The War On Women's Voices

  Abortion is one of those so-called culture war issues with nearly everyone having an opinion on what should go on in the nation's uteruses. In opposition to abortion at any stage, the current GOP seeks to redefine rape so fewer victims will seek abortions. Those who have been drugged, suffer from serious mental handicaps, and adults raped by their spouses or family members could no longer be seen as victims, but whores and murderesses. 

  Blanket judgments are made about the reasons for abortion as if women who seek them are absolute morons. A woman who even seeks after-assault contraception can be refused because of the so-called moral code of the pharmacist. This comes as a shock to someone from a country where rape victims are offered a cocktail of preventative drugs before even leaving hospital. While the Prime Minister may be Conservative and have his own opinions, he has stated that his job is to govern and not enforce Biblical morality. This is probably a good thing, since in Judges 19 a man who dismembers a rape victim is held as a hero. 

  One thing common to both nations is protest. Just last week a large gathering of a so-called pro-life faction occurred in my town and I've witnessed protests at clinics up close and personal in various locales in the U.S. and Canada. Common to all is harassment of anyone who possesses a uterus by folks who hold placards of dismembered fetuses and Jesus. 

 The video you will see was taken by a very upset gentleman named Aaron. He has had the unpleasant task of taking his distraught wife in for a medically-necessary abortion. His wife is 16 weeks pregnant and the fetus has Sirenomelia, a condition in which legs are fused and internal organs are often absent. Only one person in human history has lived past age 10 and most are stillborn; the balance dying painfully within the coming days after birth. The gentleman here and his wife were subjected to chants about murdering their baby. Mr. Gouveia has had to console his wife, and in heartbreak and anger, confronted protesters while his wife was in surgery.

  People seek abortions for a variety of reasons, but I can assure you that I've never heard of someone dancing their way to a women's clinic. I also know people who have had abortions and contrary to what the fundies tell you, they can still have kids later on if they choose. An abortion, generally speaking, is a serious medical procedure for an extreme circumstance. Women deserve to have their judgment trusted and not be viewed simply as baby-machines, which is what these radicals do. It comes as no surprise that the most aggressive anti-choice activists are also members of the religious patriarchy movement. These groups view women the way their God does, as man's helpers; voices only heard when given permission.

  And the bible has an opinion on rape: that it is only a crime if the woman loudly resists. I'm willing to bet that this is the justification for the GOP's desire to change the definition of rape to forcible rape. It's not enough that a woman says she is raped- now she has to prove that she didn't submit because of being drugged or having a gun put to her head. And the world is watching where this goes, and doing so very nervously. For if women's voices are denied; their rights stripped in one of the World's greatest nations it can truly happen anywhere.