sure I would end up back on the streets somewhere, a shopping cart pusher. But even that is being denied me now. I must be getting civilized in my old age…
        But this has nothing to do with what is going on in the poorer states. Half the population and more is being beaten down. The world is hoing backwards. Once again I am ashamed to be human.

        Liked by 2 people

  10. I truly wish the South would secede again…let them and all their racism, republicans and religious extremists all be together and have a time period where the minority decent people of all ethnic groups could get out.

    Then build a wall and leave the rest of us alone.

    Liked by 2 people

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