I'm trying to work through my thoughts when it comes to "women's issues" in this election season. This is what I think, it's totally up for discussion and I may very well change my opinion in the next hour.
We arrive at a cusp. Is America a nation in which women have control of their own reproductive systems or is it not? What it comes down to is that the female reproductive anatomy is solely under the jurisdiction of each individual female. I mean, I'm allowed to say, "No," right? That's a rhetorical question - of COURSE I'm allowed to say no. If I say no and a man acts contrary to my express desire NOT to share my anatomy (it's a much less icky way of saying "have sex"), it's rape. And rape? Never okay and very illegal.
If I'm supposed to say, "No" with any sort of authority, then it stands to reason that I also have a right to say, "Yes" with the same authority. Yes to contraceptives, yes to HPV vaccines, yes to abortion, etc. If what I have belongs only to me - not just in the abstract, ephemeral sense through which I also own an iPod, but truly a part of my physical being - then the power to say yes or no are inextricably wound together.
I understand that to clear this all up, we have to vote on it. Let's vote on it in a way that will forever remove it from public debate - mostly because I don't want my body to be up for grabs by the American electorate ever again. Pro Life and Pro Choice are both moral positions that people should adopt extra-politically. The health and care of my body should be something for which the government provides protection, but always as I exercise my own good personal judgment.
All this to say - half a right is a hollow right.
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