The War Against Women Widens

When I saw it on a Goodreads.com discussion, I couldn’t believe it. On March 20, 2012, had the Supreme Court really voided a provision of the 1993 Family Leave and Medical Act? Before I jumped into the fray, I verified that the Chicago Tribune, The Los Angeles Times, The Washington Tribune, and several blog sites had in fact, reported it. So I guess it’s true that the Supreme Court ruled that state employees don’t have the right to sue the state or state colleges/universities if they are denied unpaid medical leave. The Court has ruled that individuals have no right to sue a sovereign state on this matter. Employees of private companies can still seek redress so all is not lost but once again, protections under our fragile, crumbling safety net have been whittled away. Ruth Bader Ginsburg felt strongly enough about it to read the dissenting opinion aloud in the Court’s chambers.

First people in many states wanted to pass restrictions on abortion. Next came the attacks on contraceptives. (In 36 states, bills are being discussed to outlaw contraceptives.) Now the Supreme Court has just made it more difficult for a sector of workers to take the 12 week unpaid family leave for health conditions including pregnancy and giving birth. This only makes it more difficult for women to hold on to their jobs after having a baby, further eroding support for working families many of whom need two incomes or a single mother’s income to survive. “Welfare as we know it” was done away with in the 1990's and now, people are losing another semblance of job security. What’s next? Perhaps there’s a legalistic reason to strike down child labor laws, the eight hour work day, and OSHA. If there is, let’s do it. After all, we have to do everything we can to protect “the job creators.”

When I first started writing this blog, I intended to give nutritious, tasty, and above all quick recipes so that we could spend less time in the kitchen and more time making the world a better place. As a refrigerator magnet I once received says, “Cook your own damn dinner.” For the time being, as a symbolic protest to the assault on women’s rights, I will not be sharing any recipes. We all have too much to do out there to be spending much time in the kitchen.

Thank you, everyone, for allowing me this rant.