Seriously, Dudes?

Today on Huffington Post, I saw a photo and headline that really made me seethe.

The headline: Room Full Of Men Decides Fate Of Women’s Health Care. And here are the boys who want it to happen, a photo tweeted by a proud Mike Pence:

Granted, it’s easier to seethe now during this trump era, but this headline triggered scenarios from how life used to be for women 40, 50, and 60 years ago. Think about this for a moment:

Until 1978, when the Pregnancy Discriminaiton Act was passed, women could be fired from their jobs for being pregnant.

Until 1974, with the passage of the Equal Opportunity Act, women couldn’t apply for credit.

The first time that a court recognized sexual harassment in the workplace was in 1977 and it wasn’t until 1980 that sexual harassment was officially defined by the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission.

Before the 1970s, a woman couldn’t refuse to have sex with her husband. Yeah, you read that correctly. By the mid-1970s, most states recognize marital rape, but it wasn’t until 1993 that it actually became criminalized in all 50 states.

 Then there’s Roe v Wade in 1973, which protected a woman’s right to abortion until viability in most states.

And that era of prohibitions on women’s rights is where that roomful of men hope to take us back to. As the Huffington Post points out, the Affordable Care Act created a list of “ 10 essential health benefits that all health insurance plans must cover. Pregnancy, newborn, and maternity care are on that list.” Before Obamacare in 2010, women had to pay more than men for the same health coverage, only 12 percent of plans offered maternity coverage, and it was legal for insurance companies to refuse coverage to women who were pregnant or might become pregnant in the future.

“But many Republicans argue that this pre-2010 system was better, because men shouldn’t have to pay for things like maternity care.”

As House House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi said, the GOP health care bill could end up “making being a woman a pre-existing condition.”

So, okay, dudes. Why should your insurance cover vasectomies and Viagra? Or prostaste problems and checkups? Let’s strip these things from your insurance and have the government pass some legislation about your bodies. One Texas state representative – Jessica Farrar – has introduced legislation that would fine men for mastubating and require them to undergo counseling before obtaining a prescription for Viagra. Her bill, according to The Hill, is an effort to highlight anti-abortion laws that place restrictions on women. It would “impose a $100 civil penalty for “masturbatory emissions” that take place outside of a woman’s vagina or a hospital. Each incident would be “considered an act against an unborn child, and failing to preserve the sanctity of life,” the bill reads.

“Her bill would allow doctors to refuse to conduct vasectomies, write prescriptions for Viagra or perform a colonoscopy if those actions violate the doctor’s personal, moral or religious beliefs. Patients would be required to wait 24 hours before a procedure is performed, and doctors would be made to read a state-printed booklet, “A Man’s Right To Know,” to the patient.

“Doctors would also be required to perform a “medically-unnecessary digital rectal exam” and an MRI before performing vasectomies or colonoscopies or before prescribing Viagra.”

All those self-righteous men in that photo? Get real, guys. As much as you would like to take women back 50 years, it ain’t gonna happen, and here’s why. Women aren’t your toys, consorts, fuck buddies. They are your equals.

The dudes  in that proud Mike Pence twitter pic  believe they own you,  ladies. Let’s show them otherwise.

And I can’t believe any of this is an issue all  these decades later.