The plot for children

Did you know the white birthrate has decreased due to a combination of economic factors like the Great Recession and the high cost of raising children, along with social and generational trends. These factors have led to women having fewer children, even as birth rates have also declined for other racial and ethnic groups, resulting in the white population experiencing natural decrease (more deaths than births) in the United States since 2016. I knew.

Did you know the fertility rate for non-Hispanic white women has been below the replacement level of 2.1 children per woman for years. I didn't. Since 2016, more white deaths have been occurring than white births, a phenomenon known as "natural decrease." This is influenced by the aging population and rising mortality rates, which can be driven by factors like the opioid crisis. Between 1999 and 2016, the number of white births fell by 10.8 percent to 2,094,000 and the number of white deaths rose by 9.2 percent to 2,133,000. Other groups, such as Hispanic and Black populations, have younger average ages and higher proportions of women in their prime childbearing years. 

Their arrival at Plymouth in 1620 in search of religious freedom marked the start of large waves of whites coming to this land. When the U.S. was established as a country in 1776, whites comprised roughly 80% of the population. The white share rose to 90% in 1920, where it stayed until 1950.

On June 23, 1960, the FDA approved the sale of Enovid for use as an oral contraceptive. White women were 87% of its users. The birthrate from 3.7 children in 1970 went to 1.8 by 1980. By comparison, white women's average birth rate was 2.42 in 1970. The average number of children for white women varies by how it's measured, but recent data show it is around 1.83 children for women aged 40-44 and the total fertility rate (TFR) is approximately 1.75 births per woman, Bowling Green State University https://www.bgsu.edu/ncfmer/resources/data/family-profiles/guzzo-loo-number-children-women-aged-40-44-1980-2022-fp-23-29.html, The Hill. Previous data from 2015-2019 indicated the mean number of children ever born to women aged 15-49 was 1.3, and the average number of children per white mother was about 2.3, Pew Research Center https://www.pewresearch.org/social-trends/2015/05/07/family-size-among-mothers/, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

In the United States, abortion was legalized nationwide in 1973 with the Supreme Court case Roe v. Wade. This landmark decision established a woman's constitutional right to terminate a pregnancy during the first trimester. Non-Hispanic white women account for about 30% of abortions in the U.S., but this number can vary by state due to demographic differences. For example, in states with a larger white population, a higher percentage of abortions may be performed on white women. In contrast, the abortion rate is highest among Black women, according to the Pew Research Center. Black women account for the highest proportion of abortions, have the highest abortion rate, and make up the largest percentage of abortion patients in the U.S. This is largely due to factors like higher rates of unintended pregnancies, economic disadvantage, and unequal access to quality family planning services. Still the decrease in the White birth rate is concerning for the White population.

A Pew Research Center fact sheet from June 2025, based on a survey conducted in April 2024, found that 60% of White adults support legal abortion in all or most cases. While this statistic is for all White adults, a related Pew survey from May 2024 notes that the difference in opinion between white men and women is modest. For context, that same survey found that 61% of men overall and 64% of women overall support legal abortion in all or most case.

I said all of this to show the concerns over the White population's decline has struck fear into the White lawmaker man. Yes, the non-Hispanic White population is on a long-term decline in the United States, with its share of the total population falling from 63.7% in 2010 to 57.3% in 2020. This is due to slower growth rates and recent absolute declines, while other racial and ethnic groups, such as Hispanic and Asian populations, are growing faster. The non-Hispanic White population experienced an absolute decrease for the first time in the 2010-2020 decade.   

Why else would this be happening? While the search results show that Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has linked Tylenol (acetaminophen) to autism and has made unproven claims about male reproductive health, the results do not show he has specifically blamed Tylenol for low testosterone and sperm count in adults. His recent claims have centered on a link between Tylenol use during pregnancy and autism in children. White men need virility to produce children and can't with a low libido and sperm count. Now that abortion and soon contraceptives are off the table, men have to be ready to me the egg, or challenge. Kennedy can help with his crackpot ways. He was put in charge for a reason. He has the craziest task of all, making White babies. The Supreme did their part, now its Kennedy's turn.

Trump is championing himself as the father of IVF. He is making it affordable and covered by health insurance, removing any obstacle to conceiving a child. In February 2025, President Trump signed an executive order  aimed at reducing the cost of in vitro fertilization (IVF). The order directs the Assistant to the President for Domestic Policy to provide Trump with a list of policy recommendations aimed at protecting IVF access and lowering out-of-pocket expenses and health plan costs. On March 26, during a Women’s History Month event at the White House, President Trump announced the formation of the Republican Women’s Caucus in Congress. While this announcement was separate from his IVF-related executive order, it reflects ongoing attention to reproductive issues in the political sphere.

President Donald Trump made an announcement Thursday (Oct. 16, 2025) from the Oval Office that EMD Serono will reduce the cost of fertility medication in effort to help make IVF more affordable. The new guidance will allow companies to offer fertility benefits separate from major medical insurance plans like they do with dental and vision plans, Trump said. The announcement includes three main components: discounted fertility medications, an FDA expedited review pathway for a new IVF drug and federal guidance encouraging employers to include IVF coverage in health insurance plans.

