Shooting stirs concerns for women’s rights

As I watched the news coverage of the Colorado Springs Planned Parenthood shooting, I waited for a unified outcry from politicians and religious leaders, but it was strangely silent. Having recently taken part in counter-protests in support of Planned Parenthood, I have become increasingly sensitized to the violent and inflammatory language used by politicians and religious groups. The crusade against abortion and Planned Parenthood has been so openly hostile it almost invites violence. This could have been Fayetteville, where the staff at Planned Parenthood work knowing violence is a possibility every day. The focus on Planned Parenthood is disproportionate, since only about a fourth of abortions nationwide occur in Planned Parenthood clinics. It is an easy target for a few reasons; first, it is a recognizable brand associated with providing women with reproductive health care. Also, funding can be threatened, and finally, there are little to no political consequences to targeting poor women.

I am a woman, a feminist and, by default, an activist, though latent for decades. In the process of becoming an adult, a professional, a wife, and a mother, my activism took a back seat to pragmatism. Lately, I have become increasingly concerned about women’s health care and the right to have control over one’s reproductive decisions. Yes, this includes the right to a safe, legal abortion. This word has over-shadowed the debate about women’s reproductive health, with religious leaders and politicians framing the language. Religion has had its tentacles in every aspect of our sexuality with unrivaled fixation. I have been a Christian for most of my life, but have felt increasingly alienated by a religion that often undermines a women’s autonomy and control over her own body. Politicians have used religion to divide our country so deeply that merely winning political battles falls short of bridging the gap between increasingly polarized groups.

The hypocrisy of the political rhetoric is offensive and insulting. In spite of their campaign against abortion, politicians have actively fought to limit women’s choices of, and access to, contraceptives that would prevent the need for an abortion. They are also responsible for closing clinics and putting up hurdles to keep women from getting timely preventative care. Equally alarming is the absence of comprehensive sex education in public schools. Young people who have graduated from the best public schools in the state, are strangely ignorant about birth control. Sex education is practically non-existent in Arkansas public schools. What you often find is some version of an abstinence only program, which frankly, is a disservice to our children, and ultimately contributes to teen pregnancies, abortions and an increased incidence of sexually transmitted diseases. My own daughter, who graduated from the No. 1-ranked high school in Arkansas, in lieu of sex ed, was given some analogy of burned toast and pre-marital sex. Abstinence only is not sex education.

Add to this the absence of support for single mothers and the working poor, and you get a pretty clear picture of what it means to be “prolife” in Arkansas.

LEAH CHILDRESS

Fayetteville