Too bad you are a girl....

As a female, part of the growing up process was going the "lady doctor", as my grandfather called it, and being checked out yearly.  During one of these visits, I disclosed to my doctor how painful my cramps had become each month.  The solution was to start taking birth control to help regulate my hormones and to put my cycle on a predictable schedule.  I am not sure how it worked, but my cramps eased considerably.  I don't remember there ever being an issue.  No one was outraged.  My grandfather was a little alarmed at first, but after explanation, shrugged and said he would pick them up.  I was not a slut.  The actual pills had nothing at all to do with sexual activity for another 8 years!! It is amazing to me how men in this country take it upon themselves to insert their "expertise" of women's issues and make it worthy of national debate.  Don't we have soldiers dying in Afghanistan and Iraq?  Don't we have hundreds of thousands of homeless Americans?  Aren't the school systems circling the drain?  Why is it that these men in power, the ones that can affect the system, worried so much about what women do with our bodies?  Do they not trust us to think for ourselves?  What can happen when a woman thinks too much?  Maybe a woman could affect the change that is needed on this planet because, obviously, a man ain't getting it done!

It has gone so far that there is now legislation regarding what employers offer in way of insurance coverage for contraception.  Are you kidding me?  So, if I work for a company that has religious affiliation, they can refuse to allow me access through the insurance provided by them?   Then, I make a phone call to the actual insurance company and then they have to provide me with the contraception coverage at no additional cost?  What did we just do here?  What purpose does this actually serve?  It is wasteful of time and resources, and just plain stupid.

In reading an article about Georgia passing HB 437, I actually laughed out loud!  This bill makes it illegal for a doctor to perform an abortion after 20 weeks gestation except in "medically futile" cases;  profound and "irremediable" anomalies that would be "incompatible with sustaining life after birth."  If a doctor does, he/she could be charged with a felony and given a 10 year prison sentence.  There is no stipulation for rape or incest.  But, what made me laugh is this sentence, ”Senate Bill 469, which began as a bill to prevent union-connected picketing in front of the homes of executives involved in union disputes, had the picketing provisions stripped out of it the last night over fears of writing unconstitutional laws."   The guys were more worried about trampling on the civil liberties of people picketing in front of union officials than they are of doctors helping rape or incest victims or even a woman carrying a baby with no chance at having a life other than breathing.

It is crazy to me the priorities of this country.  Maybe we should stop worrying about what "she” is doing and start worrying more about what I am doing to make this world a better place.  Maybe start making decisions to help the greater good than worry about what is going in the house next door.  To each his own, and to you, freedom to find your own.