by 
Hello to all you females out there, and welcome to the 1960s!
The decade that brought us hippies, psychedelic prints, go-go boots, bell bottoms, miniskirts, black lights, Woodstock, the rising fame of the Beatles, and many, many more events and fads.
It was a time when women wore dresses, skirts, white gloves, and high heels. When they sported Bouffant hair and updos glued in place by tons of hairspray.
But not everything about the 60s was cool, groovy, good or positive.
It was also a time when married women had to have their husband’s permission to work outside the home, to have a bank account or credit card. A time when men dictated to their wives what they could and couldn’t wear in public, how much makeup they could wear, the types of shoes that were appropriate. It was a time when women were placed under the rule of their husbands’ thumbs. When it was considered that a woman’s proper place in the world was in the home, cleaning, taking care of children, cooking, being the submissive wife to her husband’s every demand, and bearing as many offspring as humanly possible. When an unmarried woman indulged in sexual intercourse, she was ridiculed and called a whore or a slut. The word “pregnant” was rarely mentioned. In fact, it was considered taboo to openly discuss menstrual cycles, sex, and pregnancies. Terms like “in the family way,” or “she’s expecting a visit from the stork,” were common verbiage. Out of wedlock pregnancies were hidden from the public eye and never discussed. Young and adolescent girls were either sent away or forbidden from leaving their homes to prevent shaming their families. Once the babies were born, more often than not, they were given up for adoption or turned over to orphanages.
This all sounds rather dystopian, doesn’t it? Unfortunately, it’s not. It’s all factual. That’s the way life was in the 60s. I should know. I lived through them and saw this up close and personal. I can guarantee you that when Margaret Atwood penned the novel, The Handmaid’s Tale, she never imagined she was actually writing non-fiction, and that the futuristic world she wrote about was on the verge of becoming a reality.
Ladies, our rights are under attack and are being snatched away from us at this very moment. The time has come for us to stand up, stand firm, stand united, and fight back. We’re being treated like second class citizens who have no right to speak and be heard, and not a single one of us should be okay with that. Then again, maybe we should know our places and stay in our lanes, right? By keeping our mouths shut and taking our asses back to the kitchen where they belong. Supper needs to be cooked. Dishes need to be washed. The kids need bathing. After all, men are the superior sex, so let them speak, be heard, and rule the roost the way they were meant to.
Nah, I’m just yanking your chain. I’m not one who will be remembered as a woman who kept her trap shut. I don’t intentionally set out to upset the apple cart; however, I care not whose little toesies I step on or who gets offended by what I say or what I believe. I will always stand up and fight for what I believe in, even if I’m the only one standing. What’s worth fighting for at this moment in time is women’s rights. We’ve come a long way in fifty years, and we’ve earned the right to speak and be heard.
Before I go any further in detailing what I feel is necessary to bring to your attention, let me ask you one question. Do you really want to revert fifty years and return to the way of life described above, or would you rather ensure that the rights we fought fifty years for remain intact? If you chose the latter, then you’d better listen up. There’s a Republican candidate from the state of North Carolina who’s currently running for a Senate seat who has publicly claimed that he doesn’t believe that a woman should have the right to vote. That’s not hearsay. I personally heard the words come out of his mouth. When extremists like this speak, listen carefully to what they’re saying, because they’re telling you who they are and what they intend to do once they gain the power they’re so desperately hungry for.
I’m fully aware that not everyone reads or watches the news every day, so they may not be aware of what’s going on or they have limited knowledge about what’s taking shape. I’m a firm believer that NO ONE can possibly know the whole truth about anything if they allow themselves to hear or read only one source of information, whether it be a television network, podcast, newspaper, or social media site. I listen to them all, including some that I absolutely despise, just so I can fully comprehend the differences (and omissions) in truthful and important news coverage. I watch and read the news every single day. I listen to and read multiple sources, local and worldwide. Even so, I still follow it up by conducting my own research, especially if what I’m reading or hearing sounds a little hinky. I do this not because I don’t believe or disbelieve what’s being reported, but out of habit because the truth matters. For example, if ten major networks and/or newspapers are reporting the same individual story and basically saying the same thing, then a different “news” source or two doesn’t even mention it, then I have to ask myself why they’re not sharing it with their viewing audience. The answer seems obviously clear to me. It should be evident to you as well. There are some networks who do this intentionally by telling their audiences what they want to hear instead of telling them the truth. They do this to prevent a drop in ratings and/or viewership. Lies sell. Truth doesn’t.
