[feminist advocacy] Letter to the Editior

Letter to the Editor of the Mount Gilead Ohio local paper. In response to a previously published letter in which the author clearly had his facts about Sandra Fluke, religion, Obama Care, and the Constitution confused. (to say the least)

Dear Editors,

I am a 21 year old college student, and I am on birth control. I am not ashamed that I am on birth control, because I have endometriosis and ovarian cysts. I was put on the pill at the age 15 so that my reproductive organs would remain viable for later in life when I chose to have children, and I would not have a high risk of an ectopic pregnancy. At the age of 19 I had a fast-growing cyst rupture after reaching the size of a tennis ball in just over one month. I could not go into work for three weeks, and laid in bed in excruciating pain when I was not at the doctor’s office. I was given a new birth control pill and told that if I stopped taking it, I might have to have my left ovary removed. Clearly, being on the birth control pill is a matter of my health, my quality of life, and my ability to be a productive member of society.

Sandra Fluke testified that as equal citizens in America, women should be able to access affordable birth control, meaning that insurance companies should be required to provide birth control coverage in their insurance policies. The birth control pill that I am on right now, which is the ONLY pill that I can be on for endometriosis and ovarian cysts without interfering with my hypothyroidism or pre-diabetes (the pre-diabetes was brought on after a 40 pound weight gain from my previous birth control pill trying to control the endometriosis), costs $30 a month because it is non-generic. It costs $120 a month without insurance. This means that, without required coverage for birth control, someone like myself might have to pay $120 x 12 months x 4 years = $5,760. Instead, after insurance I pay $1,440.

I am a Christian, I was raised a Southern Baptist. My NEED for birth control coverage has absolutely nothing to do with religion or sexual promiscuity or taking anything away from religious institutions. Put simply, I believe that birth control is part of my health care, and that if I have health insurance it should be covered. If a woman feels that it is against her religious beliefs to take birth control, then she has every right to never ever take or use any form of birth control. I do not think that an outsider, or any legislator, should decide my fate when they do not know me and my body.

Thank you for taking the time to hear my story and opinion.

[cranky] UNITE WOMEN

 

click here to go to the Unite Women on Facebook page, find other advocates of women's rights around the country, and join the organizational page for the state you're from and/or the state you're living in to find the rally on April 28 that you can attend.

I've managed to become the state leader of one of these groups and an admin on another. I'm not sure how I did this to myself as a 21 year old college kid, but the apathy of the people the same age as me is disgusting in the face of the war on women. I'm so glad to be a part of this movement, this march for social justice, women's rights, reproductive health care, for raising awareness and giving voice to people so frequently tossed aside. No matter which of my two states I march in, I will be bringing a car full of college-age people and I will be proud of every single person standing with me that day. Clearly, obviously, there is a war on women in America. I'm not going to sit down and listen to a man tell me how my uterus works-- I'm going to stand up and make sure that everything women have fought for in the past remains solidly in place for myself, for my god children, and for all women in America.

[feminist] video: virginia 3 march

Virginia state house, 3 March 2012. A peaceful protest against the state government's attempts to require ultrasounds before abortions. Walking, chanting, holding signs, and sitting (but not blocking) on the stairs of the state house received this response.

Full riot gear. SWAT armed with automatic weapons. In the 21st century apparently everyone in the world requires a response like this when they disagree with the government and want to have their voices heard. At what point will these police officers say "wait, my sister had an abortion 10 years ago. It was unbelievably expensive then, and now we're trying to increase costs with additional requirements? I'm NOT going to break this up, I'm going to sit this one out, even if I get in trouble." Wait until there are Personhood marches-- will someone say "but my girlfriend used Plan B last year, I'm so glad that was an option because we aren't ready for kids yet!"?

Why is the government, the police force, so quick to quell any dissent? Are we supposed to simply sit at home on our laptops using social media to bring down misogynist pricks like Rush Limbaugh and meanwhile never take to the streets as a physical, visible entity to say "this is fucked up, and you have to hear me say it. you're impeding on my rights as a citizen, as a woman, and as a human being, and I'm not going to sit by, apathetic, while you throw me into the dirt and spit on me because you're too egotistical to see beyond your own needs and wants and to understand that the world is not okay!"