The United States Constitution was written in the year 1787. Eleven years before that, in the year 1776, the Declaration of Independence was adopted declaring that “All men are created equal. [emphasis added]” It wasn’t until 1920, 133 years after the Constitution was written, that the 19th Amendment was added to the Constitution, giving women the right to vote. It would be another 53 years, 1973, before women were allowed to legally make decisions over their own reproductive healthcare (Roe v Wade). Laws that gave women equality in such things as housing and employment did not come along until the 1960s. You might say that we’ve come a long way. Not far enough, obviously, if you consider that while women comprise 50.4% of the U.S. population, women comprise only 29% of the House of Representatives and 25% of the U.S. Senate.
But, as we all know, the story doesn’t end here. Last year, the U.S. Supreme Court decided that women had a little too much freedom, and in a court decision titled Dobbs v Jackson Women’s Health Organization, they overturned Roe v Wade and gave the fifty states the right to drastically restrict women’s rights to make their own healthcare decisions. Many states jumped right on that bandwagon, as did the state I live in, Ohio.
Well, guess what? We women decided that we have worked way too hard and fought way too long to just let our rights be taken from us by a judicial order passed by men who cannot even be bothered to try to put themselves in our shoes. And frankly, if they can take our right to an abortion from us, what’s next? There is already talk of taking away our right to contraception (birth control). Then what about our hard-earned rights to equal pay for equal work? Our right to divorce our spouse? Our right … to vote? Oh yes, my friends … give an inch and they’ll take a mile!
Well, we stood up and told the legislature in Ohio and other states that we will fight to the death for our rights, that we are not backing down. On Tuesday, we voted by a strong margin (56.6% to 43.4%) to codify abortion rights into the Ohio State Constitution. Let’s dust off our hands, give high-fives all around, and be pleased with our accomplishments. Oh, but wait … the Ohio legislature says, not so fast …
In a truly lunatic press release issued on Thursday, members of the Ohio Legislature claim that the ballot initiative was funded by “foreign billionaires” and that the legislature does not accept the will of the people, but instead will “… consider what, if any, modifications to make to existing laws based on public hearings …” One representative, Beth Lear, said that “No amendment can overturn the God given rights with which we were born.” Wait just one damned minute, MS. Lear! What ‘rights’??? The right to control others??? Did your god tell you that you could force women to your will? Grrrrrrrrrrrrrr …
Sorry for the bit of ranting there … I just hate it when someone tells me that their god gave them the right to slap me in the face.
Now, typically I would be laughing at their childish attempts to impose their will on us, knowing that we, the voters, have the law on our side. But, with the state’s governor (Mike DeWine), Secretary of State (Frank LaRose), and the majority of the legislature determined to undermine the will of the people, I’m not laughing, for I foresee a rocky road ahead. Ohio lawmakers (mostly Republicans1) have said they will challenge the will of the people in the Courts, which means it could be years before women’s rights are restored … if ever. Meantime, how many rape and incest victims will have their lives forever ruined by the misogynist laws of men who wish to keep us under their thumbs. And if they get by with overruling our choice, then will they be emboldened to go further and take away even more of our rights? Are we women destined to forever more be considered second-class citizens???
1 The Ohio House has 99 members, 67 are Republicans and 32 are Democrats; the Ohio Senate has 33 members, 26 are Republicans and only 7 are Democrats. The odds are stacked.
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