What I do know to be a fact is that as I sit here right now drafting this article, Republican legislators are vehemently attempting to take away the rights of women nationwide. Think I’m kidding, outright lying, or don’t know what I’m talking about? Then keep reading. You don’t have to take me at my word. Do what I do and conduct your own research. Do whatever you need to do to gain precise insight but for crying out loud, don’t sit idly by and allow women to be treated as though they have no place in this world. At this very moment, they are strenuously attempting to erase all of our rights, and they’re doing it blatantly, right under our noses while snubbing their noses at us. Their enablers continue to encourage them, going along with every decision they make, including a massive number of women. To say I’m appalled at the number of females who applaud this grotesque and insane movement is putting it mildly. To be quite frank, I’m super pissed! And do you know who’s even madder than I am? Millions of American women who feel the same way and will prove it at the ballot box come November.
In today’s society, voicing one’s beliefs/opinions that reflect opposing views and/or opinions, displaying sympathy, empathy, compassion, and caring for our fellow men and women will result in bashing and name calling by right-wing, MAGA, Q-Anon extremists. Leftist liberal (which I’m not). Because I support a woman’s right to choose, I’m a baby killer (although I never have and never would hurt a child). Woke (thank God I’m woke enough to see through the dense BS being hurled around and can see through it clearly enough to know what’s really going on). Demoncrap/Demonrat (negative slang for a Democrat, but I thoroughly believe it’s because those who call me that are just too stupid to know how to spell it correctly). Let me make something perfectly clear. At the age of 18, I registered as a Republican because I believed in and supported their legislation. Make no mistake in what I’m about to say. The Republican party today is NOT the party that I joined. It is now overflowing with extremists, wannabe anarchists, white nationalists, Christian nationalists, and those who simply hate everybody and everything, including the way our government institutions operate, and they’ll stop at nothing to conform this country into what they want. (I IMPLORE YOU TO READ PROJECT 2025 FOR IN-DEPTH DETAILS ON THE REPUBLICAN AGENDA, TO BE ENACTED IMMEDIATELY IF THEY WIN IN 2024. I’LL GIVE YOU A HINT. IT’S AN OUTRIGHT AUTHORITARIAN MANIFESTO THAT WILL DESTROY OUR DEMOCRACY AND EVERYTHING WE STAND FOR AS A NATION. IF IT IS ENACTED, YOU’LL NEVER HAVE TO WORRY ABOUT VOTING AGAIN BECAUSE THE USA WILL, FOR THE FIRST TIME EVER, APPOINT A PRESIDENT FOR LIFE.)
The United States of America is NOT a Christian nation. It is a nation where its citizens are free to practice their religion(s), including Christianity. Christianity is NOT the only religion observed and practiced in the USA. To deny others their religious freedoms is unacceptable and a violation of the First Amendment. “Religious freedom is a fundamental human right and the first among rights guaranteed by the United States Constitution. It is the right to think, express and act upon what you deeply believe, according to the dictates of conscience.” In other words, it’s UNCONSTITUTIONAL to force Buddhists (example) or Jewish (example) people to observe Christianity simply because the extremists in Congress believes it should be “the law of the land.”
So, for all of you so-called “Constitutionalists” out there, I have a proposal for you. If you think it’s okay, and you’re comfortable with forcing an entire nation to practice one belief, live under the rule of an authoritarian thumb, bash and degrade our democratic institutions, bash and degrade our law enforcement agencies for doing their jobs, applaud the extremists when they issue death threats against judges, attorneys, and jurors, then I invite you to pack a bag and take up residency in an authoritarian country. Say…Russia, North Korea? How about China? Hungary or Turkey perhaps? You know, places where you’re forced to follow one set of rules, where severe, oftentimes mortal, punishment for disobedience to said rules is immediately meted out, where state-run television is the only approved source of information, where sham trials and incarcerations are conducted not by attorneys or any form of a judicial system, but by dictators-in-charge of those countries, and where you’ll be executed for negatively speaking out against the ruler of said countries or how that specific country operates under its leadership. A year should be long enough to see how much you enjoy living under those conditions. My guess is that before a year’s time, you’ll be begging to come back to America where you can fully enjoy the freedoms granted to you because of the United States Constitution.
