Two Saturdays ago, we all woke to the news that innocent people were being murdered in Paris by gunmen.
The reason for this? These people were doing things the gunmen believed were morally wrong. Drinking alcohol. Watching sport. Dancing to music.
So they murdered them.
130 innocent victims of terrorism , people who dared to live their lives in a way ISIS disapproved of.
Yesterday, it was the turn of American women to be terrorised. Another gunman murdering innocent victims whose life choices he found personally offensive. Robert Lewis Dear, 57, murdered three people and wounded nine others at a Planned Parenthood clinic in Colorado before being arrested.
Because this is terrorism. Terrorism against women.
Former FBI special agent Steve Moore told CNN the shooter’s motivations were clear.
“Well it appears to me to have all of the ear marks of a domestic terrorism attack,” he said. “You have a potential political target. You have an abortion clinic and … I mean, it’s almost like if it looks like a duck and walks like a duck, it’s going to be a duck. It sure appears to be domestic terrorism.”
News reports are calling Planned Parenthood an abortion clinic and yes, abortions are sometimes carried out there. But the organisation has a much wider remit around women’s health, a lot like the Family Planning Alliance in Australia.
Planned Parenthood distributes birth control, provides sex education and performs women’s health services including pap smears, STI checks and mammograms. According to their website:
“Planned Parenthood is the nation’s leading provider and advocate of high-quality, affordable health care for women, men, and young people, as well as the nation’s largest provider of sex education. With approximately 700 health centers across the country, Planned Parenthood organizations serve all patients with care and compassion, with respect and without judgment. Through health centers, programs in schools and communities, and online resources, Planned Parenthood is a trusted source of reliable health information that allows people to make informed health decisions. We do all this because we care passionately about helping people lead healthier lives.”
In a country where the brutal health system means many women couldn’t otherwise afford any of these things, Planned Parenthood allows women to control their lives. It’s that important.
Watch a young woman’s experience with Planned Parenthood below (post continues after video).
The growing right-wing movement doesn’t like this. For decades they’ve been trying to ban women’s access to basic legal health services like birth control and abortion. In recent years, Planned Parenthood has become a potent symbol for women’s reproductive rights by both those who support them and those who don’t.
You see, the concept of women having control over their bodies is hugely threatening to those who campaign tirelessly for them to be de-funded and shut down. This group includes many politicians who are using their power to defund Planned Parenthood and take away women’s rights which are, in America, astonishingly, going backwards.
This is a war against women. It’s hard to see it any other way.
Medical professionals who perform terminations or work in clinics like Planned Parenthood in the US take enormous personal risks simply by going to work.
This is not the first act of terrorism they’ve experienced.
This idea of forcibly imposing your beliefs onto others by way of murder and terrorism is repugnant. I will fight for your right to hold different beliefs to me.
If you don’t agree with abortion, don’t have one. If you don’t agree with alcohol and dancing, don’t drink and don’t dance.
And if you’re threatened by the idea of women having control over their bodies and their lives, find a doormat and make it your own.
Don’t murder people with whom you disagree.
Read more: Abortion on primetime TV. Finally we get some realism.