Defunding Family Planning - Wrong By Any Measure
She was 17 years old when she fell for the oldest line in the book, "I Love You." She's was 25 years old when she told him no, but he wouldn't take no for an answer. She was 37 years old and feeling lonely one night. She's 42 with two teens and an off and on, no account boyfriend. If you think about it, women face situations and circumstances like these everyday and they're always painful. By now you should know where we're going with this, so let's go there together.
Left with a decision that could change the trajectory of their lives forever, having access to family planning options may be a women's only salvation. At a time when understanding, compassion and unconditional support is required, the last thing a women needs is a preacher, politician or public opinion playing a role in one of the most private decisions she'll have to make in her life. So when Vice President Mike Pence, a self described "evangelical Catholic" rushed to the Senate floor yesterday to cast the tie breaking vote to allow states to block federal grants going to family planning centers, we felt compelled to let you know where Mike Pence is coming from. He has issues.
Vice President Pence says he won't eat alone with a woman unless it's his wife. He also won't attend any event where alcohol is served unless his wife is present. Mike Pence sounds like a man who can't trust himself. When he was governor of Indiana, Mike Pence supported government funding for Gay Conversion Therapy. When you think this through, Vice President Pence is the last man who should hold sway over women's reproductive health and personal life choices. And when you get right down to it, no man should.
Even a women's husband or lover has limited input in those decisions, because no man has ever or will ever suffer the risk and discomforts of months of pregnancy and the agony of childbirth. Nor will any man ever be able to fully comprehend the extent of mental stress a woman will be under while dealing with this emotional dilemma. Beyond "What do you need me to do?" Or, "I'll support whatever decision you make", most men should just STFU and stand by her side. Well, that's what a Man is supposed to do.
Bottom line: The U.N. says access to safe, voluntary family planning is a human right. Family planning is central to gender equality and women’s empowerment, and it is a key factor in reducing poverty. Yet some 225 million women who want to avoid pregnancy are not using safe and effective family planning methods, for reasons ranging from lack of access to information or services to lack of support from their partners or communities. And we might as well add misogynistic policies driven by a male dominated Congress who just doesn't get it and probably never will. Podcast below.
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