White men are doing everything in their power to increase the birthrate of White children. But what do the younger generation think about having babies? Millennials' desire for children is mixed, with many still wanting families but also delaying or choosing not to have them due to financial concerns, career focus, or personal preference. While a majority still see having children as an important part of a happy life, financial pressures like student debt and the high cost of living are primary reasons for delaying or foregoing parenthood, especially for those who want to prioritize career and financial stability first. While a specific "millennial" percentage is not consistently reported, data from similar age groups shows high birth control use, with over 60% of women of reproductive age using some form of contraception, and the birth control pill being a common method, although its use is declining while long-acting reversible contraceptives (LARCs) and male condoms are very popular among millennials. For instance, about 19.5% of women aged 20–29 was using birth control pills, and 13.1% in that same age group were using LARCs. 

Looks like the White men in charge are going to have to sell having babies, many babies, as a good idea. IVF increases the number of eggs retrieved from a woman and they can be kept for years until needed. Trump will have access to many unfertilized eggs. Wonder if the man of morals can resist this quick and effective way to increase the White population? I don't know. He doesn't resist much that benefits him and a chance to be a savior. Until that part of the PLAN is activated, they are getting sperm counts up in teenage boys by some miraculous means, knew was low and birth control gone. Looks like a forced increase in the White population is at hand.

Studies show that average testosterone levels in men and boys have decreased over the past several decades, a phenomenon known as secular decline. While a gradual decline with age is normal, this population-wide trend is steeper and affects younger generations at the same age more significantly than their predecessors. 

For example, a 2020 study using U.S. data from 1999 to 2016 found that average testosterone levels declined in adolescent and young adult men, even when excluding those who were obese. Another study from 2007 found that testosterone levels in U.S. men were lower in 2002–2004 compared to 1987–1989, independent of age. 

Lower testosterone levels affect numerous aspects of men's health beyond reproduction, including, decreased muscle mass and strength, reduced bone density, increased body fat, erectile dysfunction and low libido, fatigue and low energy, and increased risk for chronic conditions like diabetes and cardiovascular disease.

Lifestyle changes affecting testosterone include weight and diet: High rates of obesity, driven by sedentary lifestyles and poor diet, are strongly linked to lower testosterone. Excess body fat can increase the activity of the enzyme aromatase, which converts testosterone to estrogen. Physical activity: Decreased physical activity is a significant factor. Regular exercise, particularly strength training, helps support optimal testosterone production. Sleep: Poor sleep quality and chronic sleep deprivation can disrupt the body's normal hormone cycles and lower testosterone. Stress: Chronic stress increases cortisol, a hormone that can interfere with testosterone production. 

Environmental factors affecting testosterone levels include endocrine-disrupting chemicals (EDCs): Exposure to chemicals that interfere with the body's hormones is a major concern. EDCs are found in many plastics (e.g., BPA and phthalates), pesticides, and personal care products. And pollution: Heavy metals from industrial pollution are also considered a potential factor. 

Sacrifice of Motherhood

Ask a woman who has been pregnant and givien birth to describe the experience and you will receive varying accounts. Some women enjoy and have the 'glow' of pregnacy while others find it a time filled with nausea and physical discomfort. A 2015 study by Polish researchers found mothers carrying sons had higher disgust sensitivity compared to mothers carrying daughters in the first trimester. While girl-moms’ queasiness decreased during the second trimester, boy-moms actually experienced elevated stomach-turning reactions.

Deliveries can be quick or drawn out with intense pain. There are those who want to be present and experience every nuance of giving birth, while others pray to be knocked out and awakened once the baby is delivered. Joanna was forced to remain in the tilted position 24 hours a day for two and a half months. After 75 days – and what is believed to be the longest labour ever recorded – Joanna gave birth to a healthy girl, Iga, and boy, Ignacy. The two babies were delivered by caesarean at a neo-natal clinic in Wroclaw, Poland.

Even with medical books available to walk a woman through pregnancy and delivery, there is always something the literature is unable to convey and could only be learned through the experience of BEING pregnant and GIVING birth. 

It surprises me how many people view being pregnant and giving birth as no more extrodinary or involved as going to the grocery store for food. They say it has been done for years, so there must not be that much to it. Many of the adverse effects of pragnancy women faced were turned into just old wive's tales. The old wives were on to something when they warned “gain a child and lose a tooth.” Women who have had three children forfeit four chompers more than those who have had two kids or fewer. Women whose first two children are the same sex, and who then go on to have a third child, are particularly at risk. Problems with gum disease and calcium absorption in pregnancy may leave moms vulnerable 

Carrying a child and giving birth, whether vaginally or by cesarean section, can stress muscles, ligaments, and nerves responsible for sexual function and bladder and bowel control. The U.S. has one of the highest maternal mortality rates among developed countries, according to data from the Orginisation for Economic Cooperation and Development. There were 20 maternal deaths for every 100,000 live births in 2019, more than double the rate just two decades ago.

