Autonomy

There seems to be a problem with autonomy in this country. Namely, allowing it to anyone who is not a rich, white, male. Or a zygote.

Some examples:
Autonomy over one's body. Although this is obvious, the war on women being waged in this country is unprecedented. Since the founding of our country, women have only gained rights. Now, we see many of those being taken away. The right to contraception (Griswold v Connecticut 1965). The right to choose to terminate a pregnancy for whatever reason (Roe v Wade, 1973).

Forcing a woman to have an invasive procedure she does not want in order to ensure she really understands what she's doing is an outright rape. Forced penetration of an object is actually rape. Just in case you weren't sure. And an internal ultrasound, as most of these bills/laws require, is just that - a rather large ultrasound wand is put inside the vagina and up into the uterus. And yes, it is actually as unpleasant as it sounds. No woman goes into an abortion lightly. No woman doesn't consider the consequences. And in forcing women to give up their autonomy in order to undergo a  legal procedure, we also strip them of the autonomy to make decisions and use their brain.

And just today, the right to not have one's body beaten in one's own home or elsewhere was violated. The Violence Against Women Act, which was passed unanimously in 1994, was just voted to not be renewed by the Judiciary committee. Not a single Republican voted to renew it. Not one. In fact, they wanted to systematically strip it of its key protections, and of the government's requirement to take care of its people (that is actually in the constitution - the original. They didn't even have to tack it on as an amendment!)

Autonomy over one's dignity. By forcing people to carry papers in the street, we strip away the dignity of any person who might not look American. But what does it mean to look American? We are a country full of people from all over the world. People who look and sound different from one another. I am not asked to carry my citizenship papers around with me. In point of fact, I keep my birth certificate locked away for safekeeping, along with those of my husband and children and my marriage certificate. I would be terrified of losing it should I carry it around with me. Being stopped in the street and asked for one's papers is reminiscent of the time in world history when people were most robbed of their dignity and autonomy. Now, I just wrote a post on not using the Nazi analogy, so I'm not going to do that. I will say, however, that this is likely the closest America has ever come to a legitimate use of that analogy.

Additionally, we deprive the poor and indigent and those who are simply down on their luck of their dignity. Emma Lazarus' poem today would be written as "Take away your tired, your poor. For I do not want them." Forcing drug tests on anyone who receives government benefits goes against everything that this country stands for - you know, the whole innocent until proven guilty thing we take such pride in. We have declared these people guilty, and now require them to prove their innocence to us. That is wrong. And it's being applied in a discriminatory manner - by socioeconomic status. Every single member of federal, state, and local government - from the legislative bodies to the maintenance crews - is a recipient of government benefits. Of government provided health care, insurance, pensions. Yet only those who are not government employees, but are still entitled to government benefits, are being forced to take drug tests. Being asked to pee in a cup to prove you are a "good, decent person" when all you have done "wrong" was to be a victim of a poor economy is outrageous. I will stop being upset about this when every government employee who receives benefits (and that includes a simple paycheck) is also required to take a random drug test at someone's whim.

Autonomy over one's voice. Forcing those who have no access to prove their identity at the voting booth through impossible means deprives them of their autonomy to make their voice heard. By casting their vote. By making their legally entitled voice heard at the ballot box. Again, we are forcing people to prove their innocence and assuming them guilty of fraud, when in point of fact, the only cases of voter fraud have been of those lawmakers who impose the rule simply to disenfranchise those likely to vote against them. Don't get me wrong. I have no trouble with having to show a piece of identification in order to vote. In fact, I'm often surprised when I don't have to show it when I vote in every election. But imposing severe restrictions on the type of identification allowed, when some have no access to obtain it, is wrong. And unAmerican.

Autonomy over one's religion. We are guaranteed the freedom of religion in this country. That also means the freedom to choose our own religion (or not to choose any religion at all) and to not have one imposed upon us by the government. In fact, that is the entire reason for the first amendment to the Constitution. Because our founding fathers did not like having the Church of England imposed upon them. They wanted to insure that our government could never do that to its peoples.

The field of politicians today seems determined to impose their interpretation of Christianity upon me. And frankly, I am offended by that. And angered. If I were to be childish, I would say that "My people were here on this earth first. My people were the chosen people. So back off." But of course, I'm not childish, so I won't say that.

What I will say is that one person's interpretation of a book - any book - is different than another's. I'm a book blogger and book reviewer. This point is never more clear than in the book blogging world, where two people can write a review and interpret a book separately, and you have to wonder if they even read the same book. That doesn't mean that one of them is right and the other is wrong (unless one of them is me, of course). They are both entitled to interpret the book as they choose. I do not want anything forced upon me (or taken away from me) as a result of someone imposing their interpretation of a book or their religious beliefs upon me. Nuff said.

We are so determined to grant autonomy to zygotes, to literally tiny groups of cells, that we forget about the autonomy of those who are already out in the world. We are so determined to take away rights in the name of religion that we forget that religion teaches us to be kind, to treat others as we would ourselves.

We forget that children (those cells, zygotes, and fetuses that are then born and actually become children) should be protected. Protected from working ureasonable hours. Protected from abuse. Protected from having to not eat because their government, in the name of religion, refused to take care of them in their time of need.

We are so determined to grant autonomy to zygotes in the name of religion that we forget to grant autonomy to those less able to care for themselves. The elderly, the sick, the poor. We forget that religion tells us to help the poor and feed the hungry.

We are so determined to grant autonomy to zygotes in the name of religion that we forget that once they are actually born, we have a duty to take care of them.

We are so determined to grant autonomy to zygotes in the name of religion we forget that our country grants us the freedom to not believe in the same religion as someone else, and that does not make them better than us. It does not grant them more rights than us. It does not make them more privileged than us.

It simply means that we choose to believe differently. And that is what our country was founded upon.