I was proud as I stood near the
corner of Cascade and Cache
La Poudre last week, holding a
"Keep Abortion Legal" sign. I
was proud to be standing with
the committed people who were
going to The March for Women's
Lives in Washington, D.C., proud
to support the continuing effort
to preserve reproductive freedom
for Americans.
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The vast majority of passing motorists were supportive,
up." Just a few men in large cars slowed down to scowl darkly
and to give us a stern "thumbs down." |
"Our" government has been chipping quietly
away at reproductive rights in the months since Bush came into office.
Many understand that the ultimate goal is to make abortion and contraception
illegal once again. |
The religious right, eager to bridge the wall of separation
between church and state, is a driving force
behind this goal. The Vatican is requiring public office
holders who are Catholics to adhere to all church
directives on contraception, abortion and "death with
dignity" issues. The church already owns most of the
hospitals in the United States and does not permit prochoice
procedures in their hospitals, which can
include tubal ligations and vasectomies. |
I grew up in the 1950s, in the "Bible Belt."
There
was no sex education at home or school. "Sex education"
in my health class was merely brief units on
hygiene and male and female "plumbing," with chalk
outline-like sketches of androgynous bodies.
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Reared by my authoritarian family and a patriarchal
church to be docile and agreeable in all circumstances,
I would have had no voice, no ability to protest, if
someone had wanted to molest me. I had no knowledge
of birth control. If I'd become pregnant as the
result of rape, I would have been forced to bear the
child. Fortunately, neither molestation nor sexual violence
was a factor in my life, and I never faced an
unwanted pregnancy. However, I have often wondered
what happened to the girl in my high school
whose stomach seemed to be swelling before she simply
"disappeared." It was rumored that she'd been
sent to Fort Worth to have a baby. We never saw her
again.
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She had been a quiet little person who walked with
downcast eyes. In the years since high school I've
thought perhaps she had been a victim of incest or
rape, too afraid or too poor to find help… help that in
those days often led to death or sterility.
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I'm thankful that we are far from the sexually
repressive 1950s. Because society now has a more
enlightened view of the human body and sex, children
in America can learn about their bodies' sexual development.
Thanks to the efforts of birth control advocates,
people, young and old, can control when they
have children.
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Thank you, citizens of Colorado Springs who waved
in support of the Women's March rally. And thank
you, all the women and men who went to Washington,
D.C., to remind George Bush's self righteous government
that reproductive rights should always be accessible
to a free citizenry. We must not forget that reproductive
freedom could easily be legislated away by
scowling people who want to control others' lives by
forcing their personal religious beliefs on others.
"Thumbs up" to personal reproductive freedom.
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