Today, I want to talk about several, powerful groups, that share a common theme, yet are not working together. They even fight against one another. The result? ALL are struggling to gain ground, and perhaps even losing the battle. However, if these groups UNITED TOGETHER, I believe they would be unstoppable.

– Healthcare Rights (medical freedom)
– Reproductive Rights (access to birth control, abortion, family planning)
– Women’s Rights (rape culture, equal employment, equal pay, etc)
– Food Choice Rights (GMO Labeling)

 

In essence, we are talking about Human Rights vs Government Control. 

These four areas have devolved into brutal battlegrounds where corporate or ideological influence is buying politicians and winning a war that can be best defined as “the US Government vs the People.” Which is ironic, given that the US Government is financed by the People. (Think about that for a bit…)

These battlegrounds are continually bloody in America, but from time to time, one or the other gains extra media attention. This week, with the Kavanaugh/Dr. Ford/Belittling by Trump situation, the “old guard” is striving to reassert “good old boy” misogynistic norms into our nation’s rapidly changing landscape. We are, essentially, being tested. Will we meekly accept outrageous behavior (such as our President demeaning and ridiculing a woman who was sexually assaulted)? Or will we respond? And if we respond, will we do so effectively? Or simply hem and haw, whine and gnash our late night comedy teeth, before going back to our jobs, paying our bills, and continuing as apathetic voters?

NOW…if you are a man, you might be tempted to ignore the whole situation. But, maybe you care about GMO labeling, and your neighbor with a #MeToo sign on her lawn doesn’t? Perhaps, you’re a father who’s son died from an adverse vaccine reaction, and you’re angry at women who choose an abortion when you just wish your boy was back in your arms? Or, you are a strong advocate for a woman’s right to choose, and your husband works for Monsanto, so you roll your eyes at people who worry about GMOs? These are examples of people who actually all share a common concern related to our Human Right to Informed Consent. Even if they disagree on the choices each person might make, they AGREE that we all have a fundamental right to MAKE a choice. But, because they are focused on their differences, and not working together, they are all losing ground.

  • Over the past ten years, our Human Right to Informed Consent in the pediatrician’s office has almost disappeared.
  • Over the same decade, our Human Right to Informed Consent in the grocery story suffered a nationwide defeat.
  • Over the same decade, our Human Right to Informed Consent in the gynecologist’s office has been brutally assaulted.
  • And now, all women, girls and young boys are facing a head-on attack by the old guard. (This relates to our Human Right to Informed Consent, when it comes to sex by choice vs sex by drugging (Cosby), sex by power (Harvey Weinstein), sex by “boys will be boys” privileged male thinking (Kavanaugh), sex by well-coordinated pedophilia-protecting Catholic Church Officials, and so much more.
TO CHANGE THIS — WE MUST ALLY WITH ONE ANOTHER.
HUMAN RIGHTS 101: WE CAN HAVE ALL OF THEM, OR NONE.
 
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A NOTE FOR THOSE WHO BELIEVE THEY ARE FIGHTING
TO PROTECT CHILDREN (BORN AND UNBORN), PREVENTING
STARVATION & SAVING WOMEN’S LIVES!
 
Thank you. So am I. However, we cannot emulate those who would accept “collateral damage.” Humans are creative creatures. We’ve managed to learn how to fly, travel through space, explore the deepest, darkest depths of the ocean and map out the Human Genome! Surely we can learn how to work together and achieve the very best, possible outcome on these fairly easy to grasp issues? In fact, finding common ground is our ONLY OPTION because demanding that you get EVERYTHING you want, is a sure way to make sure you’ll LOSE everything you need.
Look out for these danger signs:
  • Collateral Damage (no, we do not have to sacrifice some children to vaccine injury, in order to save everyone else from disease)
  • The Ends Justify the Means (yeah, the Nazis tried that, too…so did the US Health Department when it ran the Tuskeegee Syphilis Trials…this is also a fave of eugenicists, so just…no)
  • You Have to Give Up to Get (this one is very dangerous, because it demands a trade or a sacrifice; yet no one is asking you to give up on your goal…you are being asked to pursue a solution that brings us closer to all of our goals)
  • Ridiculous Promises (no, eliminating access to safe abortions will NOT stop abortions from happening & no, Monsanto’s GMO system of farming – massive use of poisonous chemicals – will not save us all from world hunger)
  • There is No Other Option! (so, so, so, so not true, this is a popular yet false idea that totally undermines our willingness to even try to find a better solution)
We MUST not do to others what we know is wrong.
We MUST not use tools of force against others.
We MUST find a better way…and we can,
IF WE WORK TOGETHER.
 
REMEMBER FROM WHENCE WE CAME:
It was not so long ago that women were not allowed to testify in a court of law, not allowed to own property, not allowed to control their own income, not paid equal wages (oh yeah, that’s still happening), not given legal rights over their own children, and LESS THAN a century ago…not allowed to vote, open a bank account, take out a loan, or attend college! It was not so long ago that wealthy, white men experimented upon POC and forced sterilization was legal, court-ordered, performed on immigrants without consent, and celebrated by highly regarded eugenicists (like David Starr Jordan – first president of Stanford University). Regarding Abortion Statistics: It was not so long ago that women (and unborn babies) were dying across America from unsafe abortion procedures (today, only 3% of abortions in America are unsafe, while 55% of abortions across the planet are unsafe, mostly in South America, Africa and Asia). If you could change only one of those numbers, which would you?
 
Together, we can overcome many obstacles to a society with greater compassion, education, respect, honor AND all Human Rights (including Informed Consent)…separated, we can only slide backwards.
 
Please think carefully on your role in creating the future, and vote/work/speak/live/teach by example…accordingly.
~ March