INTERNATIONAL VILLAIN OF THE YEAR RUNNERS-UP 2022
Supreme misogynists – Justice Samuel Alito and the judges who believe they can control women’s bodies
It is no surprise that they are the 2022 Villain of the Year runners-up. They receive this award, paraphrasing rapper Drake’s lyrics, because they made laws about what women can do with their bodies.
In June 2022, the US Supreme Court overturned Roe v Wade regarding abortion rights. Roe v Wade is a 1973 lawsuit that led to the Supreme Court making a ruling on abortion rights.
In 2022, Alito, alongside other conservative judges, made it illegal to have an abortion in 15 states in the US.
Before the ban, conservative judge Jonathan Mitchell released a statement saying that women can simply just say no to sex.
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“Women can ‘control their reproductive lives’ without access to abortion; they can do so by refraining from sexual intercourse,” said Mitchell. Predictably, this caused outrage not only in America but also across the world.
Ten steps back
After many years of progress in reproductive health, that was all disregarded by a group of conservative men who believe they can control women’s bodies.
Not only did this ban take the US several steps back, it also highlighted the patriarchal and misogynistic world we live in. This further makes it impossible for rape victims and women who simply do not want children to access abortion. This increases illegal abortions, which can be dangerous. DM168
Asive Mabula is an intern from Stellenbosch University’s Centre of Journalism and Media Studies honours programme.
How we chose the People of the Year winners
In the past, Daily Maverick journalists decided who they thought warranted the title of Person of the Year, but for the second year running we have asked readers to vote for their preferred choice, with the proviso that we still have the final say. Choosing the annual winners is a labour of love because that’s what it takes to get a bunch of DM editors to decide whether they agree or disagree with the choices of 13,000 readers. Over the next few days we will republish online all the results in various categories. – Heather Robertson, DM168 editor
This story first appeared in our weekly Daily Maverick 168 newspaper, which is available countrywide for R25.
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I disagree with you broadly. Abortion should not be used as a form of birth control. There are certainly cases where it is a last resort, such as in cases of rape, incest or serious medical risks.
The judges are not misogynists and certainly does not seek to control women’s bodies, they are merely attempting to protect the fragile little bodies of the unborn children…
A foetus is not a baby and at 12 weeks would not be recognizable as anything resembling a baby. It’s interesting how the care is for an organism and not for the woman carrying it – viewing women merely as incubators is misogynistic.