I was not sure what to expect but knew I needed to regain focus/vision to forge ahead in my PhD program.
The theme I went in with was a need for balance in my life, and Gretchen totally facilitated my ability to clearly see what I need to do to accomplish this balance in all areas.
- Pam R.
Abusive Control Tactics Aren’t Just at Home—They’re in Our Laws
In recent years, the rollback of reproductive rights, especially around abortion, has left many Americans shaken. At its core, these restrictions feel eerily similar to the abusive dynamics that survivors of domestic violence face.
As someone who has witnessed and experienced the manipulation and control tactics used in abusive relationships, I can’t help but notice the unsettling parallels between these policies and the behaviors of abusers.
Control Through Fear and Submission
Let’s start with control. In abusive relationships, control is usually established through manipulation and fear. The abuser dictates every decision, from who the victim can speak to, down to the smallest details of their lives.
The victim is slowly and systematically stripped of autonomy and agency, giving in to seemingly small and unconnected demands... until it's too late and the victim realizes they've slowly handed over all their power. Now they're trapped in a place where all the walls have closed in and there's no safe way out.
Let's take that information and apply it to the recent restrictions on abortion and reproductive healthcare. Women are being told they no longer have the right to make decisions about their own bodies—decisions that have life-changing consequences. This is a type of control, plain and simple.
When politicians and lawmakers say, "We know what’s best for you," they’re engaging in the same kind of power dynamics that abusers use. They're not offering care or protection; they're stripping away personal choice under the guise of moral superiority, wielding fear and punishment as tools of submission.
In 2017, a Woman's Health Caucus was held at the White House where plans to abolish Roe v. Wade were advanced. Not a single woman was at the White House meeting on women's health. - Image Source: All-male White House health bill photo sparks anger, Published 24 March 2017
Forced Compliance and Suffering
The consequences of this control are severe. We’ve already seen women denied lifesaving care, forced to carry pregnancies that are incompatible with life, or placed in legal jeopardy for seeking healthcare.
Abusers isolate their victims, making them feel as though they have no options, no help, and no voice. That same isolation is happening on a national scale as these policies leave women with fewer and fewer choices.
Consider the hypocrisy: Even convicted criminals—people who have committed grievous acts of harm—are entitled to medical care. And yet, women with no criminal record, simply seeking healthcare in a moment of desperation, are treated as exceptions to the basic tenets of human rights. Their suffering is being dismissed as justifiable in the name of protecting the unborn.
But we have to ask ourselves:
How can we claim to protect life while condemning people to death, suffering, or criminalization for exercising their right to bodily autonomy?
The Bigger Agenda: Power and Profit
I know it may be difficult for some, but we have to be willing to acknowledge that the heart of this issue isn’t about life or morality—it’s about control. And this control doesn’t exist in a vacuum. We need to pull back the curtain to see the larger motivations at play.
Why would lawmakers want to control reproductive rights so severely? Who benefits from forcing women into submission?
The answer, as always, lies in power and profit.
For years, the U.S. population has been in decline. In recent years, a growing number of women have been rejecting traditional motherhood and instead, embracing lifestyles that prioritize independence, financial stability, and personal happiness.
But that’s actually a problem for those in power: Fewer children means a shrinking future workforce, which threatens the economic engine that keeps the elite in control.
Chart Source: US birth rates drop to lowest since 1987, 17 May 2018
Instead of addressing the root causes of this issue—like the skyrocketing costs of living, lack of affordable childcare, and wage stagnation—politicians are opting to force women into having children.
And they're doing this without offering the societal support needed to raise families. The burden is being placed entirely on working class women, while the wealthy maintain their lifestyles of luxury and privilege.
By stripping away reproductive rights, the elite are ensuring the continued growth of the working class—without having to give anything back.
This isn’t about protecting life—it’s about preserving a system that exploits life.
There’s more to this picture. This isn’t just a case of ideological differences. The people making decisions that control women’s bodies are doing it with the backing of powerful interests who stand to benefit.
Policies like these keep the working class overburdened, entrapping them in a situation where they're too busy and too financially strapped to challenge the status quo. This is how abuse works. If you’re too preoccupied with survival, how can you fight for change?
Understanding the Hidden Agenda
As we’ve seen, the policies restricting abortion access are more than just legislative measures—they're a calculated effort to enforce control. But to fully understand the "why" behind these policies, we have to look beyond moral discussions and consider the economic reality driving these decisions.
The United States is facing a population decline, and many women—empowered by the ability to choose their own paths—are opting out of motherhood altogether. This isn’t happening in isolation. The cost of living is higher than ever, wages haven’t kept pace with inflation, and the gap between the rich and the working class has widened to an unprecedented level. For many people—men and women alike—the economic burden of raising children is just too much to bear.
An entire generation of young women have emerged that celebrates their independence from traditional family structures—proudly living as “childless cat ladies,” choosing financial stability, personal fulfillment, and happiness over the traditional family unit. And this trend threatens the very system that the elite benefit from.
What we’re seeing now is an effort to force the working class to expand without offering the necessary corresponding support—like affordable childcare, healthcare, and better wages—that would actually make it possible for families to grow. Instead, by restricting abortion and access to reproductive healthcare, these policies force more women into motherhood, often against their will, and into economic hardship.
The system is designed so that the wealthy—who have access to private healthcare, including access to safe abortions through high profile and political ties, not to mention the financial means to leave their state or even the country to seek care—can maintain their power and luxuries, while the working class is burdened with the high cost of raising families with minimal support. They continue to profit off the labor of people who are too busy struggling to survive to question the system or fight back.
We have to connect these dots. We have to see these policies for what they are: a strategy to control the population, keep the working class at a disadvantage, and maintain the elite’s grip on power.
That's why the fight for reproductive rights is not just about abortion. It’s about the right to control our own futures, to make choices that align with our own well-being, and to demand a system that supports women equally—whether or not they choose to have children.
Women shouldn't be forced to play the role of an "incubator" for the benefit of the nation's wealthiest.
If we allow these policies to continue unchecked, the future we are heading towards is one where women are forced into submission, the working class is continuously exploited, and the wealthy elite continue to profit off our labor and pain.
It’s time to rise. Vote, speak out, engage with your communities, and demand better. The future depends on it.
In service and solidarity,
Gretchen
Somatic Trauma Specialist + Energetic Intuitive
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