After reading an article that was based on both the war on drugs and the war on abortion, I found many similar connections between the two heavily debated topics and thought it would be interesting to discuss the initial connections I found:
*Through history women have sought to control their reproduction regardless of cultural, religious, or family values having to do with that of contraception, abortion, and childbearing. Similarly with this people have always sought ways in which to alter their state of consciousness through a range of mind-altering experiences and drugs. Therefore, one obvious connection that is found is that both subjects relate to what people do and have always done to their bodies regardless of the severity of the restrictions.
*Both subjects reflect the extremes of human experience: sex and drugs can give people mind expanding, life affirming, ecstatic experiences. However, they both are associated with abuse, violence, and despair. For example, a woman is very much connected to her sexuality and her ability to reproduce, however, that may be affected permanently through experiences such as rape and molestation. Similarly, there is a deeply rooted and permanent scar for those women who turn to drugs to numb the pain of such experiences.
*Reproduction and drug use share many commonalties when it comes to justifications for prohibition and regulation. Various forms of prejudice include: race, ethnicity, and gender which have been used to justify such control.
*At various times in American history both abortion and certain drugs have been outlawed. Even when outlawed and enforced, the effect of the efforts to prohibit both abortion and drug use have been consistently unsuccessful.
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