The Backroad to Gilead
Onward To Gilead?
- Harrisburg-area pro-life Catholics head to Washington, D.C., to protest abortion | PennLive.com
A retired Lower Paxton Township obstetrics nurse who has helped with thousands of births will head to Washington, D.C., today for the annual March for Life protesting abortion on the 39th anniversary of the Supreme Court's Roe vs. Wade decision. . . - The Handmaid's Tale - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The Handmaid's Tale is a dystopian novel, a work of science fiction or speculative fiction, written by Canadian author Margaret Atwood and first published by McClelland and Stewart in 1985
Taking A Longer Route
One can only hope that the dissent over Citizens United can match the annual pilgrimage "Pro-Life" forces make each year.
I've on this very site made objections to what I see as the "fetal focus" of those who protect the life of the unborn, only to see them in many cases turn their back on the child once it is born. The poor record of many of the politicians that "pro-lifers" back on issues such as education, health care and education almost makes Rep. Barney Frank's statement about life beginning at conception and ending a birth make sense.
Of course, I, and many others wonder if the goal isn't protecting life, but controlling it. That being to allow for strict control over a woman's body. One need only look to the feminist dystopian novel, The Handmaid's Tale for a look at the world many of the marchers, intentionally or unintentionally, wish to see. In the "Republic of Gilead", what the United States has become, women are in three castes. "Wives", who keep the home, "Mothers" who raise the children, and "Handmaids" who are little more than breeding stock. Women cannot work outside the home, and the "Handmaids" are seen as property more than people. They wear what bears little difference to a burqa and are referred to as 'Offred' for example.
Those who wish to see this society pass have become devious in their efforts. Since they realize that the right to chose is still, for now, intact, they've turned thier focus to access. A recently passed law in PA put clinics under strict regulations and threatens to close many clinics down. The result of this may be to force more and more women into the illegal clinics that led to the law being proposed in the first place.
The other thing that always bothers me, as a Catholic, is that a religion that so venerates a woman, probably does the most to try and keep them in what's percieved as "their place".