More than half of the women, 52%, died after delivery. The total numbers are likely higher thab reported, as deaths from suicide and drug overdoses among people who recently gave birth may not be listed as postpartum deaths. Black women are more than twice as likely to die as a result of chilkdbirth than White women, underscoring racial and ethnic diparities.

The most common complications women report after giving birth include pain after sex, incontinence, pain at the incision site following a cesarean section, and postpartum depression, Gunter said. Once the baby is born, a woman’s blood pressure may spike dangerously. She may hemorrhage or develop egg-sized blood clots. Her emotions may plummet or soar amid rapidly fluctuating hormones. Crippling lower back pain may sear on one side of the body, while on the other, the abdominal muscles separate after months of straining to contain a growing human. These changes happen while her newborn baby needs to eat once every two to three hours, if not more frequently.

In a first-of-its-kind, ground-breaking analysis of pre- and post-pregnancy brain scans published in 2016, researchers found mothers lose gray matter during pregnancy—and these losses endure for at least two years. 

Even with all we know about pregnany and childbirth, there are surprises. Because being pregnant and delivering a baby is much more demanding on the body, serious thought should be given whether to bnecome a mother or not and the choice should be made by the person affected the most - the potencial mother. Motherhood is a sacrificial act filled with mystery and can even be seen in the animal kingdom. Moms do and give in ways not even noticed by themselves.

One similarities moms have with an animal is how they carry their newborn. Regardless of whether they are left- or right-handed, human moms tend to cradle their babies on the left side of their bodies, especially in the early months. Observed off the coast of a Russian island, walrus moms tend to keep their babies on the left while bobbing along the waves, and their calves swam over to their mother’s left side before diving to suckle. 

We all know mother protect their children fiercely The widespread phenomenon of maternal aggression may involve oxytocin, a neurochemical also related to birth and lactation. In a 2017 lab experiment, rat moms stopped attacking a threat once oxytocin signaling in part of their brains was blocked. Some studies have found that oxytocin levels in moms increase at the onset of labor and during labor compared to 1 or 2 weeks before labor, reaching a peak just when the head of the baby is delivered. In another study, levels of oxytocin were found to increase slowly until delivery and then decrease up to 8 weeks postpartum. One group reported higher levels of oxytocin at 36 weeks of pregnancy than 1 day after delivery or later.

Mothers are willing to go to the death for their children. Here are some animals who go above and beyond for their offsprings. I ask you to picture a 'human' mom and the sacrifice she makes with her decision to become a mom. Motherhood (pregnancy and delivery included) is not for the faint of heart.

Ever the overachiever, the female octopus can lay up to hundreds of thousands of eggs in one go. Over the eggs’ development period — anywhere from 40 days to 53 months in the case of one record-breaking species, Graneledone boreopacifica, these maternal cephalopods gently blow water currents over the eggs to provide them with oxygen and keep them clean. Unwilling to leave her brood to hunt for food, the mother octopus often resorts to eating one or two of her own tentacles for sustenance while waiting for them to hatch.

Chicken moms take their duties very seriously. Creating an endless amount of calcium carbonate for eggshells is a difficult task, so if chickens don't get enough calcium in their diets, they'll actually dissolve their own bones to make baby-housing shells. 

Like bears, the mother Pacific gray whales go hungry for months while still needing to produce high-calorie milk for their babies. During this time they may lose as much as 8 tons of weight.

For many females spiders, they attach their egg cocoons to their webs and watch over them until the babies hatch. Once her children have hatched, the mother continues to eat, but regurgitates most of her meals as a nutrient soup for her offspring while the spiderlings stay in their mother's web. When the babies are around a month old, the mother spider rollover on her back allowing the spiderlings to clamber over her, kill her by injecting their venom and digestive enzymes into her body, and eat her. When the babies are around a month old, the mother spider rolls over on her back allowing the spiderlings to clamber over her, kill her by injecting their venom and digestive enzymes into her body, and eat her. 

In earwig nation, the idea of unconditional maternal love isn't a given. When earwig mothers have a clutch of babies (or nymphs), the mothers will sniff out a chemical signal from the healthier ones and proceed to provide more abundant care and feeding to those babies. The babies that are identified as hungrier and less robust will be given less attentive parenting and feeding. 

Mama Panda is a coldhearted, favorite-choosing shrew of a parent. Or a little less dramatically: Mama Panda will often give birth to two babies but almost always only raises one.  Panda moms have to expend an enormous amount of energy to even digest their own food, and providing milk or resources for little ones is extremely difficult. By concentrating their energy on one of the babies, the chance of having one healthy offspring seems better than having two weak progeny.

We have no shortage of stories about infanticide in nature. Most of us who have been in a fourth-grade classroom know that hamsters are one of the most well-known creatures to devour their young, along with mice and other rodents. But long-tailed skinks that inhabit the island of Lanyu (just off the coast of Taiwan) If they feel they're threatened by predators, the skinks immediately gobble up their own eggs.

