Women's Rights - Sacred Fire Creative

Articles Tagged with: women’s rights

Sacred Fire Creative’s Statement on the Overturning of Roe v. Wade

In Margaret Atwood’s dystopian novel The Handmaid’s Tale, a fundamentalist country called Gilead rose out of the ashes of what was once the United States of America. In this autocratic country, men ruled with exclusive and absolute power.

Women, on the other hand, are relegated to being housewives and child-bearers. They are not allowed to have jobs. They are not allowed to have an opinion. They are not allowed to read. They are not even allowed to use their own names. If they cannot have children, their husbands can request for child-bearing handmaids if they are wealthy and influential enough. If not, these hapless individuals become labeled as “unwomen” and exiled for life to an island filled with nuclear waste.

The Handmaid’s Tale was first published in 1985 and adapted for television in 2017. At that time, the future that this novel described seemed unthinkable. After all, women’s rights in the US are protected by landmark rulings such as Roe v. Wade. Gilead could not become a reality, could it?

After June 24, 2022, we are no longer so sure. On that fateful day, the US Supreme Court voted to overturn Roe v. Wade nearly 50 years after it was first upheld.

As an organization led by and made up mostly of women, Sacred Fire Creative decries this decision. We are heartbroken beyond words at this blow to our human rights.

Roe v. Wade goes beyond abortion.

On its surface, Roe v. Wade is a 1973 US Supreme Court ruling that federally protects a woman’s right to privacy and to terminate her pregnancy legally.

But it goes so much deeper than that.

Roe v. Wade is a statement about women’s human rights. It recognizes that a woman has the right to self-determination and can decide for herself what to do with her own body. It also acknowledges that a woman has the right to fully and equally participate in the workings of society.

Roe v. Wade is an assertion that a woman is a person and not just a walking uterus.

Roe v. Wade is overturned. Now what?

The overturning of Roe v. Wade doesn’t change a number of fundamental facts:

Banning abortion has a significant economic impact. To this day, women are still the primary caregivers in the family. Parenthood forces 43% of highly qualified women to leave the workforce. This translates to lower paychecks per household, lower spending power, and lowered demand for consumer goods that drive GDP.
No matter how passionate pro-life advocates are about saving babies from abortion, our society does not have adequate support in place for mothers. As mentioned earlier, parenthood often pushes women out of the workforce. Women who have to stay working often face reduced earning capacities simply because they don’t have access to affordable childcare. We also don’t have a national policy for paid parental leaves.
Banning abortion forces women, especially those in lower-income and minority groups, to live in poverty or stay with abusive partners. In fact, it’s already a reality today. Many studies, including the 2010 Turnaway Study by the University of California in San Francisco, found that the majority of women who sought abortions did so to protect and provide for their already existing children.
Removing safe and legal access to abortion denies women with unwanted pregnancies, particularly teenage women and rape survivors, the ability to move on with their lives. It can prohibit them from seeking higher education and better work opportunities. It can also have a significant effect on their physical and mental health.

Our society does not have ample support for mothers. Nor do we have policies that protect against unwanted pregnancies. Even with abortion bans, women will continue to seek abortions. The difference now is that they may resort to illegal and unsafe means to terminate pregnancies. The consequences can become much more dangerous.

A woman is a person too.

Don’t get us wrong. We believe that motherhood is a beautiful thing. We support women who choose to become mothers. But the keyword here is “choice” – women have the right to choose when and how to become mothers, and this right needs to be protected at all costs.

A woman is a person too. There is more to her than her uterus and her ability to bring forth children. That, we believe, is the essential message of Roe v. Wade. By overturning this landmark ruling, the US Supreme Court signals that we are less. We might as well wear a Gilead handmaid’s red dress.

Ruth Bader Ginsburg: A “Notorious” Icon for Women’s Rights

“The decision whether or not to bear a child is central to a woman’s life, to her well-being and dignity. When the government controls that decision for her, she is being treated as less than a full adult human responsible for her own choices.” – Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg

Few women are more well-known in the legal world than Ruth Bader Ginsburg. She served as an associate justice of the United States Supreme Court from 1993 until she died in 2020. She was only the second woman to hold this position.

Ruth Bader Ginsburg, or RBG as she is often called, is a feminist icon worldwide. Much of her work centered around championing gender equality and women’s rights. For example, she helped reverse legislation that allowed discrimination based on gender. She was also a founding counsel for the American Civil Liberties Union’s Women’s Rights Projects. She additionally created, designed, and taught law courses on gender discrimination laws.

RBG started excelling at her craft early on in her life. She entered Cornell University on a full scholarship, where she also met her husband, Martin. He would also become a well-known tax lawyer and one of RBG’s biggest supporters. They both studied at Harvard Law School, but after moving to New York City, RBG completed her law degree at Columbia Law School, where she graduated tied for first place in her class.

This stellar start paved the way for an esteemed career as a lawyer, professor, and Supreme Court justice. She did all this while also being a mother to two children. RBG balanced motherhood with her work as one of the most respected figures in gender equality. Interestingly, she delivered a lecture at New York University Law School in 1993, offering a critique of the reasoning of Roe vs. Wade. This case would give women the right to choose to have an abortion.

RBG argued that the Supreme Court should have issued a more limited decision, giving more power to state legislatures to decide on specific details. This way “might have served to reduce rather than fuel controversy,” RBG commented. Fast forward to today, this makes even more sense considering the current controversy surrounding this ruling.

Throughout her career, RBG remained consistent with her decisions regarding gender equality and women’s rights. While she often voted with the other liberal justices on the Supreme Court, she respected and formed well-known friendships with conservative judges. These relationships earned her even more regard from her peers. RBG became particularly outspoken during the Obama administration. This was when she reached peak popularity as a progressive feminist that many women looked up to and followed for guidance.

Two years after her death, Ruth Bader Ginsburg’s legacy and lessons live on. She is immortalized in several books, a documentary, and a movie. RBG remains one of the leading figures in gender equality and a beacon of women’s rights. In these challenging times when women’s rights are being questioned and removed, we should all look to RBG for guidance and inspiration on continuing to champion the progress she fought to achieve.

Sacred Fire Creative honors women who have made a difference in their world through this #WomenWhoMatter series. If you want to make a difference in your own world and become a force for good through effective digital marketing, work with us today.