Thoughts on overturning Roe vs Wade

 

In the past 24 hours, I have seen many angry and joyous posts about the Supreme Court’s decision yesterday.  I have also seen a lot of respectful discussions about the decision. I have seen many posts that I cannot be your friend if you don’t agree with me. I have many friends who do not agree with me, as long as we can be disrespectful of each other’s position, then we can remain friends.

 The Supreme Court’s decision for me is not about a medical procedure; it is much more than that.

Before I continue…. I want to stress that I do not want to offend anyone. This is simply my thoughts on this matter.  For anyone that is a member of the Church of Latter-Day Saints, you may not want to read any further.

I understand that members of the Church of Latter-Day Saints would prefer not to be referred to as a member of the LDS Church. However, please understand that I will use LDS as I continue, but it is not being done to offend anyone.

Now I will continue. My biggest concern with the decision is women’s rights being stripped away. I do not want to be treated as woman in the LDS Church, where you do not have any rights.

I am not a member of the LDS Church, nor I have ever been. In my mid-twenties I worked for an organization that was owned and operated by members of the LDS community. If I had known they were members of the LDS community, I still would have accepted the job because I knew nothing about the LDS Church.

While I worked there, I learned that there was something wrong with me because I was not married. I had left my abusive ex a short time before hand. I was told that I deserved to be abused because I lived with a man outside of marriage. I was told that in their (LDS) Church they train women to select the right spouse and how to behave like a woman should.  

Other things I learned while working there…

Women were expected to be a slave to their male spouses and bare children.

Women could not vote in any church elections.

Male spouses would give their wife monthly allowances. If you went over your allowance, you had to ask for more and prove your expenses.

When a male referred to their wife doing laundry, he would call it her laundry.

A woman is expected to responsible for all household chores, childcare, and meal preparation.

Women were expected to make bread from scratch. Yes, it was a big deal to purchase bread from the store.

A woman could not seek medical care on a Sunday. The wife of a man I worked with baby died in the womb because she didn’t get medical care until Monday.

If a woman does not get married in college, they are a failure.

There were colors that were designated for males and females. A male child told his father he liked purple, and he was punished for liking a color that is only for girls.

Women’s names could not be added to assets. Yes, a woman’s name could not be listed on jointly owned home.

A woman was expected to go to college and earn a college degree but couldn’t use the degree because she was to get married and bare children. I know a chemist who never got to work as one because of her religion.

 

I do not want to live in a world where I am not allowed to have a voice because of my gender. I want to be able to make my own decision. I do feel that we have turned the clock back on women’s rights with the decision yesterday.