Letter to the Editor

I wrote the following letter to the editor in response to some recent anti-feminism.  Just in case they decide against publishing it, I thought I would share it with all of you.

Morgentaler award renews women’s rights debate

I wonder why I have not yet seen this headline.  Just about every article about abortion that I have seen emphasizes the fetus while completely ignoring the woman.  While I expect men, especially those in the Catholic church, to act as the uterine police, I can’t help but be especially angered by women who choose to judge women for acting on their bodily rights.  Bronwyn Eyre’s article "Morgentaler award renews abortion debate" was especially disappointing.

"96, 815 babies were aborted in 2005 alone."  You can not abort a baby, you can only abort a pregnancy.  No mention of the woman carrying the pregnancy.  No mention of the fact that women have been ending unwanted pregnancies for generations.  Eyre opines that we need to discuss the effects of abortion on women.  Why not a discussion of the impact of pregnancy?  Even with the best of medical care, carrying a pregnancy to term is a much riskier activity to the emotional and physical health of a woman than a legal abortion.  Why not a discussion of the dangers of illegal abortions?  Dangerous abortions kill millions of women worldwide every year.

Eyre complains about the misogyny of Morgentaler’s writings.  Let’s talk about the misogyny of the Catholic church and religion in general.  The Bible is an instruction manual of oppression. It has it all.  Instructions for selling your daughter into slavery and/or marriage and continually referring to women as the property of some man are just two of many shining examples of misogyny.

The Catholic church still refuses to ordain women as priests and is still telling women what to do with their own bodies.  The organization has misogyny woven into its’ very structure.  The worldwide oppression of women is a humanitarian crisis.  When is that debate going to take place?