Marching Toward the Unknown

Today, thousands of Americans took to the streets across the nation to march for women's rights. Many marched to support their sisters and to affirm the beauty and dignity of women. In many ways, this march was a healthy expression of the recognition of women's strength and powerful presence in the world. 

Amen to that, sisters!

At the same time, something else was going on that wasn't so healthy, so I think the best thing to do is to look at the "Unity Principles" on the Women's March site itself. First, they start with "Ending Nonviolence," which is a great way for anyone to start:

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Women deserve to live full and healthy lives, free of all forms of violence against our bodies. We believe in accountability and justice in cases of police brutality and ending racial profiling and targeting of communities of color. It is our moral imperative to dismantle the gender and racial inequities within the criminal justice system.

Did you notice that? Who is the perpetrator of violence? Not rapists or "rape culture," but the police and any other form of law enforcement. But they don't offer an alternative. This principle might be just fine, and certainly it's great to be against any systemic violence, but perhaps we should look at countries that oppress women to a far greater degree. 

​The next principle is "Reproductive Rights":

We believe in Reproductive Freedom. We do not accept any federal, state or local rollbacks, cuts or restrictions on our ability to access quality reproductive healthcare services, birth control, HIV/AIDS care and prevention, or medically accurate sexuality education. This means open access to safe, legal, affordable abortion and birth control for all people, regardless of income, location or education. ​

I don't believe that every woman who marched today is pro abortion, and I don't believe that every woman who marched today is in favor of unbridled killing of innocent human life. I believe that most of the women who marched today are decent, law abiding individuals who want to make a difference, and that is a noble thing. That being said, they took part in an organization funded by blood money. The "Exclusive Premiere Sponsor" of the event was Planned Parenthood, and one of the "Social Justice Partners" was NARAL.

The Honorary Co-Chairs of the event include radical extremists such as Angela Davis (who considers Israel to be an apartheid state, and who is a proponent of the anti-Semitic BDS movement) and Dolores Huerta (a great admirer of Venezuelan dictator Hugo Chavez).

Other partners funding the event include:

#VOTEPROCHOICE
American Atheists
Catholics for Choice
Communist Party USA
Democratic Socialists of America
EMILY"s List
National Institute for Reproductive Health
National Women's Liberation (whose first priority is abortion and birth control)
Students for Choice

​and many others...

Of course, mixed in with all these radical partners are some fine organizations who do some good work for women in the community. At the same time, these good organizations are diminished by association. The stink of abortion taints the entire thing, and that's too bad. It's tragic, in fact.

Here's the thing: marches like this bother me because they treat women like helpless waifs who have no ability to function by their own wits, while at the same time affirming women's strength. For me, it's hard because, while I'd love to endorse any organization that supports women, I will not support any organization that offers abortion as a solution to problems. It's as though if Planned Parenthood lost its federal funding, that women would suddenly be incapable of regulating their own lives and their own fertility. Isn't that the opposite of the otherwise affirming message of the march?

If women are strong and powerful and amazing, then why do they need Planned Parenthood to take control of their fertility? If women are fantastic, when would their lives fall collectively into ruin should there be even the smallest regulation on abortion? Don't they think women can cope? What happened to Rosie the Riveter proclaiming "We can do it!"? What do these organizers really think of women? Don't they trust women's abilities to regulate their own fertility rather than assuming they can't? Can't women have the presence of mind to keep their knees together without Planned Parenthood trying to tell them they can't? Who really does support the dignity and strength of women? 

There's probably a lot more I could say about this march. As a woman, I wish I could support it, but I cannot. All I can say is that I hope that women truly can see their own strength and really understand that they don't need Planned Parenthood or the government to dictate to them what they can and cannot do, nor make women feel powerless. The rhetoric today was such that it makes me worry that some will feed into that and start to believe it. 

As for me, I will do my best to keep my hope in women and in our ability to rise above. We do not need Planned Parenthood. We can make healthy choices that do not involve someone else's death. We can love our bodies and not turn it into a place of violence. And we don't need radical women with extremist agendas to try to tell us otherwise.