Bad flashback

Before the presidential election, I had hoped our country would be moving forward with an inclusive, humanistic agenda to benefit all Americans. Each day, as events in Washington unfold, I become more certain that we are hurling our democratic ideals into reverse, erasing our progress without realizing the dire consequences.

Instead of addressing that scary list that goes on and on, I want to address a Texas bill to abolish abortion. It would criminalize abortion, thereby forcing women to be “more personally responsible.” If women are still being punished because of gender bias in 2017, it’s only fair to punish the men, too, because a woman needs a male sperm to become pregnant. No “get out of jail free” card for the guys. But women won’t be holding their collective breath waiting for a bill forcing men to be “more personally responsible.”

To compound the lunacy, the repeal of the Affordable Care Act restricts access to birth control. So, a woman can’t have birth control but will be penalized for having a pregnancy terminated. Please wake me from this 1950s nightmare.

This story was originally published March 9, 2017 at 5:19 PM with the headline "Bad flashback."