#singleissuevoting – in the shadow of Roe v. Wade

In her May 28, 2024 op-ed in NYTimes, Melinda French Gates writes: “We know that economies with women’s full participation have more room to grow. That women’s political participation is associated with decreased corruption. That peace agreements are more durable when women are involved in writing them. That reducing the time women spend in poor health could add as much as $1 trillion to the global economy by 2040.”

To pay heed of Melinda Gates’ words, and also to the title of this blog, how emotions play into our lives and in the charitable sector in particular, it is evident that women are cool-headed and rational while making deliberate and sound decisions for their families, be it for survival, or their own or others well-being.

Coming up on two years since Roe V. Wade was repealed by a partisan and anachronistic SCOTUS, to put it mildly, women around the country, around the world even, have rallied to save women’s lives.

Because women are dying because of this ruling.

It shall be repeated that reproductive justice includes access to reproductive health. On a monthly, sometime even daily basis, women are reminded of our destiny and capacity to further the world; it is a realization that never rests.

Starting my nonprofit career at Planned Parenthood, and learning the ropes of this industry, I also owe my time there as the awakening not only to the demands and rewards of providing direct services, but to the importance of the totality of women’s voices.

Since the ban of Roe v. Wade, reports tell of half a million women who were raped, resulting in over 65,000 pregnancies, were not able to obtain abortions in 14 states that enacted abortion bans following the SCOTUS ruling. Untold numbers of women have suffered threats to their lives, and legal action, when denied an abortion as they miscarry.

In a recent op-ed, Mara Gay reports that electing female Democrats might reverse Florida’s 6-week abortion ban, counting on that up to 70% of Floridians want to keep abortions safe and accessible.

Last week in Louisiana, the governor signed a bill classifying abortion medication as a controlled substance. Medical abortions are one of the safest and most common ways to obtain an abortion, and used for treating a multitude of other illnesses and conditions as well.

Most absurdly was the introduction of a bill in Congress to create a federal registry of pregnant women – under the misguided notion that this would keep women safe.

But more gruesome than most of the recent reports is how MSM seemed to have missed what Jessica Valenti writes in her latest Substack newsletter, that the GOP in Texas has adopted a platform that will charge women who have abortion with murder. We know that this law will disproportionally hit women of color, and women in poverty.

It is heartening that Melinda French Gates is responding to the current utopian misery that women in the U.S. are facing. With women’s groups long-standing charge that less than 2 % of philanthropic giving directly benefits women and girls, her investments in organizations to promote women’s and girls’ rights will not only promote health aspects caused by abortion bans; it will also mobilize women to act, and vote accordingly.

The photo for this blog is of a friend of mine and me at a rally in San Francisco in the early 1990’s, demonstrating against George H.W. Bush’s policies against reproductive rights. So yes, I am that old that I demonstrated for a right that we had. The perennial nature of denying women their rights is not lost on me as I now find myself speaking out for my daughters’ rights to self-determination.

Over the years, I have had conversations with friends about how to vote, what issues that matter, and how we as a collective can care about each other. In some of these conversations, it has come down to voting for one issue – to have the right to decide over my own body. If that is denied, then I am not fully awarded all human rights.

The right to vote is to realize human rights in all aspects of our existence. Being denied autonomy over our bodies – if you will live or die – then becomes a fundamental matter.

To #singleissuevoting seems only logical.