With Every Step Forward...

What a doubly exciting and yet frustrating day for women here in the U.S.  On a positive note, the all-male Augusta National golf club, which has famously snubbed scores of high-profile would-be female members in order to maintain its "old boy's club" atmosphere (not that they would ever admit to that) admitted its FIRST two female members!!!!  Condoleeza Rice (who, despite the President that she served under, I have a tremendous amount of respect for as a trailblazing woman) and South Carolina financier Darla Moore are the lucky women, and, while I must start by saying that this is LONG overdue, I truly hope that this serves as notice to social clubs like Augusta that "old boys' clubs" are no longer acceptable.  As women strive to occupy positions of power, it is increasingly important that these all-male institutions be done away with in favor of organizations where men and women can interact outside of work.  And after all, the links are a place where major business deals are made, so, with the push for increased visibility of women in leadership roles, women should be privy to those business conversations.  For more information on Augusta's surprising and historic ruling, click here.

However, if you have been paying any attention to the news, you will know about the despicable case of Representative Todd Akin (R-MO) whose comments on abortion left the most rotten of tastes in my mouth.  Mr. Akin was asked in an interview whether, in cases of rape, he believes that abortion is justified.  Not only does he show how ignorant he is about rape, but he displays his extreme insensitivity towards the victims of rape.

His bloodcurdling comments were the following:

“It seems to be, first of all, from what I understand from doctors, [pregnancies resulting from rape are] really rare. If it’s a legitimate rape, the female body has ways to try to shut the whole thing down.”

First of all, let's start out with the fact that this guy is an idiot.  "The female body has ways to try to shut the whole thing down."  I'm sorry, does he have the slightest of ideas as to how the reproductive system works?  Women's bodies do not decide whether or not to begin the process of pregnancy based on whether or not the sexual encounter was consensual or a rape.  Do you think our ovaries say, "Oh, this was a rape, no pregnancy this time"?  No, the body does not have a natural abortion mechanism in place for cases when a woman is raped.  The NYT has an article on how this gross misconception has surfaced in multiple elections.

Secondly, let's focus on the most important issue at hand.  What the hell does "legitimate rape" mean, and who decides what it means?  Is it Akin?  That term, "legitimate rape" is certainly a new one for me.  In any case where a woman does not consent to a sexual encounter, she is a rape victim.  End of story.  No matter what your views on abortion are, I think that we can all agree that 1) Mr. Akin's knowledge of the processes of the human body is severely lacking, and, thus, he should not make assertions based on that misinformation; and 2) his use of the term "legitimate rape" suggests that he has some personal set of criteria for determining whether or not a woman has actually been raped, which is absurd.  

Infuriating, just infuriating.  Ladies, if you are at all politically inclined, please run for office and replace these clowns who think they can legislate issues relating to your health when they have neither an understanding of your body nor any empathy for the trauma that unfortunate numbers of women are subjected to. 

A Banner Week for Women's Health

In case any of you happen to live under a rock and have not been watching the news for the past week, women's health was again at the forefront of news broadcasts and publications beginning last week, with Pfizer's announcement that it was recalling 14 lots each of Lo/Ovral-28 and generic Norgestrel and Ethinyl Estradiol birth control tablets.  I really had no concept of how many women this recall would affect at the time, but apparently, approximately 1 million packets were recalled, because some placebo pills were accidentally intermixed with active tablets.  It will be interesting to see what the implications of this grave mistake are (my money is on more than a few lawsuits).

Then, later in the week, the Susan G. Komen Foundation, one of the most visible breast cancer organizations, with a focus on providing care for early detection, and also on honoring survivors, announced that it was withdrawing its significant financial support from the Planned Parenthood organization, which, among other activities (such as providing breast cancer screening or getting access to it elsewhere for women who would not otherwise have access), happens to be the country's leading provider of abortions.  The news spread like a wildfire via the internet, with Facebook and Twitter users and bloggers alike (myself included) voicing their opposition to or support of the foundation's decision.  Within 24 hours, the Komen Foundation's CEO rescinded the decision, but not before the abortion debate was awakened again.

I have discussed abortion, and the pro-choice/pro-life debate with many of my friends, and I think each of us, no matter which side of the argument we fall on, has a problem with the language that is used in the debate.  I personally identify with the pro-choice argument, because I believe that it should be a woman's right to choose how to respond if she accidentally becomes pregnant, whether by consensual sex or by the act of rape.  I honestly do not know what I would do were I to find myself in that situation (and I hope that I never do), but I think it is my right to exercise control over my own body.  I say all of this with a caveat: while I am pro-choice, I also do not believe that women should go around having lots of random, unprotected sex and then, in the event that they do become pregnant, get an abortion. However, going back to how important language is in the construction of this debate, just because I identify with pro-choicers does not at all that I am pro-death or anti-life.  That, I believe, is where the problem lies.
I was just reading responses to an editorial in the New York Times regarding the Catholic Church and its strict pro-life stance (to the extent that Catholic institutions, such as the one I graduated from and now work for will not provide methods of birth control to employees or patients.  This means that, for example, were a woman whose doctor practices in a Catholic hospital be prescribed birth control, she could not fill the prescription in the hotel's pharmacy).  What I noticed, as I was reading these responses, was that all of them came from MEN.  Check it out.  Ladies, whether you are pro-life or pro-choice, I think we should all be able to agree that what we do with our bodies should not be dictated by a man, much less an organization whose entire leadership is MALE.  I am a practicing Catholic, and I certainly do not want my church's leadership, much less my government or my employer, to dictate my reproductive health.

I know that this is WAYYYYYYYY more political than I ever get on my blog, but this issue has really been on my mind a lot in the past week, so I wanted to get my thoughts out there.  I think that it is vitally important for all women, no matter what their political leanings, to be effective advocates for their own health, and the current news items that I have highlighted in this post further solidify that sentiment in my mind.  Please know that I respect any and all opinions that all of my readers have on this subject, because, as many have said, this really is the biggest and most divisive issue in American politics today, and it is certainly not black and white. I fully encourage you to voice any differing opinions that you may have here!