Blessed Be the Fruit (And Screw the Tree) | Vol. 4 / No. 35.1

One of the things that I really don’t understand about the GOP is the way their party line is “the government should not regulate anything!” when it comes to things like the economy, housing, medical care, the environment, guns, etc., but then when it comes to a cisgender woman and her uterus the party line becomes “legislate her body to the smallest detail!” And then they go even further, and say “let everyone else also discriminate against uteruses, too.”

For example, the Missouri House just passed SB 5. Which, in addition to requiring abortion providers to send fetal tissue to pathologists (for… reasons?) it allows employers and landlords to discriminate against women for being pregnant without being married, for having an abortion, or even for using contraception. Because obviously, it is definitely your boss’s or landlord’s business whether you are “living in sin” or have a Mirena. A lot of bosses won’t even learn your birthday and a lot of landlords won’t even fix the sink, but God knows they should know if I’m popping a Sprintec every morning.

This bill is, to be frank, fricking insane. Sejal Singh points out that 99% of sexually active, reproductive age, cisgender women use some form of contraception. So 99% of sexually active, reproductive age, cisgender women could lose their housing or their jobs. Singh continues:

The state is outrageously, invasively giving employers and landlords the power to police highly personal choices women make about their bodies and lives. Missouri is sending the message that a woman’s livelihood, independence, even her ability to provide for her kids is all less important than her boss’ personal need to impose his narrow beliefs on her.

I couldn’t have said it better myself.

There’s no reason for this legislation beyond trying to have a quelling effect on women and their reproductive choices. And that is frankly terrifying. It’s very fashionable to make Handmaid’s Tale references right now but… Jesus Christ, you guys. We’re like one step away from dressing in a lot of red right now.

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Elle Irise is a regular contributor to This Week In Tomorrow. When she’s not forced to mash her fist down on the “Handmaid’s Tale Panic Button” every goddamn day, she studies gender in popular culture.

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