Setting Back Women's Rights

Let’s talk more about the treatment of females. On March 31, 2012 it was reported that federal prosecutors are going after gangs forcing suburban high school girls into sex slaves; they go to social network sites and bus stops and look for girls wanting to earn money then via violence and drugs they scare the girls into it; gangs are growing in size and area making this problem larger. On April 13 the View said Public Advocacy groups want hospitals to quit giving out baby formula because they say it undermines breastfeeding and makes it look like hospitals are endorsing formula; some women have trouble producing milk, others can’t produce enough for the baby and some babies won’t take it so all of these women need the formula or the baby’s needs would be further hindered. This comes at a time when people get upset if a woman breastfeeds in public with or without covering their breasts (they should be covered). Hopefully you remember that on December 29, 2011 a Michigan mall stopped a group of mothers that wanted to breast feed; the mall said it didn’t object to the breastfeeding just the demonstration atmosphere. Breast feeding Moms united with a ‘Nurse In’ at a Texas Target because an employee was harassing a mother; they hit about 100 stores across the country and what about NASCAR star Kasey Kahne apologizing for tweeting that he finds breast feeding mothers disgusting. I would agree with Kasey if the ‘Attachment Parenting’ people are breast feeding kids in public that can hold a glass by themselves.

US News reported that on April 16 Mississippi passed a law requiring doctors performing abortions to have admitting privileges at a local hospital and to be board-certified in obstetrics and gynecology or be eligible to be certified, meaning the physician has completed training in the specialty; it’s set to go into effect July 1. Sam Mims, the author of the legislation and Republican chairman of the House Public Health and Human Services Committee said "the intent is always to have fewer abortions in Mississippi. If the Jackson clinic shuts it's a very positive result". Governor Phil Bryant after signing the bill said "I believe that all human life is precious and as governor I will work to ensure that the lives of the born and unborn are protected in Mississippi". Julie Rikelman, litigation director at the Center for Reproductive Rights, New York, said the center is "taking a hard look at [the law] for potential litigation." In an election year when reproductive issues have already taken a high-profile role, Mississippi could become a flash point nationally if its sole clinic scales back sharply or shuts down. It is one of 4 states—the others are North Dakota, South Dakota and Wyoming—that have just one clinic providing abortions said Vicki Saporta, President of the National Abortion Federation, the main group representing abortion providers. In 2011 states passed 92 provisions that imposed limits on abortion, according to the Guttmacher Institute, a nonprofit group that produces data that are cited by groups on both sides of the debate. That was the most the group had seen in a year since it began tracking bills in the early 1970s; the highest previous total was 34. The Mississippi law is the "only one to require that abortion providers essentially be OB-GYNs," as opposed to simply being trained in the procedure, said Elizabeth Nash, state issues manager for the Guttmacher Institute.

The Augusta National Golf Club hosts the Masters Tournament every year. Per the www.qualitydigest.com’s April 11 article since 1932 the club’s men-only membership which number about 300 remains a secret. In past years the CEO of IBM has been invited to join the club as a member. Currently, Virginia Rometty is the CEO of IBM. At a recent press conference, Billy Payne, chairman of the Golf Club, deflected all questions regarding Rometty’s admission with silly, inane responses. No doubt the dinosaurs at the golf club will continue to voice their fossilized opinions while the rest of the world looks at their inactions as infantile and comedic. Perhaps there are some members of Augusta who will conclude they don’t want to be associated with a club that excludes women or with members still living in the 1940s. Rometty attended the tournament and hosted a series of events at the club for IBM customers. In Bloomberg’s April 24 article it was reported that a male shareholder asked the IBM CEO, the tournament’s biggest sponsor, if she had been asked to be a member; she thanked him for his concern and moved on (did not answer the question). The club never did answer the question as to whether or not they would keep the good old boys club or follow tradition by asking IBM’s CEO to join.

On April 26 it was reported that a Fort Wayne, Indiana Catholic School teacher was fired last June for getting in vitro infertility treatments (she has a medical condition that causes infertility); she signed a document saying she’d comply with the religion’s beliefs; the school’s pastor said she was a grave and immoral sinner; she filed a complaint with the EEOC and won but it’s thought that a Supreme Court decision from earlier this year will hurt her lawsuit; the church is saying that in vitro kills embryos and the court’s decision now allows religious schools to fire anyone for any purpose and causes discrimination; it’s unknown if she is pregnant.

On April 29 hundreds protested in New York because of the setbacks in women’s rights and reproduction rights. One good thing did happen; on May 1 the Oklahoma Supreme Court ruled that it’s unconstitutional to give ‘personhood’ rights to embryos. Women need to continue to take a stand on how they are to be treated and teach their girls and other women that they are not there for the whim of men.