This Monday, the Texas State Senate considered anti-abortion legislation. Senate Bill 25 prevents parents from suing doctors if their children are born with disabilities, even in the event that prenatal tests detect a disability and a doctor withholds that information from parents. And Senate Bill 415 bans a procedure commonly used in second-trimester abortions.
Both bills, thinly veiled attacks on a woman’s right to choose, have now passed in the Senate and will move to a vote in the Texas House of Representatives. But the most newsworthy aspect of the proceedings? Several women protested against the measures by sitting in the chambers dressed as handmaids, à la Margaret Atwood’s dystopian novel The Handmaid’s Tale.
Source: Amazon
“The scene in Texas sent a quiet warning to legislators that women are ready to push back against the recent increase in anti-choice legislation in states across the country,” The Huffington Post reported. “Pictures of the sheroes quickly made the rounds on Twitter with the hashtag #FightBackTX.”
The Handmaid’s Tale depicts a not-too-distant future in which a totalitarian, theocratic government has taken over the United States. Women have been stripped of nearly every right, their function diminished strictly to child-bearing and housework. Sales of the book have increased significantly since Donald Trump won the presidency, and Atwood herself has participated in protests against the new administration.
Source: @PPTXVotes on Twitter
As more and more anti-women measures are introduced on a state level, The Handmaid’s Tale has shifted from speculative fiction to an increasingly relevant and frightening allegory.
The red robes and white bonnets made for a striking image in the Texas State Capitol on Monday. Hopefully, lawmakers in the House will heed these women’s powerful message when the problematic bills come to the floor.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9Y2Tl9aXqwQ
YouTube Channel: The Last News
Featured image via @nanarchist on Twitter