Birth Control means Controlling Births

Whenever people talk about pregnancy it is always in a warm, loving, gushy, feelings kind of way. The thought of a new bundle of joy arriving soon delights those in proximity to the expectant mother. Everyone loves a baby. Or do they?

In early history of the family, children were not always viewed as a godsend. Oh, they were needed and necessary for various reasons, but there was not the joy and delight experienced by modern expecting parents. Male children were extremely important. They would inherit the families wealth and carry on the family name. Boy babies were desperately wanted. And if a woman failed to deliver the 'man' child, there could be consequences. 

In many early cultures, men could dissolve a marriage or take another wife if a woman was infertile. However, the early Christian church was a trailblazer in arguing that marriage was not contingent on producing offspring. The early Christian church held the position that if you can procreate you must not refuse to procreate. But they always took the position that they would annul a marriage if a man could not have sex with his wife, but not if they could not conceive. Pregnancy has always mattered to men. Pregnancy for women, or the inability of, could be a time of anxiety and fear.

In modern society, it is almost tabboo to say you don't want to have any children. People can not fathom why someone would prefer to be childless. Some research found a negative relation between these variables: parenthood was associated with decreased marriage quality, increased marital conflict, more severe symptoms of depression, and decreased marital satisfaction–especially when pregnancy was unplanned. Having children is not all fun and games. 

Children are hard on a marriage. Not only is raising children time-consuming and tiring, it is also related to a frequent exposure to stressors. With each added child there is added stress taking time and attentian away from the married couple as they manage the stressors of child rearing. The stressors may outweigh the resources the couple has at some point. Even if partners are fulfilled as parents, their relational wellbeing may be threatened due to parental distress. 

So, throughout history, ways to decrease the number of children conceived has been practiced. People knew the number of children they had affected the entire family in varous ways. How many children were people having in the days when they were not successfully able to control births?

Who gave birth to the most children in history? Between 1725-1765, Valentina Vassilyev was apparently rather busy. According to a local monestary's records, the prolific Russian mother popped out 16 pairs of twins, 7 sets of triplets, and 4 sets of quadruplets, ove 27 separate lobours. The grand total: 69 children. There are many skeptics regarding this record. But, if controlling births is not practiced, there is a probability of having a large number of children. Sixty-nine children may seem like far too many. For some, 3, are far too many. It all depends on the ability of the parents to be able to care for the children. Finances are important, but emotional and mental stability to raise a large number of children is a must.

The verified record holder for most births is a Ugandan mother named Miriam Nabatanzi, who has a rare genetic condition called hyperovulation, and gave birth to 44 children across 15 births from 1993 to 2016. She is a single mother to her 38 surviving kids.

For men, and the number of children they conceive are off the charts. While records are difficult to confirm, it probably is true that Genghis Khan has fathered the most children in history, as estimates range between 1,000 and 3,000 direct offspring from his enormous harem. A 2003 study estimated that 16 million men alive today are direct descendants of Genghis Khan. Similar studies have shown a Y-chromosome lineage linked to at least ten other extraordinarily prolific dads, including the Qing Dynasty ruler Giocangga. Why haven't science come up with an oral or injectable contraceptive for men?

More recently, a court case in the Netherlands exposed an alarming fact. A Dutch musician in his early 40’s named Jonathan Jacob Meijer, had fathered between 550 and 600 children through sperm donation. Meijer is a bit of a Dutch lion, with “a mane of curly blonde hair.” In online ads promoting his suitability as a sperm donor, Meijer has described himself as a “musical Viking donor.”

When we think about whether or not to have children, we believe it should be the sole decision of the future parents. But, that was not always the case.

In Ancient Rome the law provides too much freedom to householders whether to admit a newborn child or not. In order to make a decision, all family members including relatives and neighbors give their opinions. Because during that time unwanted and disabled children could be left to die on the streets. Law gives the father, who has whole authority on the family, the right to choose the life of his child. The accepted child would be welcomed by a ceremony in the family. There are several symbolic scenes such as the oldest man in the family putting the child to the ground and hanging a flashy crown outside of the house door to welcome a child. During the first 3-4 days, they hang a chain of amulet to the girl’s neck and bulla to the boy’s neck. Girls and boys get their names after 8 and 9 days of their birth respectively which is a day after die lustrous, a time period when it is no longer feared the infant would die. 

As we continue to travel through time, children are still not viewed as a gift. The medieval society was primarily an agrarian one (community whose economy is based on producing and maintaining crops and farmland). And the family unit made the agrarian economy work. From an economic standpoint, nothing was more valuable to a peasant family than sons to help with the plowing and daughters to help with the household. To have children was, essentially, one of the primary reason to marry. Children were valued for the labor and production they could add to a poor family. Poor people had many children and did not practice controlling births.

