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A War On Women


Bettye Johnson
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There is a subtle insidious war going on targeting women. The current Health Care bill now before the U.S. Senate is only one aspect of the war. I am neither pro-abortion, nor am I anti-abortion. I am for having a woman having her right to choose. To use this issue is to deny or weaken health care for the elderly, the children, men and women because someone has an ignorant viewpoint regarding abortion. This is a war against women and one using women as hostage.

Why is it ignored when some fathers, uncles and other males have incestuous relationships with their daughters/nieces/etc. and this is never prosecuted? Many of these incestuous relationships go on for years and many are from so-called 'good' Christian men. Why is it supported in some areas of society that it is a woman's fault if she gets pregnant or if she is raped? In the 1980's, I facilitated a support group for survivors of incest and rape. Some of the stories were horrendous and I became educated. This is a war against women. Why is it so surprising that there are so many women abused and battered? The National Coalition Against Domestic Violence (NCADV) give an estimate of 50% where women will experience physical violence in an intimate relationship and possibly 24-30% of the women will have it ongoing.

Fortunately, not all men are of this caliber and therefore, one cannot accuse them all. I am the mother of three sons who treat their wives and daughters with respect. Their father was a career military man who served two tours in Vietnam and there was never any violence or abuse in our home. However, the military is seeing an increasing number of rapes, and domestic violence.

Today there are 49 million hungry Americans and a large portion of these are single mothers who are primarily young women. Their husbands or significant others left them and now the burden are on these young women. Where is the responsibility of the male? The Food Banks do what they can to keep the food flowing. I urge everyone to donate to the Food Banks because the need is great for all genders and ages.

The above is only one aspect of the war on women. In 2006, a major pharmaceutical company began promoting a vaccine for young girls between the ages of 11 à ‚¬" 18 in order to prevent cervical cancer and herpes warts. There are approximately 19 states that passed laws making it mandatory for girls to have the vaccine. Why? Most of girls have never had a sexual relationship unless it was incestuous. Herpes warts are usually passed to the female by male penetration. There are reports of girls dying from the vaccine not only in the U.S., but also in the U.K. Vaccines are not healthy.

Within the past months since President Obama asked for a health care bill, there is even a deadlier attack on women. Haven't you noticed the increased promotion of breast cancer? The Safeway stores promote it big time with their pink ribbons. Yes, there appears to be more breast cancer in women today and the thought came to me that perhaps it was from the mammograms. I remember reading an article some years ago that the mammogram test was similar to having a garage door falling on your breast. Now, there is pressure for women to have more mammograms and pap smears. Why are women being targeted?

There has been a subtle war on women happening for hundreds of years and many people accepted this as a natural thing with claims that women are the weaker sex. In ancient times women were revered as healers and then the Catholic Church moved in and women no longer were the healers and forbidden to heal. Many were burned at the stake and declared witches. Within religions there developed a fear of the power of women. For many years, women were banned from being mid-wives. Whom do you think took care of the family, the castle and homestead when the father/husband went off to war? Who do you think was strong when a family moved West by covered wagons?

It is time to take the blinders off and realize the number sick people have increased drastically since WWII. Thus began the growth and power of pharmaceutical companies, health insurance companies and American Medical Association. Americans are plied with drugs that have harmful side effects. This is not healthy.

I am neither pro-abortion, nor am I anti-abortion. I never had an abortion because it never crossed my mind to have one. I am for women having a personal choice. From my observations, people who are anti-abortion condone war. As long as the war does not touch the shores of our country, it is okay to send our men and women overseas to be killed, maimed and their minds destroyed. I recently read that the Catholic Church has refused Senator Patrick Kennedy communion because of his stance of pro-choice. However, why should one be surprised since the Church has long been noted for its abuse of women, molestation of young girls, young boys and denying women their rightful place.

The corporate world is afraid of the power of women and have attempted to keep them from having equal rights. In the 1970's the Republican Party used Phyllis Schlafly to be the icon to keep women in the home when the Equal Rights Amendment was up for ratification. Schlafly was a lawyer and even though she had five or six children, she went out on the speaking circuit and wrote books for which she was paid for. She is a disgrace to womanhood. To date, the Equal Rights Amendment has yet to be ratified and needs only three more states before it becomes an amendment to our Bill of Rights.

Today the corporate world, seemingly backs the Republican Party, and has brought us Sarah Palin who is anti-abortion. Do we really want this biased, prejudiced woman who climbed the ladder of success the same as Schlafly to be our President? I shudder at the thought of this power hungry female having any government office. Her record of accomplishment as governor of Alaska is lacking in many areas. Frankly, I resent using women to keep women chained to limitation and no rights.

What is the power of women that so many men are fearful of? Women have an innate power of intuition. Women have within them the power of great intelligence and decision-making. Women have within them the power of compassion, tenderness, creativity, and healing. It is time to restore to women their full rights. It is time to set aside our bigotry, our prejudices and have freedom and justice for all. May the bias that one gender is better than the other be abolished.

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Bettye Johnson is the award-winning author of Secrets of the Magdalene Scrolls, an Independent Publishers Book Award Winner 2006. Moving from the cotton fields in Texas to the embassies of Paris and Tokyo, Bettye Johnson has a woven tapestry of (more...)
 
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