The Theocratic States of America

In Afghanistan, the Taliban are back to their old ways of treating women:

The Taliban government decreed Saturday that Afghan women must cover themselves from head to toe, expanding a series of onerous restrictions on women that dictate nearly every aspect of public life. 

The decree, by the Ministry for the Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice,  drew condemnation from women’s rights advocates and the United Nations, which described it as another bald betrayal of Taliban pledges to respect gender equality. The ministry suggested the burqa as the preferred garment for covering a woman’s face, hair and body. But it did not mandate wearing the garment as long as women otherwise cover themselves with a hijab.

The government provided helpful clarification about what could happen if a woman did not follow those rules.  Her male guardian will be warned.  But, if the violation is repeated:

The second time, the guardian will be summoned [by Taliban officials], and after repeated summons, her guardian will be imprisoned for three days ... And male guardians found guilty of repeated offences “will be sent to the court for further punishment”

Yes, men ruling over the lives of women.  That surely cannot happen here in the United States of America.

Of course, I want to point out that the burqa rule in Afghanistan is not that far removed from our lives here.  That is merely one end of a continuum along which we are slightly better off.  While we don't tell women what to wear when they are out and about, and though we don't require them to have male guardians, the Supreme Court is on the verge of telling women that their bodies will be regulated by lawmakers in the states where they live.

We make fun of the Taliban when they regulate women's lives based on their religious beliefs.  After all, those are some barbaric Islamic beliefs, unlike life that is governed by highly civilized Christian beliefs, in which the fertilized ova are vessels for the souls that god has already created.  We then regulate women's lives in order to carry out god's direction, and will make it the law of the land in a liberal democracy.  The Supreme Court is not at all like the Taliban; come on, unlike the Taliban, there is a woman in the majority of judges who want to tightly circumscribe women's lives!

The Scientific American has plenty of issues with the regulation of women's lives in the US.

Regardless of how they legally justify their ruling, the justices of the Supreme Court who choose to strike down abortion rights are telling the American public that science doesn’t matter, that evidence can be ignored. High courts have similarly said as much in striking down mask and vaccine mandates during the COVID pandemic. The logic of Alito’s draft—the right to an abortion is not in the Constitution—could apply to all reproductive health, including the Griswold v. Connecticut Supreme Court decision that overturned a law banning birth control.

If only the editors of SciAm paused to ask ourselves why the religious fanatics in the Supreme Court or the Taliban would worry about science when it is god that they answer to! 

The pro-life crowd ought to simply recognize the Taliban as comrade-in-arms engaged in a crusade (or jihad) to cleanse the world of infidels like me.