1. United States
2. Texas
3. Letter

Greetings. I am a voting constituent in rural west Texas. Women are not distracted. Women are paying attention. Yesterday’s GOP Senate vote leaving the door open for the possibility of contraception being next on the priorities hit list was seen. The vast majority of America stands strongly for contraception. This vote should have been a no-brainer. And confirmation of what you keep telling us, that all is well. But instead we get the unusual disingenuous reasoning why this concern is just a made-up issue. Nothing to see here. No worries. Not worth a vote. Just more Democrat hysterics. Can you say Dobbs decision? Can you remember all the poo-pooing of concerns that Roe v Wade was going to be overturned? Can you remember the assurances from SCOTUS nominees about ‘precedent.’? Women can. Republicans have pointed to U.S. Supreme Court decisions protecting access to contraceptives to argue against the bill. Flaccid argument these days. And can you remember that one Justice is on record saying this exact issue should be revisited? Present SCOTUS doesn’t trust past SCOTUS. “It’s a phony vote because contraception to my knowledge is not illegal. It’s not unavailable,” [Sen. John] Cornyn said. “To suggest that it’s somehow in jeopardy should be embarrassing, but it’s hard to embarrass some people around here.” So true. Republicans said they opposed the legislation as unnecessary and government overreach. More hypocrisy. Government overreach apparently doesn’t relate to bodily autonomy. If you’re a woman. Study after study after study has shown that when women have access to family planning, education levels rise. Economic levels rise. Opportunities rise. Options are limitless. But given recent misogynistic comments by men with the power to generate headlines, we shouldn’t be surprised that some feel the need to push back on that sort of equality. My elected officials should not be using the power we give them to work against half their constituents. Against our wishes. Against our majority opinions. Mansplaining our worries away. Your words say one thing. Your actions say the opposite. Your denials are meaningless. We do not believe anything you say on the subject.