Tuesday, March 21, 2017
The Birth Control Debate - Henry Wilkinson
For men, Birth control is not an issue they have to think about. They are not the ones who are pregnant, their lives are not completely altered by them fathering a child. Women, however, continually have to worry about sex, pregnancy, and abortion. For decades people have tried to control a woman's body and despite the fact that abortions were commonly practiced up until the late 1800's, abortion clinics have increasingly diminished over the 20th and 21st century. It all stems from male doctors trying to regulate the system and prejudiced people using a false version of Christianity to mask their own prejudiced and sexist views. Gloria Steinem said it best: "If men could get pregnant, abortion would be a sacrament." Men do not think about the consequences of their actions while a woman constantly thinks about pregnancy, what she would do in the event she were to become pregnant, would she keep the child, etc. In the mid 20th century, to become pregnant was to be the end of a woman's career. If she were working, she would not be able to keep her job in many cases. Our society has thankfully moved away from this, but pregnancy still dominate's women's lives. If she waits to have a child, she's being selfish. If she has a child young, she's an idiot. Whereas, men do not worry about using condoms, they do not worry about birth control, they do not think about how having a child will alter their bodies (because it doesn't). Yet, men still try to regulate women's bodies. Men still try to create laws that control what a woman can and cannot do with their bodies. Men try to create systems around an experience they could never experience. Tell me how this isn't flawed, I ask you. It is my firm belief that only women should be able to make laws regulating women's bodies.
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