Among the nobility, children would perpetuate the family name and increase the family's holdings through advancement in service to their liege lords and through advantageous marriages. Some of these unions were planned while the bride and groom-to-be were still in the cradle. Children were still used to increase wealth and status of a family. They were born with a job to help their family.

In 1325 and the outbreak of the first plague epidemic (bubonic), testators (a person who has made a will or given a legacy) had on average 2.8 live children. Between 1350 and 1375, the average dropped to 1.9 and continued to decrease, reaching a low of 1.4 children per testator between 1400 and 1424. To acheive this low number of children within a marriage, before the invention of reliable birth control, there must have been abstinance. Currently, there is a turning tide against the use of contraceptives, IVF, and abortions. The 1300's proved conception can be controlled without medical intervention. You just may not like how it is accomplished though.

During the 1300's when births were more than likely controlled through abtinance, life was not easy. Life was harsh with a limited diet and little comfort. Women were subordinate to men, in both the peasant and noble classes, and were expected to ensure the smooth running of the household. Children had a 50% survival rate beyond age one, and began to contribute to family life around age twelve. In 1300-1400, the life expectancy was 45.4 years of age.

Until about a century ago, many spouses died by their mid-forties, and many babies were born out of wedlock. Many children became orphans or were abandoned due to an inability to care for them. In medieval Europe, for example, people died early from disease, malnutrition, and other problems. One consequence of early mortality was that many young children could expect to outlive at least one of their parents and thus essentially were raised in one-parent families or in stepfamilies.

During the American colonial period, different family types abounded, and the nuclear family was by no means the only type. Children in colonial families were numerous and averaged between seven to ten in each household. The number of children at home varied, however, for a variety of reasons. The most common of these being (sadly) early death of children. Roughly half of the off-spring would not reach maturity. Nomadic Native American groups had relatively small nuclear families, while nonnomadic groups had larger extended families. Because nuclear families among African Americans slaves were difficult to achieve, slaves adapted by developing extended families, adopting orphans, and taking in other people not related by blood or marriage. Many European parents of colonial children died because average life expectancy was only 45 years. The one-third to one-half of children who outlived at least one of their parents lived in stepfamilies or with just their surviving parent. Mothers were so busy working the land and doing other tasks that they devoted relatively little time to child care, which instead was entrusted to older children or servants.

In 1800, most women in the U.S. had 7 children but that number has steadily decreased over the years, with the exception of the Baby Boom (when the U.S. fertility rate jumped to 3.62). In 2018, U.S. woman had 1.7 children on average.

By the 1900s, parents began to treat children more like little people and dressed them like kids, not mini adults. It was the custom to pose in front of a photographer's backdrop for family photos. Since there were no color photographs, artists sometimes painted over the black-and-white photos. This must have been the start of the wam fuzzy feelings towards having children. They were no longer viewed as bargaining chips for lucrative marriages, or free labor. Children were just children. Now a precious gift. So no need for trying to control births. Bring on the babies!

Moving much forward in US history, an important change in American families occurred during the 1940s after World War II ended. As men came home after serving in the military in Europe and Japan, books, magazines, and newspapers exhorted women to have babies, and babies they did have. People got married at younger ages and the birth rate soared, resulting in the now famous baby boom generation. Many families during the 1950s did indeed fit the Leave It to Beaver model of the breadwinner-homemaker suburban nuclear family. Following the Depression of the 1930s and the war of the 1940s, the 1950s seemed an almost idyllic decade. Life was easy and good. Why would anyone want to control births?

The pill was first prescribed exclusively for mestrual regulation, and only to married women. The emergence of the women's rights movement of the 1960s and 1970s was significantly related to the availability of the pill and the control over fertility it enabled. This capability allowed women to make choices about other life arenas, especially work. It reduced the risk of unintended pregnancy in the context of the sexual revolution of the '60s and established family planning as the cultural norm for the U.S. and in many other countries of the world. The first pill was effective and simple to use. The theory was that the risk of pregnancy and the stigma that went along with it prevented single women from having sex and married women from having affairs. Since women on the Pill could control their fertility, single and married women could have sex anytime, anyplace, and with anyone without the risk of pregnancy.

This sounds absolutely retched doesn't it? Women having sex free willy-nilly and dodging the consequences of pregancy. THOSE WITHOUT SIN CAST THE FIRST STONE, John 8:7-11. Men have always had the ability to decide when they wanted to engage in the duties of fatherhood. Notice I said men chose when to enter fatherhood and not when to become a father. There's a difference. 

Nearly half (46%) of men ages 15 to 44 with biological children report that at least one of their children was born outside of marriage, and 31% report that all of their children were born outside of marriage. There are also 2.9 million men (2.4%) who are living with an unmarried partner and have biological children with that partner. Nearly one in ten men have children with more than one person. Of the 72.2 million fathers, 5.9 million (8.2%) have never been married. Nearly half (46 percent) of fathers with multiple-partner fertility had at least one child within a marriage and one child outside a marriage.

