Women are amongst the group that Trump’s second term will be devoted to harming
As a man with dozens of sexual misconduct allegations who, three years ago, took action to remove a fundamental right to liberty in Roe v. Wade, Donald Trump’s second term reflects a nationwide refusal to protect women.
Trump holds dozens of sexual misconduct allegations, even from his wife, and he has a history of extremely concerning and objectifying remarks about his fellow running-mates, celebrities, women in general and his own daughter. To elect such a man into office for a second time reflects a regressive and dangerous mindset about women from a majority of America. Trump gives his enthusiastic and devoted followers a safe space to project their misogyny without consequence.
June 2022 marked the overturning of Roe v. Wade, a decision that set progress in not just women’s, but human’s fundamental rights, back 50 years. As Roe established and protected every woman’s right to a constitutional abortion, its demise enabled individual states to create laws intruding upon a woman’s body autonomy. Currently, in over ten states, having an abortion is banned with no exceptions for rape or incest. In thirteen, a ban is in place past a certain week.
During his previous presidency, Trump appointed three Supreme Court justices: Amy Coney Barret, Bret Kavanaugh and Neil Gorsuch who voted to overrule Roe v. Wade. He also blocked clinics receiving grants from Title X, a domestic family planning program for low-income Americans that provide access and information to abortion. Due to these changes, clinics were forced to leave the program, resulting in millions of low-income patients losing access to reproductive healthcare. Trump is expected to reinstate this after taking office on Jan. 20.
With the return of Trump to office after his 2016-2020 presidency, America has given power to a man that is undeserving and irresponsible. Project 2025, a 900 page conservative manifesto, has promised to take away access to free emergency contraception from over 48 million women, including birth control and Plan B.
Additionally alongside project 2025, Trump is expected to reinstate a global gag rule, which prevents foreign nongovernmental organizations from using their own non-US funds to provide abortion services, information or advocacy. “The intent of the global gag rule and the related array of restrictive U.S. policies is clear: to target abortion and score political points at home. This is about ideology, not evidence. The evidence says that there will always be people who want and obtain abortion services, and that the best way to save lives is to make abortion safe, legal and readily accessible. The ideology of the Trump administration is to make a show of targeting specific populations, attempt the impossible task of legislating abortion out of existence and put lives at risk,” claimed The Unprecedented Expansion of the Global Gag Rule: Trampling Rights, Health and Free Speech.
When a man who is a convicted of sexual assault is allowed into the highest position of power in this country, there is no wonder why women feel uncomfortable coming forward after sexual assault. As Trump leadership remains in office for the next four years, the attack on women will continue to gain momentum and manifest into laws, restrictions and everyday rhetoric.
