June 24, 2022 Highlighted the Republican War on Women

More than 60% of all Americans opposed overturning Roe v Wade. On June 24, 2022, one of the darkest days in American history, The Six Bad Actors pretending to be Supreme Court Justices, but are in fact tools of the extremist right-wing party calling themselves “Republicans,” overturned a nearly 50-year-old decision by a qualified Supreme Court dedicated to performing their purpose under the Constitution written by our Founding Fathers and signed in 1789. This action by a biased and partisan Court resulted in anger across the United States.

This was a direct attack on women’s rights, likely led by Justice Amy Coney Barrett, whose extremist religious beliefs supersede her duty to the Court and the American people. She supports the servitude of wives to their husbands and the banning of abortion in all situations.

The extremist right-wing quickly learned that this war had just begun. Moving our nation back into the dark days of the 1950s is unacceptable and will result in a political revolution.

Movements have already begun. They are similar to the demands made during the beginnings of the HIV/AIDS tragedy in the latter part of the 20th century and the fight for the rights of the LGBTQ community to receive the right to legal marriage and equality under the same law offered to heterosexual couples. They will never cease until all women receive the rights guaranteed to them by the Constitution. This has already become a battle for the American way of life promised to us all.

Let’s return to 1981. Ronald Reagan began this modern war. His support of Christian religions, and their subjugation of women, began the creation of the lobby known as the Christian Religious Right. They have become one of the most influential lobbies in our government. Republicans refuse to vote in favor of the Violence Against Women Act and completely ignore measures that would guarantee equal rights in the workplace and every other area previously controlled by their male counterparts. It is the Christian Religious Right that made abortion a political issue instead of a difficult personal decision.

Other inequities include the fact that women are paid 78 cents for every dollar earned by men. One in four are homeless are the result of domestic violence, a reality ignored by our male-dominated government.

History reveals that women were making advances in their fight for equality until the illegitimate presidency of Donald John Trump. A proven sexual predator, Trump subtly signed executive orders which attempted to reduce the influence of women in our society. Most of these were struck down by federal appeals courts.

The Republican Party has far fewer women in the House and Senate than Democrats, and the few that remain are frequently coerced into aligning themselves with the proposals of their male counterparts.

My personal experience in 76 years is likely more relevant than simple statistics. I have witnessed the ups and downs of women who have been seeking equality for the last 246 years. They have fought long and hard for their rights. Remember, white women were not granted the right to vote until 1919, just over 100 years ago.

Black women were unable to vote until 1965 with the passage of the 1964 Civil Rights Act. I was 19 years old when Black women were allowed access to their Constitutional rights. Women have been treated as second-class citizens for far too long. I believe that changes in our nation will happen because women will no longer struggle for equality; they will take it.

Here’s why things will change, and soon. Women continue to dominate our population, 51-49%. Women control the majority of our nation’s wealth in the 21st century. More women are registered to vote than men. More women are enrolled in our colleges and universities than men. More women ran for public office in 2018 and 2020 than men. Women are rejecting marriage and children and returning to school. Careers have become more important than traditional family life.

June 24 will be remembered as the day women stood up and stopped being “nice.” Men have assumed for far too long that “the gentler sex” would accept their ‘place in society.’ That is over.

Republicans started this war, and strong, determined women will win it and end it.

By James Turnage, Novelist

Sources:

ACLU: Women’s Rights
Daily KOS: The post-Roe rebirth of an unstoppable reproductive rights movement has only just begun; by Kerry Eleveld

Featured and Top Image Courtesy of Fibonacci Blue’s Flickr Page – Creative Commons License
Inset Image Courtesy of Maryland GovPics’ Flickr Page – Creative Commons License