Being a Woman in America

In a country that fails to provide enough feminine hygiene products, realistic and decent maternity leave, baby formula and even childcare, among many other necessities, they still can strip your rights to reproductive healthcare without a second thought.

As a woman in America, I become too hopeful that maybe there would be a change and we would no longer be viewed as property to be controlled by men in the government. Watching the election unfold, I felt nothing but pain for women and the LGBTQ+ community, something I too am a part of.

When overturning Roe v. Wade in 2022 it was already a struggle for women to acquire the basic essentials they needed for not only themselves, but their children. The rights they should have over their own body were stripped away by those people using their own personal beliefs; in what world does it make sense to force these women to birth children when you are already unable to provide the basic essentials for them?

It was increasingly hard to get your hands on feminine hyenine products in 2022 due to a shortage. And on top of that, we were dealing with inflation.

As a woman, if you feel as if you are not in the right place to have and care for a child, which, in case you were unaware, is a monumental, expensive and life-changing responsibility, you do not have the right to make that decision any more. The government would rather force you to birth a child you are not ready for.

Not only that, but if you do not have the adequate insurance to cover your many appointments, the bloodwork and scans you get done before giving birth, you will be left with piles of debt. On top of that, then you do give birth in a hospital, where they will charge you dollars for anything they possibly can, leaving you to fight with your insurance company and the hospital to lower the bill and start a manageable payment plan. The cost of giving birth in a hospital ranges from state to state, and the difference is astonishing. Alaska remains one of the priciest states to give birth in, the median cost there is $21,526 versus Alabama which is around $7,841.

After all that, you will have to find child care because your maternity leave package, if you're lucky enough to have one, would only give you six weeks off of work.

Then your child will get older and start school, which you will sit and worry if that child is protected during that time. School shootings continue to strike fear in parents and gun violence continues to grow in our country. Even with these fears, the Supreme Court wanted to expand gun rights in 2022, and I'm sure they'll work to do this yet again after the results of our election in 2024.

Not only did Justice Clarence Thomas rule in favor of overturning Roe v. Wade, he also called upon the court to overturn cases concerning same-sex marriage, the legality of same sex marriage and Griswold v. Connecticut, this protects a couples' ability to buy and use contraceptives without the government restricting them.

Trump being re-elected is pushing us back, yet again. We will watch as our reproductive rights are stripped from us even more and we will fight for our rights to be our own person.

Being a woman in America is terrible, it is scary, and I don't wish to bring a child into a world where I question how safe I am as a woman everyday.

As a country, we are not moving forward, we are moving backwards.