Femininity is a weapon pointed at all of the women in America. Whether it’s overturning Roe vs. Wade, or delivering harmful, false information that connects taking Tylenol during pregnancy to autism– powerful men in our government are finding ways to control women’s choices.
In a white house press conference on September 22, President Donald Trump stood before a crowd of politicians and announced that drug labeling would now include a disclaimer that discourages pregnant women from taking acetaminophen, most commonly known as the painkilling drug, Tylenol. Trump made the claim that use of these drugs during pregnancy connects to rising rates of autism in America.
Not only was this claim not backed by scientific evidence, but it also referred to autism in children as a “horrible crisis” needing to be addressed. Opening the press conference, Trump said, “you know there’s something artificial, they’re taking something, and by the way, I think I can say there are certain groups of people that don’t take vaccines, and don’t take any pills that have no autism.”
The artificial element he is referring to is Tylenol, and it is clear that the evidence to back this claim is not provided throughout the course of the conference. Correlation does not equal causation, so even though the group of people he is referring to don’t have autism, it doesn’t mean it is because they have avoided the things Trump mentioned.
The longer we wait to stand up against claims like these, the more the foundation protecting women’s reproductive health will deteriorate.
For instance, Roe v. Wade was a law that protected the constitutional right for women to have an abortion under the 14th amendment. Roe v. Wade was put into place on January 22, 1973, and for more than fifty years, it gave women the option and the right of an abortion.
Unfortunately, the Supreme Court voted to overturn this protective law in June of 2022.
This was a direct result of the decision made in the Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization case, and the final result of that case eliminated a woman’s constitutional right to an abortion. In other words, a protective law that allowed women to control and make choices regarding their own reproductive health for over five decades no longer provides those valuable protections.
We should be angry that it is as simple as it is to strip women of their constitutional rights. We should be angrier that men are the ones making these life altering decisions.
The claims that Donald Trump made during the press conference about Tylenol is only one example of the government’s attempts to shame women for the choices they make with their own bodies. From villainizing those who utilized their right to an abortion for personal reasons or health concerns, to blaming women who took pain medication while pregnant for a rise in autism rates–it is obvious that the government believes women are at fault.
Donald Trump spoke on pain during pregnancy, claiming it would only be necessary to take acetaminophen if a woman feels she cannot “tough it out” in regards to an extremely high fever. Even so, he says the amount should be reduced significantly.
The scariest thing about the disclaimer placed on Tylenol, is it became effective immediately. All it took was a word from the president, and the blame for autism in children was shifted to mothers. For years, there has been no identifiable cause for autism, which makes it easy for people like Trump to point fingers to find an explanation. The issue with that is the blame is almost always placed on the wrong thing.
Not only does this provoke fear coming from a man with such a high position of power, but it is insensitive to mothers of children with autism. As if it is their fault that their child was diagnosed with autism. As if it is something they can control. Instead of approaching the topic of autism as a neurodevelopmental disorder, our President and members of our government have approached it as a defect caused by actions taken during pregnancy and early childhood.
Action has been taken in the form of peaceful protests like the Bans Off our Bodies protest held by the Planned Parenthood Action Fund. This advocated for individuals in support of abortion rights. There is power in protest, and it is important that we fight even harder. We need to advocate for our rights, and let the world know that it isn’t okay to let powerful men make harmful claims and decisions about women’s reproductive health.
Instead of allowing femininity to be used as a weapon, we need to use it to our advantage. There is always time to fight for our control back. Get outside, go to protests and make your voice heard. Do not allow the men in our government to shame women for the choices we make with our bodies. Nothing will change if we don’t make a change.