Christine, your comment brought to mind the fact that for many things, like the anti-vaxxers against measles/mumps vaccine, who say, "Nobody gets/dies from measles any more", neglect to admit that's because the vaccines were so effective at eradicating it. Same with small pox, polio, etc. And same with the horrors of back-alley abortions. Young women today can't know the terror many women felt (and not just women who had sex 'outside of marriage'), when they were confronted with a pregnancy they knew they could not carry to term. For many married women, it was even worse, because they were expected to be brood mares, if that's what their husbands' expectations were. Forget that they may have been exhausted, physically and mentally, by tending to several children, usually under the age of 10. I believe one of my family member's mental illness can be traced back to just such a situation, with an abusive husband, to boot.
To those who have pointed out that this is, at the root, about controlling women, you are spot on. These misogynistic bastards know that by controlling a woman's reproductive life, you control her. We already know that part of why career women are paid less than their male counterparts is the red herring that, "you'll drop out to start a family, and all that training and time and effort we put into making you a good employee will be wasted." And of course, when they DO start a family, that heavily dings their retirement savings as well as their real time monetary wellbeing, whether or not they drop out of the work force permanently.
Well, David. You just explained some more history. Thank you to you and your partner’s and your mom’s stories. That’s what makes history.
Christine, your comment brought to mind the fact that for many things, like the anti-vaxxers against measles/mumps vaccine, who say, "Nobody gets/dies from measles any more", neglect to admit that's because the vaccines were so effective at eradicating it. Same with small pox, polio, etc. And same with the horrors of back-alley abortions. Young women today can't know the terror many women felt (and not just women who had sex 'outside of marriage'), when they were confronted with a pregnancy they knew they could not carry to term. For many married women, it was even worse, because they were expected to be brood mares, if that's what their husbands' expectations were. Forget that they may have been exhausted, physically and mentally, by tending to several children, usually under the age of 10. I believe one of my family member's mental illness can be traced back to just such a situation, with an abusive husband, to boot.
To those who have pointed out that this is, at the root, about controlling women, you are spot on. These misogynistic bastards know that by controlling a woman's reproductive life, you control her. We already know that part of why career women are paid less than their male counterparts is the red herring that, "you'll drop out to start a family, and all that training and time and effort we put into making you a good employee will be wasted." And of course, when they DO start a family, that heavily dings their retirement savings as well as their real time monetary wellbeing, whether or not they drop out of the work force permanently.