A new Child Trends study estimates that 15 percent of men, or more than one in seven, will father children with more than one woman by the age of 40. According to the study, Men Who Father Children with More Than One Woman: A Contemporary Portrait of Multiple-Partner Fertility, five percent of men will father children with more than one woman by age 25. This increases to eight percent at age 30, to 12 percent at age 35, and to 15 percent at age 40. Moreover, these men have more children than men who have multiple children with the same woman: More than one-third of men (36 percent) who had children with multiple women had four or more children. 

These numbers could be higher, but men have the luxury of not being tied down by an unplanned or unwanted pregnancy. They do not even have to acknowledge a pregnancy. The child being born may not ever have an impact on his life. 43% of U.S. children live without their father. 90% of homeless and runaway children are from fatherless homes. 63% of youth suicides are from fatherless homes. maybe this is one reason women say my body, my choice. 

I hate to say this but, women want to control their number of births, and men are not so concerned about controlling births. Sadly, women who want to be in control of births are viewed as promiscuous and careless. While throughout history, men have not been labled as permiscous and carless for having unplanned and unwanted pregnancies.

By the 1900's we entered a period where children were not seen as a burden or just another mouth to feed. People welcomed a new life into their home. Sexual freedom for both men and women, led to an increase in pregnancies. To solve the problem of controlling pregnancy, it will take both the man and the woman. just as it takes two to make a child. Taking away the freedom of one, while the other has no accountability is not a balanced solution. There are so many alarming statistics about pregnancy, such as teen girls are usually impregnated by an adult male. Teen girls are unable to give consent, but the adult fathers are not prosecuted. Pregnancy is complicated in many cases.

Birth control means controlling births. It has been practiced for centuries in various ways, some in not so pretty or kind ways. The life of the child planned or unplanned, can be beautiful or the substance of what tragic movies are made of. The ability to control births aids in the health of society.

Women's History Month

March is Women's History Month. The national theme for 2024 is "Women Who Advocate for Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion.” Throughout 2024, we acknowledge the example of women who embrace everyone and exclude no one in the common quest for freedom and opportunity. The list of women who made an impact on history is long.

The Christian view of women has been limiting to say the least. Their contribution as a created being is to be in a 'supporting' role to her husband. He body, even though miraculous, at times is only applauded as an incubator for new life. Her VALUE is as caretaker and nurturer of home and family. Recently, there has been fear stoked with the possibility of women being returned to the supporting role by a plan drawn up by Republicans named Project 2025. Established in 2022, the project seeks to recruit tens of thousands of conservatives to Washington D.C., to replace existing federal civil service workers it characterizes as the "deep state", to further the objectives of the next Republican president. Being backed by Evangelicals, people fear their biblical views will also be incorporated/legislated into Project 2025.

There has always been a time when women were needed in more than just a supporting role and that will always remain true. Attempts to teach history in schools, is an attempt to keep people from knowing their individual contributions shape a country and world. Women must remember, no matter who the world 'tells' them thy are, they were created for a reason and purpose. First, lets look at some women who had a PURPOSE and then look at the REASON for their creation.