When I hear the consistent trash talking against our legal and judicial systems, I take it personally, and it makes me quite angry. I devoted thirty years of my life to law enforcement. I know how the judicial system works. I know and have worked with judges, attorneys, and clerks. I know the rules and operations of law enforcement, including how to execute search warrants, process arrest warrants, and how to log and maintain evidence. I’ve worked with and ridden in cars with state troopers and police officers. I still consider them as my “family in blue.” This may come as a surprise to some of you, especially those of you who know diddly squat about how our institutions work, but search warrants and arrest warrants aren’t served for the hell of it. Nor are they served on “innocent” people.
I’m ashamed to admit that I was ever associated with the Republican party. From the time I could vote, I had never voted for a Democrat…until 2016. Why did I choose that year to vote outside my party? Because I knew enough about the illicit practices and immoral behavior of the nominee to turn me away. I’ve known who he was and how he operates since the early 80s. But that’s another story for another time. For now, let’s move on to what matters the most at this moment in time.
The Overturning of Roe V Wade (the Dobbs Decision)
This move was intentional and pre-planned. Appointing three right-wing, extremist justices that were certain to overturn this decision was the icing on the cake – and the reason they were appointed in the first place.
I’m sure there are a lot of you “pro-lifers” out there cheering about the overturning of this decision, but this isn’t simply about abortions. In fact, the word “abortion” needs to be taken completely out of the equation and replaced with “women’s health care.” Decisions such as the overturning of this constitutional right for women should have never been made by Supreme Court Justices based on their own personal, political, and religious beliefs. Yet that’s exactly what happened.
Contrary to what some think and/or believe, abortions are NOT always voluntary. Sometimes, they’re medically necessary to save the life of the mother. But this topic has gotten so out of hand and so out of control that women are literally being forced to hemorrhage to death or they’re sent home from emergency rooms to die because they can’t get the medical treatment necessary to sustain their well-being. Let the woman die, by God, but you’d better save that fetus! Who cares if it’s non-viable outside the womb? Murder is unacceptable! (Unless it’s the woman who’s carrying it. Her death is totally okay). Doctors are refusing to treat women who have spontaneously miscarried, (a natural means of the body expelling an unhealthy fetus), for fear of legal retribution that could result in a prison sentence for disobeying the strict abortion bans in their states, or the loss of their medical licenses simply for trying to save a woman’s life. Not only is this treatment of women heartbreaking, but it’s also inhumane, cruel, and unnecessary.
Call me crazy, but I don’t think a group of ill-informed, old white men who don’t know a fallopian tube from an inner tube should be making decisions that literally affect thousands of women. As far as I’m concerned, if they don’t have a vagina or uterus, or have never carried a child inside their bodies, they really should shut the hell up and sit down. Remember, those who scream the loudest are generally the ones most guilty. Which makes me question how many of those making these decisions have themselves paid for abortions for their wives, mistresses, or daughters. You’re delusional if you think the answer is zero. It isn’t. Don’t think for one second that if the wife or daughter of one of these decision makers was facing a life-threatening pregnancy where a termination of the pregnancy was the only solution for saving their lives, they’d be sent home to die or refused the medical treatment they needed. On the contrary. They’d receive the best medical care that money can buy and not think twice about approving the termination. Too bad that rule doesn’t apply to everyone across the board. Do as I say, not as I do.
I’ve listened to multiple women (or their surviving spouses) of all races and ethnicities tell their heart-wrenching stories about the struggles they’ve experienced when they sought treatment for medically necessary abortions and/or spontaneous, natural miscarriages. Refusal to treat. Sent home from emergency rooms. Informed to sit in their cars in the parking lot while waiting to see if their bodies expelled the remainder of the fetus. Denied medication. Told that they must develop sepsis before a doctor could treat them. Unfortunately, several of them did develop sepsis. Some of them died. Others came close. Several are now infertile. **From the Mayo Clinic: “Sepsis is a life-threatening complication of an infection that occurs when chemicals released in the bloodstream to fight an infection trigger inflammation throughout the body. This can cause a cascade of changes that damage multiple organ systems, leading them to fail, sometimes even resulting in death. Symptoms include fever, difficulty breathing, low blood pressure, fast heart rate, and mental confusion. Treatment includes antibiotics and intravenous fluids.” Look up the following names and listen to their gut-wrenching stories. *Amanda Zurawski* *Kate Cox* *Mylissa Farmer* These were not “trash off the street.” They’re all married women who desperately wanted a child. Instead, they were faced with individual nightmares because the pregnancy naturally went sideways. There are many, many more, and their horrific stories should be heard by everyone.
