Women have always been second class citizens and worse in this country. The U.S. Supreme Court in Dobbs v Jackson confirms that fact. Anyone doubting that assertion that can ask themselves one question: given the burden forced on women to carry an unwanted pregnancy to term, what comparable burden is forced on the father? None.

Please do not say child support, assistance that is often modest to begin with, often goes unpaid, and is hardly comparable to the burden the woman carries. On top of that, the government that forces the woman to carry the pregnancy to term does little to pick up the slack in providing childcare assistance or health care for the mother. One might fairly conclude that ours is a misogynistic government. Certainly, women have good reason to believe as much.

I am certain that if a comparable burden were placed on the father, there would be few if any restrictions placed on a woman’s right to abortion, restrictions passed overwhelmingly by men. Anyone doubting that last statement can look up the votes in the Kansas legislature for HCR 5003, the abortion amendment to the Kansas constitution which appears on the Aug. 2, 2022, primary election ballot. Ninety men and 24 women put that amendment on the ballot in a straight party line vote. We have politically weaponized women’s right to make their own health care decisions to the advantage of men and to the disadvantage of women.

Jerry L. Marsh

Ellsworth