As you can imagine, the US has very similar challenges to the UK in terms of equal pay, women in leadership and intersectionality. For example, women still make just 78 cents for every dollar earned by men. Black women earn only 64 cents and Latinas only 54 cents for each dollar earned by white men.
However, I can’t help but wonder that the control of the US Supreme Court over women goes deeper than just pay – it extends to the ownership of their bodies. Abortion was illegal in the USA until 1973 when the Roe v. Wade case in the supreme court ruled that the Constitution of the United States protects a pregnant woman’s liberty to choose to have an abortion without excessive government restriction. Until that time, an unborn foetus was seen as property of the state and unable to voice its own opinion, the state assumed that right. Despite being legal in America, an abortion is not easily accessible in every state. For example, in California, there are no restrictions. Compare that to Arkansas where a woman needs parental consent and can expect to wait up to 72 hours for an abortion. Surely if ERA protects women’s rights then they are entitled to choose what happens to their own bodies?
“Under existing law, there are no restrictions on the reproductive rights of men.”
But for every action, there is an opposite and equal reaction. For centuries we have been controlling women’s bodies through not offering contraception or abortions. Taking away the woman’s simply right to decide when, if and in which circumstances she has children, taking away here every right to decide the outcome of her own life. But seldom do we look to the men to assume responsibility for unwanted or unplanned pregnancy. So a group of lawmakers in Alabama are fighting back with a proposed law which would require that all men get a vasectomy after they turn 50 or after the birth of their third child, whichever comes first. Now even for me, that’s a pretty extreme reaction. When we talk of gender equality, we speak about equality for all genders. Not just women. Yes, women have been on the receiving end of many a bias law or opinion made by men but surely this is not way to win our equality? How can we demand the respect we deserve as equal citizens of any country, if we think the answer is putting the men through what we have had to endure?
“Men are Lucky Women are Seeking Equality and Not Revenge“
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