Stating the obvious, our rights and freedoms are being eroded. First, it was the overturn of Roe by the supreme court. This isn’t about protecting the unborn. It never was. After all, once you’re born in this country, you’re guaranteed citizenship but oops, not much else else. No guaranteed health care or child care. No guaranteed parental leave for parents. You’re basically on your own. And oh, once you begin your education, you may experience a school shooting because the 2nd amendment is apparently sacrosanct in this country.
Abortion always has been about controlling women – and is now being taken to extremes.
From CNBC on April 27, 2023:
The Supreme Court last week upheld Food and Drug Administration regulations that permit easy access to the abortion drug mifepristone.
A legal battle over the medication and its FDA rules is still playing out in a federal appeals court.
Despite the decision, mifepristone will remain largely unavailable in 13 states that banned abortion since the federal right to abortion established in the case Roe v. Wade was overturned last summer by the Supreme Court.
Fourteen other states have laws that restrict how mifepristone is used or dispensed.
How would men react if their access to Viagra or condoms was restricted or banned by the government?
What gives the government the right to interfere with a woman’s health care? With the decisions a woman makes about her own body?
This ban goes right along with the banning of books, the suppression of voting rights, the targeting of the LBGTQ+ community. Any time one of your “inalienable” rights is banned, take a look at republicans. This is their agenda- it’s called Fascism.
From CBS News on the banning of books:
“During the 2021-2022 school year, more than 1,600 books were banned from school libraries. The bans affected 138 school districts in 32 states, according to a report from PEN America, an organization dedicated to protecting free expression in literature. “
And every year, the number of bans increase. Texas and Florida now lead the nation in book bans. Ron DeSantis, the The Florida governor – the same guy who is trying to take on Mickey Mouse because Disney came out in favor of the LBGTQ+ community- seems to find particular perverse delight in telling students what they can and can’t read. No, No, Charlotte’s Web might corrupt and poison a young mind. And oh my God, Harry Potter is about wizards and magic. Ban it, ban it.
“Many of the new restrictions come from a law passed last year that requires trained media specialists to evaluate each school book to ensure it is age-appropriate and free of “pornographic” content. The law also requires schools to keep a searchable online database of the books in their libraries and classrooms.
“Proposed legislation goes further. In March, the Florida House passed a bill that could require schools to remove a book promptly based on a single complaint from a parent or county resident that the book depicted sexual conduct. Under the proposed bill, the book would remain unavailable until the complaint was resolved.”
Take a look at some of the banned titles.
DeSantis also has revamped black history. Can’t have anything in the curriculum, folks, that might make white kids and their parents feel guilty about….well, take your pick. Slavery, the right to vote, the killing of George Floyd.… You get the idea here. Best to keep people oblivious about their true history. We can’t allow young people to know the truth.
So what can you, a single individual, do to counteract all this? To help turn things around so that we really are equal in every sense of the word?
Vote, of course. But what else?
Start with your expertise. Are you a good writer? Speaker? Organizer? Speak out. Protest. Never remain silent. If you’re a teacher in a state like Florida, stand up for your rights as an educator, for your students’ rights to be educated. Speak your truth. Join an organization with voice that’s heard. If we don’t stand up, folks, then we may find ourselves ruled by autocrats whose religion and beliefs become law, which is already happening. Fortunately, there are still blue states that are holdouts of freedom and democracy.
But for how long? With a supreme court that apparently can do what it wants, without any ethical restraints or eversights, our days of inalienable rights may be on a countdown to the 2024 election.