I lost my first baby. The miscarriage resulted in me having to undergo a procedure called a D & C (dilation and curettage). The reason for the procedure is to remove any remaining tissue inside the uterus to prevent sepsis. That exact same procedure under these new abortion laws is now considered to be an abortion. How stupid is that? Even women experiencing ectopic pregnancies (where the fetus grows in the fallopian tube) are facing refusals to receive the medical treatment necessary because it falls under the abortion rules classification. To say this is extreme is putting it mildly. Anyone who doesn’t feel sympathy for these women, I question your humanity.
Sadly, as bad as all of that is, it doesn’t stop there.
Mifepristone
Mifepristone is the first of two medications used in a medication abortion (also known as the “abortion pill”). Mifepristone has been safe and legal in the United States since the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved the brand name Mifeprex nearly 20 years ago. But because a U. S. DISTRICT JUDGE in Texas (Matthew Kacsmaryk), who has absolutely no background or training in medicine, called it into question, attempts have been made to take it off the market and the case has gone all the way to the Supreme Court. It should be noted that Mifepristone is safer than undergoing a surgical procedure to remove dead fetal tissue.
Birth Control/Contraceptives
An option that many women choose when they don’t want or aren’t ready to bear children. Birth control pills are also used to regulate irregular menstrual cycles. I used them for several years, up until the birth of my twins, when I opted for a tubal ligation. BEWARE! This pregnancy prevention method is also being called into question and is under consideration to be taken off the market. What’ll be banned next? Condoms? IUD’s (intrauterine devices)? Spermicides? Will it be any and all methods that prevent pregnancy even though it takes two to make a baby? Where are the regulations for men? Why not promote and encourage vasectomies? After all, they’re reversible. As far as I’m concerned, there’s only one way to describe what’s being done to women everywhere. Forced pregnancy and forced birth. Women are slowly being reduced to human incubators.
The Government should never be allowed to have control over your body, what you do in the privacy of your bedroom, or in your childbearing decisions, yet, here we are. Oftentimes, I wonder if the people making these decisions view sex only as a method for procreation, and nothing else. Not for fun. Not for pleasure. Not because it feels good. I can only imagine that this way of thinking leads to an extremely boring sex life where missionary style is the coital position of choice, leaving absolutely no room for any level of creativity or pleasure seeking whatsoever. Wham, bam, thank you ma’am, are you pregnant yet? No? Let’s try that again.
Let me tell you something, ladies. When a 10-year-old rape victim is forced to flee her own state to receive emergency medical treatment, we have a problem. A serious one. An even bigger problem is when anti-abortionists find fault with the 10-year-old for not wanting to keep the baby of her rapist when she’s just a child herself. “She can put the baby up for adoption,” they say. Is that right? Here’s my rebuttal. Do they have any idea how many adoption eligible children there are in the system right now, or how costly and lengthy adoptions actually are? Are they aware of how many unwanted children there are right now in orphanages around the world? Don’t tell me you’re pro-life and in the same breath tell me you don’t support a bill that would feed thousands of poor, hungry children while they’re in summer programs. If you’re willing to let innocent children go hungry, then you’re not pro-life. You’re pro-birth. Learn the difference.
Sadly, the people making these decisions would rather force a child to carry a child inside of her immature body than approve the termination of the pregnancy. What kind of a sick mind thinks that way? Remember that when these abortion bans were put into place, no exceptions for rape, incest, or medically necessary terminations were considered. In plain language, if you are now or plan to get pregnant, and during an ultrasound or some other prenatal test you learn that you’re carrying a dead fetus or you’re told that the baby will be stillborn or won’t survive for long after birth because of multiple, severe birth defects, you will be forced to carry that baby to term unless you miscarry. How cruel to think that a mother has no other choice than to keep a dead, rotting fetus inside her body, knowing that it could result in permanent infertility, or even worse, death. Or to make a mother carry a severely deformed baby to term only to have it take one breath before dying. I find this highly disgusting and deeply disturbing. Those who wrote and enforced these laws proclaim to be Christians. Do they honestly believe that Jesus would’ve turned his back on these women and allowed them to die needlessly? Do they truly think they’re doing God’s work by denying these women necessary health care? If that’s really how they view Christianity, then it’s no wonder hordes of people continuously turn away from churches.
IVF (Invitro Fertilization)
Not every woman can get pregnant the old-fashioned way. The list of obstacles preventing this can be endless. Fibroid tumors in the uterus. Scarring and/or blockages in the fallopian tubes. Endometriosis. Issues with the production of cervical mucus. Abnormal periods. These are just a few. There are dozens of others.
