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The religious rape of American women

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Contraception experts panel
Last Thursday’s House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform hearing on the contraceptive coverage rule called a five-member all-male panel of “experts,” prompting some women members of Congress to walk out of the hearing in protest. Darrell Issa, a Republican from California, is the committee chairman. The panel was composed of religious leaders and professors on ethics and religion: Rev. William Lori, Roman Catholic bishop of Bridgeport, Conn.; Rev. Matthew Harrison, the president of the Lutheran Church in Missouri; Ben Mitchell, a professor of moral philosophy at Union University (affiliated with the Tennessee Baptist Convention); Rabbi Meir Solveichik, from Yeshiva University; and Craig Mitchell, a professor of ethics at the Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary.

Catholic men of America — and all conservatives who support them — you’re not going to win this debate. You are not going to deprive American women of the benefits of 21st Century science, medicine, and law. You are not going to inject your archaic religious beliefs into American jurisprudence and drag women back into the Dark Ages.

We know about birth control and contraception and family planning and reproductive health. We know about unwanted children, poverty-stricken unwed mothers, irresponsible fathers, ectopic pregnancies, STDs, HIV/AIDS, and a variety of “female conditions,” and we know there are ways to avoid, prevent, or cure them. We know we don’t have to bear and give birth to the results of rape or incest. We know we don’t have to remain “barefoot and pregnant” during our most productive years, serving as mere baby factories for our men. We know we can plan our families and engage in fulfilling lives and careers outside the home if we wish. We won’t go back to the days before we had these options.

You would return America’s women to the era of coat-hanger abortions just so you can crow about how saintly you are!? What about those who don’t share your beliefs? What about the separation of church and state? What about “Christian” charity and kindness and love for your fellow man and woman? What about respect for others?

It’s no wonder the Catholic Church is losing its grip in America. It’s no wonder the GOP is becoming marginalized. When raw power is the only goal, when sheer dominance is the only objective, when illegally imposing antiquated irrelevant religious beliefs on the majority is the sole purpose of proposed legislation, you will fail. This is America. We are a democracy. We have a constitutional right to freedom of (and by implication, from) religion. We have a solid wall between church and state.

This is not a discussion about contraceptives. This is not a discussion about insurance, or who pays for what. This is not about a “war on religion.” This is about an attack on the rights of half the U.S. population. This is an all-out war on women.

So take your religious beliefs back to your own pews and churches and keep them there. They do not belong in any legislation in the United States of America.

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Santorum: Raped? Pregnant? It’s a gift
Semantics in law and religion
Komen relents, sort of
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Plan B: Politics trumps science

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19 thoughts on “The religious rape of American women”

  1. It’s funny how the extremists are attempting to claim, as the basis for their discrimination, the “right to religious freedom.” I can’t help but be reminded of past attempts to justify the denial of human rights…

    “[T]here can be no such thing as the “right” of some men to violate the rights of others.” – Ayn Rand: Racism. Those words were aimed at the extremists, on both sides, of the Racism debate back in to 1960s, but I believe they hold true for this debate as well.

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      1. Yes.
        Men need to stay out of women’s health issues. (Pregnancy is not a disease – Nor does “preventative health issues” have anything to do with pregnancy)
        Women are quite capable of choosing a doctor and managing their own health issues with their doctor – without government or church direction.
        The Federal government needs to stay out of religious institution’s beliefs and should also stop telling women what they do or do not need (and how to think)
        Women are not idiots or children that need / want their “guidance” (no matter how well meaning)
        Back off – both sides.

      4. In the past I have made custom bumper stickers at zazzle.com. I may have to do some new ones … if someone hasn’t already done something appropriate.

  2. Outstanding post, Pied. It could well serve as a Congressional speech on the subject. Or, dare I say it, even a sermon? But forget that – no collar for the likes of you!

    Reply

    1. Thanks. I’m afraid I could never deliver this as a speech. I’d get way too emotional and be written off as “just another hysterical woman.” Besides, these troglodytes aren’t letting women testify.

      Reply

      2. Nor I. I read that the panel was all church leaders because the discussion was about a “war on religion.” More salt, served up with an insult to my intelligence.

  3. Well written Pied. To add further insult to our intelligence the pseudo-pious have the nerve to condemn the islamists for similarly ancient [and obviously more anti-female] ideology.

    It’s a conspiracy that goes well beyond all the fake religious dogmas. In addition to keeping women down, the [absurdly ironically named] “pro-life” effort also ensures population growth. Thus maintaining our armed forces. Soldiers have to be born and raised to enlistment age.

    Reply

    2. the “pro-life” appellation certainly is misplaced, isn’t it. I guess it’s too late, as someone pointed out on my blog, to re-claim it for those of us who believe in supporting the life of the already living.

      Reply

      1. No, that ship has sailed. What we probably need to do is come up with a new, catchy, appropriate name for them and then use it until it sticks. It needs to be something the media will pick up and use.

      1. Yeah, I kinda blew up the other day. And still haven’t calmed down much since then. Especially after Santorum’s idiotic comments about Obama and religion.

      2. Don’t calm down! Women shouldn’t calm down unless and until Santorum and all those like him get far, far away from Washington politics.

  5. Pingback: Coming soon: law v politics – PIED TYPE

... and that's my two cents