1. Louisa May Alcott (1832-1888). Alcott worked to support her family through financial difficulties at an early age, and managed to write “Little Women,” one of the most famous novels in American history. Her other famous writings include “Little Men” and “Jo’s Boys.” (Recommended biography here.)
2. Susan B. Anthony (1820-1906). Anthony played a pivotal role in the women’s suffrage movement. In 1878, she and co-workers presented an amendment to Congress that would give women the right to vote. In 1920, Sen. Aaron A. Sargent, R-Calif., introduced the bill and it was ratified as the 19th Amendment to the Constitution. (Recommended biography here.)
3. Clara Barton (1821-1912). Barton founded the American Red Cross and served as its first president. She was a nurse during the Civil War for the Union Army. (Recommended biography here.)
4. Nellie Bly (1864-1904). A journalist, she launched a new kind of investigative reporting. She is best known for her record-breaking trip around the world by ship in 72 days. (Recommended biography here.)
5. Amelia Earhart (1897-1939). Earhart, the first female aviator to fly solo across the Atlantic Ocean, received the U.S. Distinguished Flying Cross for her accomplishments. Earhart and her navigator, Fred Noonan, disappeared in 1937 over the central Pacific Ocean while attempting to fly around the globe. (Recommended biography here.)
6. Jessie Benton Fremont (1824-1902). Fremont was a writer and political activist. She was considered the brains behind her husband, John C. Fremont, and his famous exploration westward. She turned his notes into readable books and made connections in Washington, D.C., that eventually made him famous. (Recommended biography here.)
7. Marguerite Higgins (1920-1966). Higgins was a reporter and war correspondent for the New York Herald Tribune during WWII, the Korean War, and the Vietnam War. She advanced the cause of equal opportunity for female war correspondents and was the first woman awarded a Pulitzer Prize for Foreign Correspondence in 1951. (Recommended biography here.)
8. Grace Hopper (1906-1992). A computer scientist and Navy rear admiral, Hopper played an integral role in creating programs for some of the world’s first computers. (Recommended biography here.)
9. Julia Ward Howe (1819-1910). Howe was a poet and author, her most famous work being “The Battle Hymn of the Republic.” She was also a social activist for women’s suffrage. (Recommended biography here.)
10. Harriet Jacobs (1813-1897). Jacobs, a writer, escaped slavery and later was freed. She published a novel, “Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl,” credited as the first to highlight the struggles of rape and sexual abuse within slavery. (Recommended biography here.)
11. Barbara Jordan (1936-1996). Jordan was a lawyer, educator, politician, and civil rights movement leader. She was the first southern African-American woman elected to the U.S. House of Representatives and the first African-American woman to give a keynote address at the Democratic National Convention. (Recommended biography here.)
12. Coretta Scott King (1927-2006). The wife, and later widow, of Martin Luther King Jr. played an important role in preserving the legacy of the civil rights leader. Following his assassination in 1968, she founded the Martin Luther King Jr. Center for Nonviolent Social Change. She later lobbied for her late husband’s birthday to be recognized as a federal holiday. (Recommended biography here.)
13. Clare Boothe Luce (1903-1987). Luce was an author, conservative politician, and U.S. ambassador to Italy and Brazil. She was the first woman appointed to an ambassadorial role abroad. Luce served in the House of Representatives from 1943-1974. (Recommended biography here.)
14. Dolley Madison (1768-1849). Madison was the nation’s first lady during James Madison’s presidency from 1809-1817. She helped to furnish the newly reconstructed White House in 1814, after the invading British burned it to the ground, and is credited with saving the Lansdowne portrait of George Washington from the flames. (Recommended biography here.)
15. Sandra Day O’Connor (1930-Present). A lawyer, O’Connor became a celebrated judge and eventually the first female justice on the Supreme Court, serving from 1981-2006. President Ronald Reagan appointed her. (Recommended biography here.)
16. Rosa Parks (1913-2005). Parks was the most prominent female face of the civil rights movement. In December 1955, Parks refused to give up her seat in the “colored section” of a bus to a white man and was charged with civil disobedience. She is known as “the mother of the freedom movement.” (Recommended biography here.)
17. Sally Ride (1951-2012). A physicist and astronaut, Ride joined NASA in 1978. Five years later, in 1983, she became the first American woman to go to outer space. (Recommended biography here.)
18. Sacagawea (1788-1812). Sacagawea was a Lemhi Shoshone woman best known for her expedition with Lewis and Clark through the territory of the Louisiana Purchase. The Native American traveled from North Dakota to the Pacific Ocean with the explorers. (Recommended biography here.)
19. Phyllis Schlafly (1924-2016). Schlafly was a constitutional lawyer and conservative political activist. She is best known for her critiques of radical feminism and her successful campaign against ratification of the Equal Rights Amendment to the Constitution. (Recommended biography here.)
20. Muriel F. Siebert (1928-2013). Known as “the first woman of finance,” Siebert was the first woman to head a firm traded on the New York Stock Exchange. (Recommended biography here.)
21. Margaret Chase Smith (1897-1995). A Republican politician, Smith served in the House of Representatives from 1940-1949 and the Senate from 1949-1973. She was the first woman to serve in both houses of Congress. (Recommended biography here.)
22. Harriet Beecher Stowe (1811-1896). The abolitionist and author’s most well-known work is the novel “Uncle Tom’s Cabin,” which portrayed the impact of slavery on families and children. Its impact led to Stowe’s meeting with President Abraham Lincoln. (Recommended biography here.)
23. Sojourner Truth (1797-1883). An abolitionist and women’s rights activist, Truth was born into slavery and escaped with her infant daughter to freedom in 1826. She became best known for her “Ain’t I a Woman?” speech on racial inequalities in 1851 at the Ohio Women’s Rights Convention. (Recommended biography here.)
24. Harriet Tubman (1820-1913). Tubman escaped from slavery in 1849 and became a famous “conductor” of the Underground Railroad. Tubman risked her life to lead hundreds of slaves to freedom using that secret network of safe houses. (Recommended biography here.)
25. Mercy Otis Warren (1728-1814). Warren was a writer and propagandist of the American Revolution. She published poems and plays that attacked the British empire and urged colonists to resist Britain’s infringement on their rights. (Recommended biography here.)  

The list goes on and on. There have always been great men in history, but contributions from both sexes were needed in the world. If it were not so, God would have stopped when he created MAN. In Genesis 2:7 we read, “And the Lord God formed man of the dust of the ground and breathed life into his nostrils, the breath of life and man became a living soul. AND YET GOD CREATED WOMAN. Women have always been necessary.

In Genesis 12:1-3 we read, "The Lord had said to Abram, leave your country, your people, and your father’s household and go to the land I will show you. I will make you into a great nation and I will bless you. I will make your name great and you will be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you and whoever curses you I will curse and all people on earth will be blessed through you."

