Social media is a minefield of douchebags mansplaining the overturning of Roe v. Wade and why it’s somehow a good thing that women in this country have lost bodily autonomy. It’s enough to make Facebook scrolling a daily exercise in self-restraint. What good is calling out misogyny when millions of men in this country still worship a fat loser who is credibly accused of raping or sexually assaulting dozens of women? Hell, TFG bragged about sexually assaulting women to a Hollywood Access reporter in 2015.
With no relief from idiotic comments coming anytime soon, we can at least debunk some of the more offensive responses from the pro-lie/-life keyboard warriors out there.
“Use Birth Control”
Translation: If women would just use those little pills, there’d be nothing to complain about. This is easily the most popular statement proffered by the mouth-breathers in the comment sections of Facebook and other social media apps. The retort, as with anything coming from the right these days, assumes that women are the problem. “If they would only do X, then Y wouldn’t happen.” Women’s bodies react differently to birth control pills. For some, prophylactics can cause debilitating nausea and other serious side effects. Based on Planned Parenthood studies, the effectiveness of birth control pills falls around 91% even when women take them as directed. That means one in 10 women on birth control who are sexually active may become pregnant during any given year.
The best solution: How about guys keep their peens in their pants? Ladies, a sex strike is still not out of the question.
“It’s God’s Will”
Does the Bible mention when life begins? Absolutely, and it’s not at conception. Based on the Book of Genesis, life begins with the first breath. God “breathed into his nostrils the breath of life and it was then that the man became a living being.” This is one reason the Jewish faith is not particularly hung up on abortions. Even if the religious right could back up their rhetoric with Biblical quotes, it still shouldn’t dictate government policy. While this country certainly does not need a bigger wall between us and Mexico, we sure could use one between church and state.
“The New Law Holds Women Accountable”
Missing from the right’s ramblings about abortion is any mention of accountability for the men who father babies. The decades-long effort to overturn Roe has and will always be about one thing — controlling women. For all the anger Republicans voice about how we handled the military evacuation of Afghanistan, they sure do share a surprising number of values with the Taliban.
“Women Can Still Access Abortions Elsewhere”
Not really, unless the teenagers and women are wealthy enough to take days off work and fly to another state. Geographically, women in South, Central, and East Texas are especially screwed. Colorado, New Mexico, and Illinois are the closest states that allow abortions. But, hey, the wealthy have always been insulated from problems like access to health care, underserved public schools, and corporate price gouging, um, we mean “inflation.”
This column reflects the opinions of the editorial board and not the Fort Worth Weekly. To submit a column, please email Editor Anthony Mariani at Anthony@FWWeekly.com. Submissions will be gently edited for factuality, clarity, and concision.
Y’all sure do spend a lot of energy on defending extinguishing life in the womb in which 66% of all of those effect the death of black and brown children.