Scott Walker is an Ass

Seriously. It’s a fact.

I can title this blog “Scott Walker is an Ass” because I am American and, therefore, I do not run the risk of being stoned to death for voicing the truth about politicians who attack women’s rights. Unfortunately, not all women live in my particular lap of luxury.

In many places in the world, the enforcement of women’s second class citizenship is done out in the open. Without repercussions. Often violently.

In the U.S., we prefer a more subtle approach.  Our politicians employ a softer touch. They claim to have our “best interests” in mind as they chip away at our basic human rights. But see…the thing is…I am an adult. And, as an adult, my best interests are mine, and mine alone, to determine.  I don’t need Scott Walker making decisions for me. He doesn’t know me. He’s never met me.

I admit to a certain amount of naiveté. I just have trouble wrapping my mind around the level of arrogance required for a person to decide that he has the authority—that he has some sort of innate entitlement by means of being born a privileged white male—to make the most personal of decisions for half the population.  I mean, the arrogance that goes in to that assumption is unfathomable to me.

In 2013, Governor Walker signed a bill requiring all women in the state of Wisconsin to be subjected to an ultrasound prior to receiving an abortion. That, in itself, is pretty dang grievous. But Walker went one step further, requiring that the ultrasound technician point out the fetus’ visible organs and external features to the woman before the abortion.

Obviously, this is a ploy to discourage women from having abortions. To shame them for their personal decisions about their own bodies. Why? Because Scott Walker apparently knows better than you and I do what we should and should not do with our bodies. Walker (who happens to have not graduated from medical school, strangely enough) thinks women should be subjected to an invasive, medically unnecessary, and expensive procedure prior to having a perfectly legal abortion. Therefore, it makes perfect sense to inflict his lay-person’s belief on 2,896,054 women in Wisconsin.

Rather than being an honest ass and just saying outright that this law attempts to limit a woman’s access to a legal abortion by shaming women, Walker has recently defended his obvious attack on women’s fundamental rights by stating that ultrasounds are just a “cool thing.”

“The media tried to make that sound like a crazy idea,” Walker said. “Most people I talked to, whether they’re pro-life or not, I find people all the time that pull out their iPhone and show me a picture of their grandkids’ ultrasound and how excited they are, so that’s a lovely thing.”

“My sons are 19 and 20, we still have their ultrasounds,” he went on to say. “It’s just a cool thing out there.”

Okay…geez.

Fuck.

Seriously?

Sure, ultrasounds are cool. I am not anti-ultrasound at all. I still have my pictures. Hell, I still have the sticks I peed on! But my children were wanted. Planned. I had the means to care for them. I was financially prepared. I had a loving and willing partner. My ultrasounds were chosen procedures, not forced upon me. I viewed my ultrasounds through the lens of a woman who had made the conscious choice to become a mother.

Not all women who become pregnant are in the same situation.

But that’s okay. These woman have Governor Walker to step in and make fundamental life decisions for them. They do not have to worry about owning their own bodies—their own choices—as long as Walker is there to take care of them. I am sure they feel protected. And cherished.

And cool! Let’s not forget how cool this whole thing feels.

Being forcefully subjected to an invasive vaginal procedure is SO. FREAKING. COOL.