Friday, May 6, 2016

THE ILLUSION OF "CHOICE" IN A NEOLIBERAL WORLD



            Supposedly, the United States has no population control policy like China or Romania.  Our population control policy is fought over at both state and federal levels by legislators and judges and agencies.  
·         The left-wing elite uses the methods of persuasion, economic coercion and availability of contraception and abortion to keep women from having babies: they call this “Choice”. 
·         The right-wing elite use the methods of persuasion, economic tax incentives and reducing the availability of or outlawing contraception and abortion to force women to have babies; they call this “Pro-Life”.

            In 1966, the birth rate in Romania was the lowest in Europe.  Ceaușescu, head of the Communist Party, outlawed contraception and abortion and required women to have monthly gynecological checks to see if they were pregnant.  If they were, they would be followed until the baby was born.  Within less than a year, the birth rate soared to the highest in the world.  In China, the one-child policy has caused the birth rate to go below that desired by the rulers.  By having a two-child policy and requiring women with two children to have gynecological checks every four months and forcing a woman to have an abortion, the population of China will be stabilized at a slightly higher level. 

            When are we going to catch on to this not-so-subtle manipulation of women?  When are we going to see that both the left and right control our reproductive decisions? 

            An independent women’s movement needs to go behind the population controller’s smokescreen.  This issue is not about “saving the environment” or “protecting human life”.   The women’s movement needs to stop playing footsie with population controllers like the Koch brothers on the right or Warren Buffett on the left.

            We need to demand availability of contraception and abortion at puberty, and we need to demand maternity leave, free or low-cost childcare, housing subsidies to enable children to have their own bedrooms, tax deductions for childcare, schools, playgrounds, public transportation: all the things that would enable many American women to have a child if they wanted to. 

            THAT WOULD TRULY GIVE US “CHOICE.”     

Article on Romanian population control: Decree 770
Article on Chinese population control: Two-child policy

2 comments:

Ariel Ky said...

Excellent article on the illusion of choice. When more women are aware of how our lives are manipulated by both left and right in regards to having children, we may even have female candidates for political positions who push legislation to free us to truly make our own choices. Does anyone know of politicians with this kind of agenda? Women need to support them.

Drea M. Strayly said...

I've been discusding this a lot recently and just wishing I had a quick reference to prove I'm not a total wacko to some of my less informed friends. Thank you so much for writing this