Oh, Theresa May. How you were ever named the equalities minister is beyond me, given you don’t believe in there being equality between men and women. This is shocking for a woman so far ahead in UK politics to do something so anti-feminist. I felt I had to write to her.
Theresa May, the UK home secretary, has come out in support of Jeremy Hunt limiting the time period abortions would be available. In my post from just a few minutes ago, you can see the email I sent which is mentioned fairly often in this email.
Dear Ms. May,
As a fellow woman I find myself rather disconcerted that someone in a position of power such as yours does not appear to stand for women’s rights at all. When you colleague Mr Hunt came out to say he believes the time period in which a woman can have an abortion, you should have come out in defence of your gender. A man who does not have to make the decision about going through with a pregnancy should not be making decisions on behalf of women.
I have already emailed Mr Hunt’s office and the Department of Health this morning about this issue, but frankly, your position in support of him is more worrying than anything. Your personal religious views may make you unable to support abortion – this however does not mean that you should be restricting the rights of the rest of the women in this country. To say otherwise is just wrong, given we’re supposed to now live in a Britain which has thrived due to the separation of church and state.
I outlined in my email to Mr Hunt the time period of twelve weeks is impossibly short, given by the time the most regular woman in the world would be four weeks along by the time she missed her first period (that’s already a third of the window away).
What of the women who don’t have regular menstrual cycles, and assume the missed period is due to it just being another irregularity? If women like this missed the window, it would not be their own fault, there’s simply no way of telling.
Some women have regular menstrual periods throughout the entirety of their pregnancy (including one nursing student I know personally, who didn’t know she was pregnant until she went into labour in her own flat). What of those women?
To come out in support of Mr Hunt is anti-feminist. And I mean feminist in the purest sense in the world. You (despite being inexplicably named the equalities minister) clearly do not believe in equality between men and women. It’s honestly shocking to see someone in your position come out in support of something so restrictive towards your own gender.
I believe it’s my body, so the choices about what to do with it should belong to me. It’s obvious you don’t feel the same.
Yours,
Hannah Welsh.
Pixie's Mumblings 
Non-feminist women were a puzzle to me. Seem to be that way from either 1) socialization — inequality is all they know or can imagine or 2) it serves them: by upholding patriarchy they get something (a newspaper column, publicity, the support of sexist men).
Sad to have this woman in any position of power — and that particular position of power, especially!
Non-feminist women confuse me also, it’s a mystery why someone would accept the inequality and just “buckle under”.
If it weren’t for feminists we’d all be barefoot and pregnant, slaving away in the kitchen! That may be a choice for some women and that’s great – but all women should not have to be forced into that choice.
I see myself on the same playing field as men, and I intend to have myself taken as seriously as if I were a member of their gender.
Just because I have breasts doesn’t make me any less important!
I never liked Theresa May anyway, but this just takes the cake!
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