On June 21, 1990 the Louisiana Legislature passed a punitive abortion law. It appeared they were trying to give themselves control of women’s bodies. I protested. I sent this guest editorial to my local paper which generally carried my submissions. This time they did not.
I included it in the book I published in 2009, Prisms: Refracting Light of Women’s Lives (p.83, Xlibris).
As I searched through old files for things to publish in my writing group’s anthology, I found and re-read this historic piece. The remarkable thing about it is that now―26 years later―some in the U.S. are trying to do the same thing.
I decided it was time to publish my “BRIEF HISTORY OF MALE RULERS’ ATTEMPTS TO CONTROL WOMEN’S REPRODUCTIVE ORGANS” for a wider audience.
Here it is.
Because of events in our Legislature, I feel a need to share with the community my research on words and their meanings...as well as some ways the unscrupulous use propaganda to trick others into giving up control of their minds, their bodies, and their rights.
Someone once said that people who do not know history are doomed to repeat it. In order to understand the context of words and propaganda, you must study history as well. What goes into books is determined by the people in power. Insofar as they can, the unscrupulous allow only information that enhances their political views and images to be preserved and taught to the masses. Fortunately, enough “outlaw” information has survived so people can study some of the wrongs done by those in power.
One of the darkest deeds of history—one that has been hidden and mythified—is that of the European Witch Hunts (1360 through the 1700s) in which hundreds of thousands—perhaps millions—of women were tortured and burned at the stake by church-and-state governments for the non-existent crime of witchcraft. Officially these women were accused of “conspiring with the devil to destroy God’s church.” We’ve been taught about how the Romans fed the Christians to the lions, but we’ve been told very little about atrocities the church-state government committed against innocents...and why. My research indicates that these political murders were done in order for male rulers to gain absolute control over female reproductive organs. God placed these organs in the bodies of women, giving women control over them—yet politicians and clerics have tried for at least 1600 years to wrest this God-given control from the rightful owners. In medieval society, women were healers and midwives, and they shared contraceptive knowledge with other women. Peasants of the time generally had 2.4 children. Many wars and plagues caused a dramatic decline in the European population (40% between the 2 and 5 centuries). As a result, ruling classes had insufficient labor to exploit in order to increase their already-immense wealth. The word “medicine” meant “magic”, “drug”, “abortion”—a word that was used for “contraception” at the time. Despite laws passed by the powerful, wise women continued to help people to do what they knew was best for their families. As a last resort, medieval families turned to infanticide, which was hard on both mothers and children. At the time, only adherents of the Jewish and Christian religions considered human life sacred. Roman Emperor Constantine embraced the Christian religion and made its commandments Roman law, yet people continued to live as they had always lived for another thousand years.
With a severe shortage of cheap labor to exploit, rulers realized they must eliminate knowledge of birth control and force more births to maintain their wealth. In 320 A.D. a law was passed providing the death penalty (by fire) for anyone sharing birth control knowledge. Men who tried to defend wives, mothers, sisters, and daughters were accused of being conspirators and they were punished as well. Despite Charlemagne’s 787 law forbidding such executions, they continued. By the 15 century, witch-massacres were in full swing: intelligent women were murdered; peasant families were overburdened with more children than they could feed and clothe; the population soared—and the rich got richer.
The Roman Catechism of 1566 states that it is “a very great crime if married couples artificially prevent conception or procure abortion; such a deed is to be judged as premeditated murder” (see 14 of the encyclical Humanae Vitae of Paul VI, 1968). As a result, Sixtus V, in the bull Effraenatam of 1588, decreed the death penalty not only for abortion but also for contraception (2004 note: this is exactly what the Bush Administration is attempting to do today). The very title of the handbook outlining laws and descriptions of how to accuse people of witchcraft reveals its purpose in a study of words. The Malleus Maleficarum, commonly called “The Hammer of Witches” can also be translated “The Hammer of Birth Control.” This handbook states, “No one does more harm to the Catholic Faith than midwives...And since the devils do these things through the medium of women, and not men, this form of homicide is associated rather with women than men” (Rev. Montague Summers, Dover Reprint, 1974, p. 66). This handbook was used as justification for the papal bull Summis desiderantes, of Pope Innocence VII, which began Europe’s reign of terror, euphemistically named “witch hunts”.
In 320, Rome passed and carried out a law that caused the deaths of hundreds of thousands of citizens capable of providing birth control information. In the1940s Hitler made birth control illegal in Nazi Germany. In 1989-90 we learned of atrocities visited on the Romanian people with a similar decree by Chausceau. And in 1990, the Louisiana Legislature passed a law that is capable of destroying both women and men in the medical profession...as well as causing the deaths of untold numbers of women, the destruction of the family unit, and removal of rights from all citizens...because if ALL are not free, NONE are free!
Take the time to cut through the smoke screen of emotion that the unscrupulous are using to cover the truth. Make no mistake, if abortion rights are wrestled from people, birth control will be next! Our forbears came to America to escape religious control through government edict. If women lose the right to control their own bodies, can men be far behind? Think about it. Will you allow such evil history to repeat itself?
Readers will note that it has been 26 years since the evil law was passed in Louisiana. AS time goes by, more similar laws have been passed.
We need to protest loudly! We need to vote out of office representatives and senators who think they should be allowed to control women
How long will intelligent people allow such travesties of justice?