A Voice In The Wilderness

  A few times a week, I am asked if what I do really matters. Sometimes I feel as if it doesn't, but more often I am affirmed by the fine folks who pass my explanations of day-to-day events on to others. And sometimes we all wonder if opinion-editorials can truly affect the outcomes of topics we discuss.

  Last week I was on fire about the GOP's attempts to redefine rape for the purposes of restricting women from obtaining abortions. The U.S. federal government is already prohibited from paying for such procedures under the new health care reforms, but the GOP likes to save money, so they had to have this affirmed twice on taxpayer ticket. I digress. The GOP wanted to redefine rape as forcible, which would essentially mean that women who have been drugged, coerced, or violated in the infinite number of ways that rapists invent were not raped by definition. They wanted to add a Whoopi Goldberg standard of rape to federal abortion law. They desire to add more restrictions to abortion so that it will eventually be impossible to legally obtain, and one of those is by silencing crime victims.

  As I said, I wrote an op-ed about the GOP's latest war on women's voices. But I was just one of many people who aired concern about this issue. It wound up on twitter, Facebook, Blogs, Television, etcetera. Some folks weren't aware of what I was talking about because I tend to get the jump on things, but eventually the U.S. Republican Party's attempt at a dangerous precedent became international news. And it do3es matter.

  Today, the GOP abandoned their attempt to redefine rape and silence wounded women. Yes, the GOP is wasting taxpayer money reconfirming something Mr. Obama already stated, but at least they won't be able to ramp up their attack just yet. The Republican Party discovered themselves under a very uncomfortable microscope and caved because they know that women are more than 50 percent of the population.  Common sense prevailed, if only for an instant, because enough people spoke up against something that was monumentally wrong . It's a very simplistic explanation and there was obvious political gamesmanship at play, but the fact remains is that if nobody mentioned this atrocious attempt at uterus policing the GOP would be able to do what they wish.

  Never be afraid to stand up to injustice whenever you see it because every voice is a vote. And in a democratic society every vote truly does count. By choosing to stand idly by as your rights and those of your neighbours are being threatened is a vote for oppression; a voice in defense of the downtrodden is a vote for the liberty we too often take for granted. The world is a beautiful place, her luster more magnificent with every positive action. Words may not always be sweet, but even abrasive ones can affect our chunk of life in a grand way indeed. All it takes is your words to connect to mine, and to another's, and another's. Your words are no longer small when they have joined a choir.

Be well.