And Then They Came for Birth Control
As the Senate took up the Blunt amendment that would allow any employer to refuse to provide birth control coverage to employees based on an undefined “religious or moral” objection, women and men are asking me every day what in the heck is going on—are we back in the dark ages? Why do we have to keep fighting these battles?
I recently had the chance to give my answer to that question when I talked with with iVillage host Kelly Wallace and 2012 Election Editor and Correspondent Joanne Bamberger (aka Punditmom) about the many attacks on birth control and abortion. On her own blog, Joanne wrote:
“I feel like I’m living in the time of Hester Prynne and her Scarlet Letter in light of the ongoing and escalating attacks on women’s health, especially when it comes to anything concerning our ‘lady parts.’ Some women on the right say birth control has nothing to do with our health. I say, “What?” ...are we headed back to 1850 or is this just a blip on the political radar?”
There are unfortunately some people who never made it out of the 1850’s or at least the 1950’s.
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Including those who are trying to impose their religious or moral point of view on women whose moral and religious points of view are diametrically different. People like the attorney who challenged the Washington state law requiring pharmacists to fill prescriptions for emergency contraception. Listen as we sparred on WNYC’s The Takeaway. Host John Hockenberry, who did a great job of probing the issue, nevertheless framed it as “religious freedom versus access to services.” Access to services is very important, because rights without access are meaningless. Nevertheless, I challenged that description. I think it’s high time that we claim the moral high ground and insist that our religious and moral views be respected.
And I was pleased to see NCJW CEO Nancy Kaufman articulate a similar point of view eloquently, saying that the woman’s conscience should come first and be respected. Let’s keep advancing this argument–I think it’s much stronger even than the right to health care access.
By the way, in the “barefoot” part of the “barefoot and pregnant” equation much beloved by the right wing retrogrades like Rick Santorum, please check out my new blogpost on ForbesWoman.com,
“What’s the Next Great Leap for Women?”
How about progressive women spend a little less time fighting about reproductive rights and address more energy to taking over the world through the power of wealth creation and acquisition?
GLORIA FELDT is the New York Times bestselling author of several books including No Excuses: 9 Ways Women Can Change How We Think About Power, a sought-after speaker and frequent contributor to major news outlets, and the Co-Founder and President of Take The Lead. People has called her “the voice of experience,” and among the many honors she has been given, Vanity Fair called her one of America’s “Top 200 Women Legends, Leaders, and Trailblazers,” and Glamour chose her as a “Woman of the Year.”
As co-founder and president of Take The Lead, a leading women’s leadership nonprofit, her mission is to achieve gender parity by 2025 through innovative training programs, workshops, a groundbreaking 50 Women Can Change The World immersive, online courses, a free weekly newsletter, and events including a monthly Virtual Happy Hour program and a Take The Lead Day symposium that reached over 400,000 women globally in 2017.