One Hassle Away

It’s only Wednesday, and women around the world are not having such a great week. First, there was Tuesday’s piece in The New York Times by Graham Bowley about an Afghan woman tortured and murdered by her husband and mother-in-law (!) for giving birth to a third daughter.

In the same paper, Dina Bakst wrote an excellent editorial about a legal loophole that allows employers to fire women if they ask for accommodations at work during pregnancy, such as extra bathroom breaks—a judge in Brooklyn (!) ruled in favor of the employer on that case. Two New York State legislators, Liz Krueger and Aileen Gunther, are sponsoring a bill in Albany that will close that loophole in this state, and it is to be hoped it will pass.

Last but not least, there’s today’s Times story by Pam Belluck about the Susan G. Komen Foundation pulling its $700,000 grant to Planned Parenthood for breast cancer screenings at 19 of PP’s affiliates.

Let’s take that last story first, a cautionary one in this time of “class warfare.” Nancy Brinker (!), sister of Susan and founder of the charity in her memory, is a longtime Republican: she was the U.S. Ambassador to Hungary during W’s presidency, among other things. So are we surprised that a charity run by a GOP true believer has finally had to sever its ties with an organization that provides abortions? Amazing it took this long. 

But when we all don our pink ribbons and run for the cure—a cure that will presumably be offered to ALL women—we should now remember that there are strings attached. Like Grover Norquist’s tax pledge, all Republicans, whether candidates or power brokers, must eschew reproductive rights. And the ostensible reason for the grant cut—that PP is being investigated by Rep. Cliff Stearns, REPUBLICAN of Florida, just proves the point. (Really, these anti-abortion people are the witch hunters of our time.)

The last line of the piece quotes Leslie Durgin, senior vp of public policy for PP, who says that many low-income women use PP for their primary health care needs, and that having to go elsewhere could delay timely treatment. “A lot of our clients are just one hassle away from not getting services at all.” 

And that’s where the class warfare comes in. As the wealthy increasingly take over roles that the government has filled in the post-WWII era, such as expanded school funding (charter schools), and health care (Gates & Co.), recipients of their largesse will have to check their beliefs at the door. Not what the founding fathers had in mind when they guaranteed freedom of religion—in fact a radical departure that continually goes unchallenged in politics and the media. (Read this good piece on the American God thing by Kevin Kruse)

And so the fight continues for freedom of all kinds for women. And what do these (!) mean? In each of these cases—a mother(in-law), a judge from Brooklyn (bastion of feminism!), a woman of means and power — people who we typically think might be sympathetic to the plight of women, done their sisters in. If we can’t stick up for each other, who will?