Walk In My Shoes

What if legislators had to debate the imposition of laws on men, instead of women, regarding their reproductive rights and bodies?

On International Women's Day, Juan Gonzalez and Amy Goodman at Democracy Now! speak with Loretta Ross of the SisterSong Reproductive Collective about a wave of controversial laws aimed at curtailing women's reproductive rights in 3 states - Virginia, Georgia, and New Hampshire - and being argued and passed by mostly male lawmakers.  In Georgia, 8 of the 9 women legislators walked out as the bills passed advancing curbs on contraception and abortion coverage, and their male colleagues now consider a bill to ban abortion at 20 weeks. 

On Monday, March 12th, Georgia activists are holding a demonstration called, Walk In My Shoes, Hear My Voice from 11:30 A.M. to 1 P.M. circling the Georgia State Capitol Building. 





Ms. Ross herself was a child victim of incest;  she became pregnant, and was unable to have an abortion because it was illegal at that time, and became the parent of "her rapist's child" at the age of 14.  She later became one of the first African American women to run a rape crisis center.

More information on SisterSong here and the March 12th march here.

Female lawmakers similarly walked out of a Congressional hearing last month when male colleagues blocked testimony by women concerning contraception, and in lieu of the Obama administration's rule requiring health insurance plans to provide free contraceptives for health-related issues and birth control.