Contraception, abortion and womens financial future – The Miami Times

We knew the fundamentalist-packed U.S. Supreme Court would trample on womens rights. Its been coming.

As medical advancements have saved the lives of premature babies that fit in the palm of our hands, the issue of viability outside the womb has taken center stage, providing radical, right-wing Republican fundamentalists with the necessary ammunition to roll back abortion rights.

What surprises me the most is that anyone is somehow shocked that its now happening. Where have you been?

Reproductive rights are the single most important issue for women of all races and ethnicities, full stop. Any woman who doesnt recognize that is a fool. This is not an issue for the white privileged class the feminist foremothers of the 1960s. Black and brown women were not leaders of the feminist movement for innumerable reasons, but they must now lead the long war ahead to take back a fundamental reproductive right that was just ripped away from us and to prevent other attacks that are surely coming.

Still not convinced? Still think the Black Lives Matter movement, equity and inclusion, prosperity, inflation, gas prices and a host of other issues in America are more important than a womans unequivocal right to abortion on demand? How shortsighted of you.

The first line of defense in our armor for womens equality and full participation in society is contraception. The second is abortion. Being able to delay childbirth and plan our families is what has allowed women and young girls to finish high school, attend universities, become qualified for higher paying jobs, compete with men in all fields and guarantee financial independence.

With financial independence women marry for love, not money (or not) and can exit toxic relationships with men without having to worry about where they will go and how they will be able to support themselves. With financial independence women can raise the children they do have when their men take a walk, as they frequently do. With education and money, women have the smarts and resources to go after the men who abandon their children for child support.

There isnt enough government assistance to pull us out of poverty if we have children we cant afford to feed and educate. The same Republicans responsible for the demise of Roe v. Wade and the erosion of abortion rights from coast to coast are the same Republicans who are constantly trying to cut safety net programs low-income families with children depend upon to simply survive. They want to subjugate all women, but they want to cripple Black and brown women.

The Supreme Court decision made by a bunch of smug, elitist men and one delusional fundamentalist Christian woman is part of a very large and organized movement to push women out of the workforce and into the home with as many babies as possible, so men can rise back up and be in total control. This is about the return of the traditional family, 1950s-style. You know, the good old days when women knew their place, suffered loveless marriages and were dependent on their men for every dollar they spent when scrubbing toilets and changing diapers was their full-time job.

So, this is not just about refusing to return to back-alley abortions. This is about a womans right to determine her own destiny.

This is about freedom and liberty, and without those two things there is no democracy. And right now, there is no democracy for women in America. If we want to live in a democratic country, we need to take our rights back and the only way to do that is at the ballot box.

The Republican party is the single greatest threat to womens existence and they must be voted out of office at every level of government. This is the same political party that votes against minimum wage increases and affirmative action and is trying to dismantle the public education system.

Lets remember that Republican George Bush Sr. put Justice Clarence Thomas on the Supreme Court, who in his concurring opinion on the Roe decision wrote, In future cases, we should reconsider all of this Courts substantive due process precedents, including Griswold, Lawrence and Obergefell we have a duty to correct the error established in those precedents.

Griswold v. Connecticut was a landmark 1965 case which ruled the use of contraception between two married individuals was a matter of privacy and constitutionally protected.

So, if youve not been politically active before, this is the moment to start. In the meantime, every unwanted child born because of this Supreme Court ruling should be left on the doorstep of Thomas and his wife, Ginni. They didnt have any children of their own and they didnt adopt. If they really care about the unborn child so much, its high time they get the chance to raise a few live ones.

Emily Cardenas is the executive editor of The Miami Times. She previously worked as a producer at WTXF in Philadelphia and at WSCV, WFOR and WPLG in Miami.

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Contraception, abortion and womens financial future - The Miami Times