As a native Wisconsinite, I find great joy and excitement when my state makes national news and blog roles. Today, while perusing the web for blogs to feature on Majority Speaks, I came across two that featured the Dairy State; imagine my excitement.
Imagine my disappointment, however, when the first one to come up, on RH Reality Check, highlighted the little town of Wausau, WI, and their unrelenting picketing. (Be sure to check out the linked video, it’s a real gem).
These protesters aren’t picketing against abortion, mind you; they are picketing against birth control and contraceptives. It is scary to think that access to birth control is now under equal attack as abortion. The majority of the clinics under attack aren't even connected or associated with abortion or abortion clinics; they provide no referrals or medical counseling for women seeking abortion.
One protester outside of the clinic took up the ‘murder’ argument—apparently birth control and condoms are murder—claiming that we always have the choice to kill, in fact, he could murder you right now! Many others in the video supported this argument, whether it was by personal testimony or their stylish, graphic-Ts. To those following this guy’s logic, may I remind you that “pro-choice” does not equate a single question of “to abort, or not to abort.” Choice is about how you want to live your life; to give you the freedom to choose when and whether you have children, and the privacy to make that decision on your own.
Beyond the illogical 'murder' argument, one female protester showcased the ‘legitimacy’ of the marriage argument. She likens using condoms to telling your husband you’ll listen to him but “let me put ear plugs in first,” which of course signifies a lack of commitment in your marriage that is apparently not a marriage. Did you follow that logic? Neither did I.
Saving sex for marriage and procreation alone is not a realistic expectation for the general population. And what if it was? Can you imagine if everyone had twelve children, like the mom-to-be featured? This country and this planet wouldn’t know what to do with itself; there would be no future for anyone. Birth control is necessary and it is the responsible thing to do, something the anti-choice movement fails to believe or simply ignores.
Just when I thought I'd lost all hope in my home state, I read my second Wisconsin blog and, I swear, saw a light appear at the end of the tunnel. Enter Congresswoman Tammy Baldwin. Yesterday, Rep. Baldwin gave testimony on the Employment Non-Discrimination Act (ENDA), a proposed bill by Congress that would prohibit discrimination in the work-place based on sexual orientation, gender identity and disability.
Baldwin urged the House Committee on Education and Labor to pass ENDA and effectively say that “irrational hate or fear have no place in our work place.” Catch up with the badgers, Congress, we added sexual orientation to our anti-discrimination statutes twenty-five years ago; a whole quarter of a century; five years before I was even born. We were the first state in the nation to do so and now 21 states, including the District of Columbia, have passed similar measures. This is something I am incredibly proud of, to be part of a trail-blazing state who fights for the rights of all people. And to that I say, on Wisconsin!
photo credit: http://www.flickr.com/photos/thedarkangel/385563298/