Abraham was given a promise of nation, land, and seed. AND YET GOD CREATED WOMAN. The promise was given to Abraham, but his wife Sarah had her part in the promise. She was the one who would carry and deliver the first generation to take part in the promise. She was the mother of the promise fulfilled.

We are all familiar with Samuel, who is known by Bible scholars as a king maker. In I Samuel 9, Samuel anoints Saul as the people’s king and in I Samuel 16 he anoints David, who is God’s king. YET GOD CREATED WOMAN.

Before Samuel was a kingmaker, he was a deep yearning within his mother, Hannah’s heart. God granted her petition in prayer for a son whom she named Samuel, because, as she said, “I have asked him of the Lord.” And this one thing, a child, she desired so much for such a long time, she gave back to the Lord with gladness as we read in I Samuel 1:27-28. Here, the role of mother goes a step farther to sacrifice. This is a sacrifice where a mother loves God enough to let go.

Now let’s look at a man’s man named Samson in the book of Judges. Samson was a man who tore a lion’s mouth apart with his bare hands, struck down a thousand men with the jawbone of a donkey, and who can forget his dramatic exit from life when he prayed one last time for strength from God to destroy his captors, his taunters, in one last show of strength. God answered his prayers, and he was able to push two pillars and collapse the temple, killing many more when he died than while he lived. AND YET GOD CREATED WOMAN.

Deborah, the only female judge out of 16 men did not possess the strength of Samson, but she did possess obedience to a command to be fearless in battle. She was fearless in battle not because of her own strength, but because God was with her. You can read about Deborah and her God-given victory over an enemy of Israel’s in the book of Judges along with the story of Samson. In Judges 5, we are allowed to read the song of praise Deborah offered up to God for being with her and Israel during their time of trouble.

Let us forever remember and never forget our Savior Jesus Christ handpicked twelve men known as the twelve disciples. We read in the book of John 17:12, these men were selected by God. We know this because Jesus prayed for them, “While I was with them, I protected them and kept them safe by that name you gave me. None has been lost except the one doomed to destruction so that Scripture would be fulfilled.” AND YET GOD CREATED WOMAN. There was not one female named among the disciples.

But look at Mark 14:3-9:“While he was in Bethany, reclining at the table in the home of a man known as Simon the Leper, a woman came with an alabaster jar of very expensive perfume, made of pure nard. She broke the jar and poured the perfume on his head.

Some of those present were saying indignantly to one another, “Why this waste of perfume? It could have been sold for more than a year’s wages and the money given to the poor.” And they rebuked her harshly.

“Leave her alone,” said Jesus. “Why are you bothering her? She has done a beautiful thing to me. The poor you will always have with you, and you can help them any time you want. But you will not always have me. She did what she could. She poured perfume on my body beforehand to prepare for my burial. I tell you the truth, wherever the gospel is preached throughout the world, what she has done will also be told, in memory of her.”

This unnamed woman did a service. She did what she could with what she had. She gave her best to Jesus. Onlookers made comments and even protested. Jesus considered what the unnamed woman did to be so great, he said she would be remembered wherever the gospel was preached. She is connected to the gospel just as the disciples are connected to the gospel.

The last man of God I would like to look at happens to be joined at the hip to a woman in the Scriptures. Acts 28:18 introduces them as Priscilla and Aquilla who open their home to Paul and as a team they gave Apollos more instruction to help him minister to the populous. Notice I said they were a team.

Now let’s go back to the beginning to that perfectly formed man named Adam. God was pleased with His creation AND YET GOD CREATED WOMAN. Why? Genesis 2:18 says it best, “And the Lord God said, it is not good that the man should be alone. I will make him a help meet for him.” Remember woman was made before the curse of labor, so she was created purely for companionship. We can read from Genesis 1:1-3:17 that the ground was not cursed. There were not any thorns or thistles, no herbs, nor any sweating by man’s brow. There was no work for the “help mate” to help with at the time of her creation.

I have said all of this to say AND YET GOD CREATED YOU, because he needed everything WOMAN has to offer. Women offer the ability to reproduce like Sarah, heirs to a promise. Women offers the ability to care and love others sacrificially like Hannah. Women offer the ability to obey, lead, and direct like Deborah. Women offer the ability to give their best gifts and service to God in example and deed like the unnamed woman of the gospel. Women offer the ability to be part of a team in kingdom work as Priscilla did with her husband.

My last point is woman has the ability to be what God originally created Eve to be, a much needed and desired counterpart and companion for man. Woman was also created to observe and to partake of the beauty of the world God created for mankind. Women are to realize “she” is a gift to man and to creation. Women are to always know, remember, and cherish the fact she is different from man. For every strong, heroic, faithful, chosen man God created, there is a woman of the same beauty, strength, heroism, faithfulness, and chosen status. God saw a need and a purpose for all things he created. The Old Testament and the New Testament echoes the importance and value of both men and women in the Bible. It is of the utmost importance for each woman to know, remember, and cherish, AND YET GOD CREATED WOMAN.