An odd way to celebrate women

In celebration of Women’s History Month, students at a public high school in Fairfax County, Va., decorated its history hallway with a display titled “The ABCs to ME.” The project included posters for each letter of the alphabet, including several celebrating men who identify as women, Palestinian “justice,” and abortion.

What an impoverished view of women. According to the school project alphabet, T is for Trans Women. Unquestionably, every person is valuable and entitled to dignity and respect. Our children suffering from gender dysphoria deserve real care and to be told that they are wonderfully and beautifully made. But compassion cannot change the reality that so-called “trans women” are men not women. It cannot change the fact that the best scientific evidence reveals that gender transition drugs and surgeries cause more harm than good. That’s why multiple European countries have heavily restricted them for minors outside of research protocols.

Fairfax County’s hallway historians tell young girls that N is for National Organization for Women. Despite its name, NOW is anything but pro-woman. The organization “opposes any legislation that seeks to limit the rights of transgender, nonbinary, and intersex people.” This means men in women’s sports and boys in girls’ bathrooms and showers. According to NOW, Title IX—which Congress enacted to ensure equal academic opportunities for women, including in athletics—requires that boys who identify as girls have equal access to women’s sports and intimate facilities.

History hallway tells young women that J is for Justice. The students nailed that one, at least in concept. Unfortunately, the associated picture misses the mark: Lady Liberty, holding a female sign in place of a torch, pumping her fist in the air, all while surrounded by the Palestinian flag, the Ukrainian flag, and the transgender flag. The juxtaposition of Lady Liberty, the Palestinian flag, and Women’s History Month is jarring to say the least.

Palestinian women face pervasive legal and cultural discrimination and yet our young girls are told that Palestine somehow represents justice for women. Women in Palestine are disadvantaged in law, especially in marriage, inheritance, and divorce. They suffer rampant domestic violence and sexual harassment. Forced and early marriages are common. Just a few years ago, the director of a Palestinian shelter told Human Rights Watch that domestic violence continues because “there are no legal or social deterrents.” The culture even tolerates so-called “honor” killings—where women are beaten to death by family members for allegedly bringing shame to the family. The law looks favorably on these murders. Under Article 340 of the Jordanian Penal Code and Article 18 of the 1936 Penal Code applied by the Palestinian Authority, perpetrators of honor killings are eligible for a reduced sentence, like a month in prison, or even no punishment at all.

What on earth are we teaching our children? That laws and cultures that so utterly fail to protect women (including women and children in Israel) are somehow pro-justice? That they are so pro-woman we should celebrate them during Women’s History Month?

Finally, the student project heartbreakingly suggests that motherhood—a unique blessing of womanhood—is unwelcome. The alphabet rendition starts with “A is for abortion” accompanied by a picture of a positive pregnancy test and a coat hanger. What a sad view of human flourishing. Gone are the days when pro-abortion advocates insisted that abortion should be safe, legal, and rare. Today, they say women should shout their abortion and they peddle chemical abortion drugs online, shipping them to women hundreds of miles away who may never see or even talk to a doctor. No wonder something like one in 25 of those who take abortion drugs end up in the emergency room.

Louisiana, for instance, just charged a New York doctor for violating state law by shipping prohibited abortion drugs into the state. The doctor never talked with her patient, a young girl. Instead, the girl’s mom ordered the drugs online and told her daughter she had to take the drugs—or else—so she took them. After taking the drugs, she experienced a medical emergency and was transported by ambulance to the hospital.

The tragic reality is that many women do not choose abortion from a place of empowerment. Research shows that many women who have had abortions say they would have made a different decision if their circumstances were different. And we know that women are often unsure about or come to regret their abortions. Some are coerced. But instead of empowering young women in Fairfax County with real options and support, the display promotes abortion.

Women’s History Month provides an opportunity to celebrate the women who courageously contribute to America. There are so many of them. Some, like Amelia Earhart, take flight on the national stage. Others serve faithfully and quietly. Instead of celebrating boys in girls’ sports and private spaces, countries that are complicit in horrific human rights abuses towards women, and the death of unborn children, our schools should encourage our young girls to look to women who lived courageously and faithfully and inspire them to be the best versions of themselves.