Local radical feminists oppose anti-abortion bills

We are Scary Feminists of Western Washington, a local group of radical feminists writing to express our opposition to two anti-abortion bills Washington State Republicans have introduced: HB1003 and HB1002.

HB1002 restricts public funding for abortions that are not deemed medically necessary, effectively removing the rights of women who cannot afford abortions to make decisions about their bodies.

HB1003 introduces a parental notification requirement for young women under the age of 18. Even in the event that a young woman has been impregnated by her father through his rape of her, the young woman’s mother or legal guardian must still be notified by the physician. These bills represent the worst of the Right’s hatred of women.

Marilyn Frye once wrote “The woman who is free to see the fetus as a parasite might be free to see the man as a parasite.” (A parasite is “an organism which lives in or on another organism, its host, and benefits by deriving nutrients at the other’s expense” and in that sense her comparison to both unwanted fetuses and sexist men is apt.)

When men use the law to control us it is up to women and our supporters to challenge the very core of their entitlement to our bodies. Women will never be free until we are able to have full control over our own reproductive capabilities.

This story was originally published January 31, 2017 at 6:21 PM with the headline "Local radical feminists oppose anti-abortion bills."