America and The War Against Women's Rights

I recently came across an editorial on the CNN Opinions blog that absolutely sent fire through my veins. The article, "How states are playing politics with women's bodies" by Julie Burkhart, talks about how politicians in certain (mostly Southern) states are pushing for even more outrageous and ideologically/religiously-driven abortion regulations. As mentioned in my "About Me", as a woman living in Texas I live with the constant dread that abortion laws will continue to be unjust and horribly biased.

Burkhart is an abortion provider from Kansas who opens her article with a not-so-uncommon story of a woman traveling across several states to find a place where she was allowed to have an abortion without delays and unrealistic restrictions. Even in Kansas, however, Burkhart mentions that arbortion regulations are still very strict. Women are required to read pamphlets that basically persuade them against having an abortion, and then they're forced to wait 24 hours after that before they are allowed to have the abortion. Burkhart also goes into detail about how in 2014 Mississippi, Missouri, Alabama, and Texas all sought to make abortion regulations more audacious- specifically, a lawmaker from Missouri proposed that the woman has to have written consent from the man before she's allowed to have an abortion. I'm sorry, do we live in the 1940's? Is the man going to carry this growing thing in his body for 9 months? Is his health going to be effected by this pregnancy? No. So stay the hell away from women's reproductive rights.

Even through all of this upsetting and harrowing news, there is a silver lining to all of these horrible regulations. Burkhart points out that since people have come together to stand up for their rights, lawmakers have been forced to rollback certain laws, and have to face that women should have more rights than a fetus. People are tired of all the backwards laws that apply solely to women's bodies.

I completely agree with Julie Burkhart's article. Politicians are playing havoc on basic human rights and the only way they're getting away with it is due largely in part to religious-based laws. What happened to separation of church and state? Will these pro-lifers personally support the children that they're demanding be born? Shall these unwilling mothers expect checks in the mail from pro-lifers? Another infuriating factor in all of this is that most of these stricter proposals are coming from male lawmakers. I'm sorry, in what way is a man the expert on a women's body and her reproductive rights? As I said before, lawmakers need to keep their biased and ideologically-driven laws away from women's bodies and their rights. This is an issue of basic human rights and should be treated that way. If someone doesn't believe in having abortions that's totally fine, but they don't have the right to impose that belief on an unwilling fellow human being. Women deserve equality.

Obama's Response to the Chapel Hill Murders

Some very devastating news came about this week when three Muslim students were murdered in Chapel Hill, North Carolina. While the local government is being cautious to call these murders a hate crime, President Obama made a statement this week that basically said no American can be targeted for any reason. This lends to the idea that Obama does in fact believe these murders were a hate-crime. His exact quote can be found in this article. It can be inferred that racial tensions over the past few months and Obama's attention have led the FBI to officially become involved with this case.

Pressure to further investigate has not only come from fellow Americans (of which there has been a great outpouring) but also from the international community. Countries such as Jordan and Turkey will be keeping a very close eye on the outcome of this case. It is an unfortunate, but very realistic reminder that we, as Americans, are part of a much larger international community and the actions and laws we choose to uphold have a great effect not only here, but around the world. We cannot allow American citizens to kill one another simply because someone else is different and believes something that we don't. This is not only an issue of race, but one greatly focused on religious intolerance. It's 2015 and it's shameful that hate crimes are being committed and excused as something as silly as a "parking dispute".