Just One More Political Commentary

I have friends and family who will be voting for Mitt Romney on November 6th and I will not  alienate them by discussing our political differences, but I have to question if they understand what is at stake in this election. There are issues common to almost every election; the federal deficit, unemployment, health care, and social security, but in this election there is an issue that, for me, stands above all the others and that is women's rights. I do not want a president whose policies will catapult women back in time. I remember the 60s and 70s when women fought for equal pay, when the Supreme Court made the decision to legalize abortion in Roe vs Wade, and legislators passed laws making it a criminal offense for a husband to abuse his wife. I have advocated for and counseled women who have been raped and abused and I fear that if the Romney Ryan Republican ticket wins, a chauvinistic backward view of women and women's issues will resurface.

Romney has said he will overturn Roe vs Wade and has endorsed a "personhood" initiative treating a fertilized egg as a legal person. That could lead to murder charges for an abortion, even to save the life of a mother. He has promised to withdraw all federal funding of Planned Parenthood, which, contrary to popular belief, provides numerous health services to women, including HIV/AIDS testing and cancer screening. The unfortunate result of defunding could be that more women may die of cervical and breast cancer and AIDS.

I have followed the Republican's war on women since the start of this election year, beginning with Rick Santorum's extreme stance on birth control. Santorum said, "One of the things I will talk about, that no president has talked about before, is I think the dangers of contraception in this country....It's not okay. It's a license to do things in a sexual realm that is counter to how things are supposed to be."  The fact is that 99 percent of sexually active women in the United States have used some form of birth control and Santorum wanted to ban all contraception.

Romney recently endorsed Republican Richard Mourdock in the Indiana Senate race with a widely publicized web video declaring, "With so much at stake, I hope you'll join me in supporting Richard Mourdock for U.S. Senate." On October 23, 2012,  Mourdock  said, "And I think even when life begins in that horrible situation of rape, that it is something that God intended to happen." Four out of five Americans believe that a woman should be able to get an abortion if her health is endangered, or if the pregnancy is the result of rape.

And then there is Todd Aiken's outrageous comment, "If it’s a legitimate rape, the female body has ways to try to shut that whole thing down," he said. "But let's assume that maybe that didn't work or something. I think there should be some punishment, but the punishment ought to be on the rapist and not attacking the child." His entire statement is preposterous, but the most insulting word here is "legitimate".

Given these views by Republicans running for office this year, I believe it is fair to say that there is a Republican war on women and I urge everyone to think about these issues when they enter the voting booth on Tuesday. These issues affect men and women alike. I know not all men subscribe to these radical Republican views and they do care about the reproductive health of their wives, daughters, girlfriends, friends, and family members.

Women, when you vote, think about how you feel about your rights. Men, think about all the women you love.

A Brave Fight for Women's Rights

"Any female that, by any means, plays a role in the war against the mujahedeen," Ehsan declared, "should be killed." 

Five days ago, a fourteen-year-old girl was shot in the head and neck while riding in a school bus. She is currently fighting for her life in a military hospital in Pakistan.The shooters? The mujahedeen. Her offense? Blogging about her right, and the right of all girls, to attend school. Malala Yousafzai has been blogging since the age of eleven when she began to journal her personal struggle to get an education. Her diary was published by the BBC after the Taliban announced that girls will not be allowed to attend school and declared the education of girls to be "un-Islamic." The ban affected Malala's schooling in Swat Valley, Pakistan.

Malala Yousafzai, a Pakistani teenager shot by the Taliban after advocating education for girls, is treated by army doctors. Photograph: Ispr Handout/EPA

The mujahedeen are Islamic guerilla warriors belonging to a radical movement that dates back to the mid-1800s, originating in the remote mountains of Afghanistan. They believe they are engaged in a battle of faith, or jihad, a holy war. Although the Taliban was forced out of Swat in 2009, they have publicly admitted responsibility for the shooting, in what most believe is an attempt to announce their continued presence and commitment to violence in their barbaric war against women.

