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The legendary actress Mae West once said, “Those who are easily shocked should be shocked more often.” Who should be shocked more often? Women! Why? In light of the recent draconian state laws being promulgated with the sole purpose of either severely restricting, or in some cases totally eliminating, abortion rights and/or access to abortion pills (medication abortion), women should both be “shocked more often” and be dismayed regarding an inability to control their own bodies (reproductive freedom) and, subsequently, their own health/family choices.
What to do or not to do? The answer is provided by the historian Laurel Thatcher Ulrich, who proclaimed, “Well-behaved women seldom make history.” Therefore, women continue to change your demeanor, be less “well-behaved,” and make history by your efforts to organize against all state-mandated anti-abortion rights legislation, protesting and holding rallies, initiating letter-writing campaigns against state and national legislators who do not support a woman’s right to control all facets of her body, and educate men with respect to these vital female-centered issues.
In the much larger context, women must continue the pursuit of national legislation to recognize abortion as an important medical option available to all women in a uniform and meaningful manner, regardless of where one lives.
Abortion is a highly personal choice to undertake, therefore, the ultimate decision should be left to a woman and her physician, and not male- and/or Republican-dominated state legislative bodies. So, women, start misbehaving and make history.
John M. Mishler
Harpswell