Women's Rights = Human Rights

Womxn's March

Unfortunately, I was unable to make it down to Judkins Park in Seattle for the Womxn's March on Saturday January 21st. Over 175,000 people attended the march in Seattle, many of them good friends and neighbors; globally, there were 673 marches with over 4 million people in dozens of cities and towns around the globe - from Nome, Alaska to Antarctica, Nigeria to New Zealand. There has never been a march on this scale in our history! It was peaceful and with a message: women's rights are human rights, regardless of a woman’s race, ethnicity, religion, immigration status, sexual identity, gender expression, economic status, age or disability. 

I remember learning about some of these issues when I was in high school. Raised in a white, upper middle class, suburban, conservative area in Minnesota, I admit I was a bit sheltered and unaware of many of these issues that affect so many people. In ninth grade, we had to do a group history project on something that changed history and I picked birth control and featured Margaret Sanger, a nurse who popularized the term "birth control". We won the school competition and got to go on to the state competition! This changed my view of why choice is so important. For those who don't know, in 1916, Margaret Sanger opened the first birth control clinic in the United States (later became Planned Parenthood), which led to her arrest for distributing information on contraception after an undercover policewoman bought a copy of her pamphlet on family planning. She argued that in order for women to have a more equal footing in society and to lead healthier lives, they needed to be able to determine when to bear children. To this day, I couldn't agree more! Without birth control, many women would likely not be able to complete high school or college or get a higher degree. Sanger also aimed to prevent "back-alley abortions", which were common at the time. She felt strongly that abortions should generally be avoided and contraception was the only practical way to avoid them. In my opinion, this was one of the greatest historical achievements in the past century and paved the way for women, like myself, to become professionals and raise to the ranks of positions previously only held by men. 

As a soon to be board-certified cardiologist, I know this inequality all too well. I am 33 years old and still in "training" and I wouldn't be here today if it weren't for Margaret Sanger and so many other women who have fought for women's rights. I am a minority on a daily basis: a female in a male dominated field. Our Chair of Medicine is a white male, our Chair of Cardiology is a Canadian white male, our entire cardiac catheterization lab attendings are male, our professional society, the American College of Cardiology, has had all male presidents except for one in the past 28 years, not to mention we have only had male POTUS! Not unsurprisingly, with lack of strong female leadership and lack of female mentors in cardiology, the percentage of women in cardiology has largely remained unchanged, at around 10-15%, over the last decade. While I have benefited from some amazing male mentors, there continues to be professional and personal challenges that are unique to women, and physician moms, which I cannot fully discuss or learn from in my interactions with my male mentors. Fortunately, my program has some amazing and strong female leaders and is one reason why we consistently match 50% women into our program (national average is 12%). 

Despite women being in medicine for over 150 years, only recently have women accounted for nearly 50% of medical students enrolled. Elizabeth Blackwell became the first women to earn a medical degree in the United States in 1849. She overcame obstacles that are unimaginable to me today, such as not being admitted into medical schools, museums or libraries and having to petition to enter hospitals to see patients as a resident. Most physicians she wrote to and consulted with recommended that she either go to Paris to study (as it was easier to get in) and/or that she take up a disguise as a man (but if she was discovered she would have to drop out). She wrote: "As to the possibility of a lady becoming a doctor... The answers I received were curiously unanimous. They all replied to the effect that the idea was a good one, but that it was impossible to accomplish it; that there was no way of obtaining such an education for a woman; that the education required was long and expensive; that there were innumerable obstacles in the way of such a course; and that, in short, the idea, though a valuable one, was impossible of execution." Eventually, she was accepted and opened the eyes of many young male resident physicians as to the possibility of women in medicine. Sadly, it has taken nearly 150 years to get (nearly) equal men and women into medical schools (law schools have tipped the scales with more women than men in 2016); however, we still get paid less than our male counterparts despite equal training. 

I hear people say that the 4 million women who marched last weekend were demanding "rights" they already possess or equality that they all ready have. This is ignorant, in my opinion, and is just not true and it is unfathomable to me that someone I know would support this point of view. As a woman, having old white guys (especially someone with the horrible track record with women as the current POTUS) tell us how it is going to be when it comes to our own bodies and our own health is absurd! As a feminist, I hope to empower my daughter (and son) to be open and supportive of all women and advocate for choice and equality. If you are pro-life (and finished reading this post, thank you), and I challenge you to work to reduce the needs for abortion by improving women's access to living wages, healthcare, education, birth control, paid family leave and affordable childcare. Women have suffered economically from unequal pay, professionally from unpaid maternity leave, unaffordable childcare, and inadequate access to birth control, and society has suffered by marginalizing groups based on their chromosomes. Elizabeth Blackwell and Margaret Sanger (among hundreds of others) started paving the way for women's rights over 100 years ago and we should thank them. But we aren't there yet, not yet. Use your voice. Be heard. See what you can do at 10 actions/100 days: https://www.womensmarch.com/100/

EVERY 10 DAYS WE WILL TAKE ACTION ON AN ISSUE WE ALL CARE ABOUT, STARTING TODAY

I leave you with this quote:

“Of all the evils for which man has made himself responsible, none is so degrading, so shocking or so brutal as his abuse of the better half of humanity; the female sex.” 

― Mahatma Gandhi 

Women have spoken. Today is the start of a brighter future for our children and grandchildren! Thanks for reading! Happy to hear your thoughts.

-ktpb