One would have thought that after the drubbing the Republicans took at the polls in 2012 regarding the way women voted, things would have changed and lessons learned. Evidently not, there is every indication that the radical reactionary wing of the Republican Party has doubled down and has ramped up their attacks on the rights of women.

I am absolutely shocked at the continued attacks that are taking place. I am a man and proud of it, but I am also a father who is very proud of my daughter. I want the best for her.  She, along with every woman, should have the opportunity to be whatever she wants to be. A person should only be limited by one’s own imagination and dreams.

We still have glass ceilings where women are limited in the workplace and we still see women make less money for doing the same job that a man does. This is wrong.

Some will say change is coming just be patient. But look at what we have seen on the Fox Network in the last month or so. A panel of men only complained bitterly about the Pew Report which showed that women are the primary bread winners in America now. Get over it! Compete! A women’s place is not in the kitchen. There is no such thing as a woman’s place and to hear such language on a national network is just unreal.

For some reason chauvinist men have come out of the closet, and reasserted their old dinosaur ways. There should be no glass ceilings. There need to be more women CEO’s and an end to the old boy’s clubs. Equal pay for equal work should not even be an issue. It is imminently unfair on its face, with no excuse for it really.

WOMEN RISE UP AND BE HEARD!!!!

A clarion call needs to go out to all women to take up the fight of women’s health issues before your rights are lost. If men can have Viagra be a covered medical expense, contraception should be a covered expense as well.

Men are trying to redefine rape and make women the victims all over again. Rape is an act of violence and no woman should be forced to be reminded of the violent act by being forced to have a child as a result of that illegal and immoral act. But once again, men are trying to take control over a woman’s body and deny women the right to have an abortion from the rape that took place.

The same is true regarding incest and when the life of the mother is at stake. Who gave any person the right to decide for any individual in those circumstances, whether or not a woman should have an abortion or not? That decision should be between a woman and her doctor. Whose body is it anyway? No one is advocating that there should be more abortions, but we are seeing a concerted effort to deny women any chance to have one by making the circumstances so difficult that no one will be able to have one under any dire circumstance that brought the issue or the need to the forefront.

I remember a case in New York State not long after Roe V. Wade, when some group sought an injunction to stop an abortion when the life of the mother was at stake and it almost cost her, her life. Who gave them the right to do that? The family dealing with their medical crisis had enough to deal with. These are acts and situations that are quite private in nature and really no one else’s business.

We all have had mothers and some of us have sisters or daughters or wives. None of us should want to return to the dark ages when women had no rights including the right to vote. Whether or not the cause for the resurgence of male macho behavior is because of economic insecurity or some feelings of inadequacy, we need to get over it and stop it.

I hope that what I have seen with the recent demonstrations in Texas by women continues and spreads across the country. Wherever discrimination occurs or inequality exists we need to fight it. Women need to stand up and be heard loud and clear on the streets, in the boardrooms, at the workplace and at the ballot box. If you don’t exercise your individual rights and express your displeasure there is no doubt in my mind that you can easily lose your rights through apathy and inaction. The time to act is now! Injustice needs to be fought against, we can not wait for time to pass, hoping that things will change on their own, we all need to take charge of our lives and our rights before they disappear.

We have just seen the nations birthday pass. Abigail Adams thought that women should have a seat at the time then and I believe that women should have an equal place at the table now. Equal rights for all! Make the next days and weeks, months and years your Declaration of Independence to insure that you have equal rights.