In the United States, a geographical location that ends or begins in 'valley' typically conjures up images of skiing, wealth, and social status. The Swat Valley, where Malala lives, used to boast about being Pakistan's only ski resort, but it is now one of the most violent regions in Pakistan due to the irrepressible influence of the Taliban. Mujahedeen militants continue to spill over from the Afghanistan border and, as evidenced by Tuesday's cold-blooded shooting, are intent upon enforcing their Islamic fundamentalism upon the women of Pakistan.

Malala, a remarkably brave girl, now joins the rank of women who, in their heroic attempt to bring about change for womankind, have fallen victim to cowards.

100 Years of Girl Power

Today celebrates the 100th anniversary of International Women's Day. One hundred years ago, women did not have the right to work, vote, or hold public office in the United States. Thousands of dedicated women around the world have fought for gender equality and while the scale remains unbalanced even in 2011, today is the day to acknowledge the enormous strides that have been made toward women's rights. This is a global celebration of all women - past and present.

So many women have contributed to the women's rights movement throughout the years, some names are synonomous with women's rights and some are not so well known. I randomly selected four of the lesser known women to honor today. Four very different women from four countries of the world with a common goal - to obtain equal rights for women.

Alexandra Kollontai. Born in 1872 into an affluent Ukrainian family, Kollontai played a significant role in both the Russian socialist movement and women's suffrage. She organized women workers in Russia to fight against the male domination and conservatism of socialist organizations. In 1918, she was instrumental in organizing the First All-Russian Congress of Working and Peasant Women. That same year, she issued a statement following the establishment of the Central Office for Maternity and Infant Welfare. "Two million babies, tiny lights just kindled on this earth, died in Russia every year because of the ignorance of the oppressed people, because of bigotry and indifference of the class state. Two million mothers wet the Russian soil with their bitter tears each year as, with their calloused hands, they piled earth on the innocent victims of an ugly state system. Human thought has at last come out into the open vistas of the radiant epoch where the working class can build, with its own hands, forms of child care that will not deprive a child of its mother or a mother of her child." A relentless agitator for reform, Kollontai was exiled from Russia for long periods throughout her life. While exiled, she wrote numerous books, articles, and pamphlets promoting awareness of women's rights.

Jeannette Rankin. Born in Missoula, Montana Territory in 1880. In 1912, Rankin was hired by the New York Women's Suffrage Party and became the field secretary for the National American Women Suffrage Association. She was the first woman elected to United States Congress in 1916. Elected again in 1940, she made history as the only legislator to vote against the United States entering World Wars I and II. She was a respected leader and influential voice for women's suffrage and emancipation and an unapologetic pacifist. In 1968, at the age of 88, she led an organized group of over 5,000 women in Washington, DC to protest the Vietnam War.

Asma Khader. Born in 1952 in Jordanian controlled West bank, Khader is an attorney and human rights activist, focusing on women's and children's rights. Her staggering list of accomplishments include: two-term president of the Jordanian Women's Union, founder of the Sisterhood Is Global Institute - an international organization that assists Muslim women in learning technology, developer of legal literacy and legal assistance programs for Jordanian women, adviser for Human Rights Watch's Women Rights Division, and election to the Permanent Arab Court on Violence Against Women. As an author, she wrote Questions and Answers about Women's Rights in Jordanian Law and Law and the Future of Palestinian Women. She is responsible for generating global interest in the plight of women living in male-dominated Arab and Islamic countries.

Malalai Kakar. Born in Afghanistan in 1967, Kakar wore a traditional burka each day when she left the house, but underneath her burka was a uniform bearing the ranking of lieutenat colonel in the Kandahar police force. She was the first woman to graduate from the Kandahar police academy and first woman to become an investigator within the police department. As the head of Kandahar's department of crimes against women, she was the one called to examine crime scenes involving domestic abuse. Kakar was married to a man who was proud of his wife's role in helping their country. A devoted mother to their six children, she was shot dead by the Taliban in 2008 while on her way to work. The Taliban did not approve of a female police officer.

"Oh, if I could but live another century and see the fruition of all the work for women! There is so much yet to be done." - Susan B Anthony

Sources: en.wikipedia.org, encyclopedia.jrak.org, spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk., womenshistory.about.com, biography.com, journeyman.tv, brainyquote.com