Today, Mississippi voters will weigh in on Initiative 26, the so-called Personhood Amendment. If this radical initiative passes, it could effectively outlaw abortion in the state, as well as abolish some common forms of birth control. It seems inconceivable that women are in this place. During the 2008 elections, women were steps from the presidential and vice-presidential spots in government. Yet, three years later, American women are facing dangerous attacks on their access to reproductive healthcare.Without the ability to govern our bodies, to keep them healthy and to decide when and if we use them for childbearing, women are less likely to be secretaries of state or governors. Without the ability to govern our bodies, we are not free.
But those who would deny poor women access to healthcare in Indiana or impose their (non-scientific) view of when life beings on women in Mississippi care less about freedom than holding fast to the reins of their privilege in order to impede social progress. They want to keep women in our "place." And they are betting women, who make up more than half of the electorate, don't notice.
This morning, the Planned Parenthood Action Fund launched Women Are Watching, an effort to demonstrate that women are paying attention to attacks on our agency and humanity:
This past year, we have been witnessing the most aggressive legislative attacks on women’s health and rights in a generation.
The 2010 elections dramatically changed the U.S. Congress and state legislatures nationwide, leading to a wave of efforts to restrict access to lifesaving health care, including breast exams, cancer screenings, and birth control. Instead of focusing on jobs and the economy, anti-women’s health leaders in Congress and the states have been spending their time introducing and passing bills restricting women’s access to health care. In fact, lawmakers have introduced more than 1,000 reproductive health bills in legislatures across the country, the majority of which seek to undermine women's health.
That’s why we’ve launched Women are Watching.
Women are Watching is Planned Parenthood Action Fund’s 2012 campaign to educate women across the country about the unprecedented attacks on women’s health and where candidates stand on pivotal health care issues, empower women to hold anti-women’s health candidates of either party accountable, and work to elect pro-women’s health candidates up and down the ballot.
In all branches of government, the future of women’s health hangs in the balance. In 2012, women have the power to choose which candidates will ultimately determine whether our health will be supported and our health care remains accessible.
Women are watching, educating their friends, sharing, taking action, and WE WILL BE VOTING.Visit the Women Are Watching site today and pledge to actively assist the fight for reproductive justice, locally and nationally.
Photo Credit: Hendrix College
