Article
The Scarlet Letter Revisited: Sen. Nelson and Abortion Shaming
It's been a while since we made women stitch scarlet A's to their clothes as one of their many punishments for having babies out of wedlock. That kind of public shaming—being shunned and branded as a harlot, slut, sinner, whore—went out of style a few hundred years ago. But a new version of female shaming, 21st century style, has just been written into the Senate version of the health care bill.
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It’s been a while since we made women stitch scarlet A’s to their clothes as one of their many punishments for having babies out of wedlock. That kind of public shaming—being shunned and branded as a harlot, slut, sinner, whore—went out of style a few hundred years ago. But a new version of female shaming, 21st century style, has just been written into the Senate version of the health care bill.
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Authors
Sally Steenland
Former Director, Faith and Progressive Policy Initiative