By Delilah GrayStaff Writer

Once again, the Trump administration rains down on the sanity parade by backtracking the hard work of thousands of feminists. Earlier this month, Donald Trump and his minions announced they will give the right for employers to deny women insurance coverage for contraception. If you can fund for your Viagra-made erections, why can’t you fund for basic health care for the more than 55 million women across the U.S.?

Just as they promised, the Trump administration is trying every possible way they can to erase Barack Obama’s legacy. With the new wave of ridiculous reasoning and asinine bills comes a new bill that conveniently oppresses women once again. Their reasoning is that Obama’s original mandate could promote “risky sexual behavior” and a higher rate in abortions, according to the New York Times. First off, a study conducted by the Guttmacher Institute proved that’s the opposite of the situation – the improved use of contraceptives lowered the rate of abortions. Plus, think about it: How does access to birth control, something that helps prevent pregnancies even more than condoms, promote the “risky behavior” they claim it does? It makes no sense, much like the administration’s misogynist outlook.

Now to the facts, something that seems to be vastly overlooked in Trump’s mind. Most women don’t use contraceptives for the sole purpose of safe sex. According to Bustle, 31 percent of women take it for the varying types of menstrual pain, 28 percent use it to regulate their periods and 14 percent of women use it for chronic acne. Women use it so they can live freely and have basic human rights with their basic health care. Contraceptives aren’t a privilege, they’re a right.

I believe we need to stop working around these acts they keep throwing at us and face it head on. If they don’t understand our fundamental rights as women, we need to show them. The new act of sending bills for birth control to Trump is a great first step to making them realize the intensity of the situation. The elected officials in office are primarily men and 71 percent of our elected officials don’t understand how birth control is important.

Not only is this a dilemma on a moral ground, it strikes a huge red flag in both ethical and religious mindsets. Countless religious groups have come out saying their displeasure on that matter. One group, Little Sisters of the Poor have members quoting that the thought is “morally complicit in grave sin.” This predicament is the pinnacle of ethical discourse for its dictation over what women should or shouldn’t do with their bodies and life. Nothing about this situation brings morality to the table, it’s all on the bad side of the ethical spectrum.

It’s 2017 and women have been beaten down by legislative order over and over again. I believe it’s time to stand up and fight back. They can’t pick and choose what we can and can’t do with our bodies – it’s either all or nothing. If you don’t want us to have basic health care like contraceptives, then ban all the other prescriptions. The medicine provided helps us and it makes no difference if it could pertain to sex. My only questions to the government right now are: Instead of just telling women to not have sex, when will you tell both men AND women to have less sex? When will you stop holding these double standards over your head and preach it as righteousness when it’s clearly underlying misogyny? When will you realize women have the power for a louder voice than yours and will fight back?

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