Women who desperately want to conceive but can’t see IVF as their only remaining hope of becoming a mother. This process is lengthy, painful, unpredictable, and extremely expensive. Each round runs somewhere in the neighborhood of $25,000. However, the desire to have children will always outweigh the cost.
What is IVF? It is the removal of an egg from the woman that will be fertilized by the sperm of her husband/partner in a laboratory petri dish. The fertilized egg (embryo) is then transferred to the woman’s uterus in an attempt to establish a pregnancy. IVF is a type of assisted reproductive therapy (ART) that helps couples conceive who haven’t been successful by using traditional methods. Unfortunately, IVF isn’t always successful.
Now this procedure has been banned in multiple states, but it doesn’t stop there. They’re going for the home stretch and want it banned nationwide. So much for pro-life and family support, right? They’re taking away the last hope for multiple women who desperately want to bear a child. Why? Because it goes against their religious beliefs. Excuse me? These people are making decisions for millions of women based on what they believe to be right or wrong? Imagine that. And all this time I thought decisions that affected thousands of U.S. citizens were done on a non-biased, non-political, non-religious basis.
Newsflash! You do NOT have to be an advocate for abortion to support women’s rights to proper health care, even if that includes a medically necessary abortion. Personally speaking, I’ve never had one, nor do I approve of this method being used as a means of birth control. There are (WERE) too many other alternatives to prevent pregnancy besides depending on abortions to terminate an unwanted pregnancy. But I DO support a woman’s right to choose. What she does with her own body is her business. Not yours. Certainly not the government’s. Definitely not that of politicians. Not religious fanatics who spew Bible verses yet believe she should be burned at the stake (judge ye not lest ye also be judged). And it’s absolutely not mine. With that said, birth control pills aren’t always 100% effective. I should know. I got pregnant with twins while taking them.
Pregnancy in and of itself can be a potential risk for women. Many things can go wrong, and sometimes, they do. But forcing a woman to carry a dead fetus or baby inside her body is wrong on so many levels. That’s exactly what many have had to endure, all because of the strict abortion bans across the country. What the hell has happened to us as a nation? As caring and compassionate Americans? Knowing that I DO care and that I AM compassionate makes me prouder than ever to be WOKE!
At my age, I am well beyond my childbearing years. But do you know who isn’t? My daughters. My granddaughters. My nieces. I shudder to think that this could happen to one of them. It shouldn’t be happening to anyone. Period. It’s sad to think that right now, at this very moment, guns have more rights than women do. That’s not hyperbole and it’s not an opinion. It’s a fact.
November is coming, and hell hath no fury like that of millions of pissed off women who will fight to the death to preserve their rights. I would never tell someone who they should or shouldn’t vote for. That is your personal and private decision and yours alone. What I will say is this. You can make your voice heard at the ballot box. Before casting your next vote, ask yourself if you’re okay with everything I’ve told you. Conduct your own research. View the videos of the women who have shared their horror stories then tell me how you’d feel if that was your sister, mother, aunt, cousin, or child. If you’re as enraged as I am afterwards, then you’ll have your answer.
Vote wisely. The next victim could be you.
Listed below are links to some news articles about abortion bans/restrictions. There are dozens more.
Related Articles:
Abortion Bans/Restrictions
https://publichealth.jhu.edu/2023/a-year-without-roe
https://www.usnews.com/news/best-states/articles/a-guide-to-abortion-laws-by-state
Mifepristone
Birth Control
https://www.washingtonpost.com/health/2024/06/05/birth-control-access-abortion-ban/
https://time.com/6977434/birth-control-contraception-access-griswold-threat/
https://www.congress.gov/bill/117th-congress/house-bill/8373/text
IVF
https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2024/06/13/ivf-banning-bills-response-2024/74082717007/
https://www.npr.org/2024/03/16/1238966404/how-ivf-is-complicating-republicans-abortion-messaging
Project 2025 (Written and funded by The Heritage Foundation)
Heritage Foundation
Women’s Stories
Glenda Norwood Petz, Author 
Well stated! Felt like you put the meat to the whole situation! Must must vote in November no matter what! Otherwise we allow our country to hell in a hand basket!!!
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Agreed!!
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Thank you Glenda!
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Excellent article! Thanks for taking the time to write it.
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Thanks for taking the time to read it…I appreciate it.
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