On Thursday, House Republicans finally voted through legislation that would repeal the Affordable Care Act (ACA), replacing it with a bill that would, among other consequences, make things like pregnancy, postpartum depression and rape pre-existing conditions.
As a result, the new American Health Care Act (AHCA) ― yet to be passed in the Senate ― could put women in particular at risk of being denied coverage or having to pay the higher premiums that Obamacare previously banned. According to HuffPost’s Catherine Pearson, an amendment to the bill “effectively gives states permission to discriminate against women.” (Though House Speaker Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) has denied this.)
It didn’t take long for people on Twitter to respond with a meme that’s become terrifyingly relevant to American politics: images from “The Handmaid’s Tale,” Hulu’s adaptation of Margaret Atwood’s eerily prescient 1985 novel.
Live from the WH Rose Garden http://pic.twitter.com/ASW2prWXVa
— jbperrone (@jenperrone) May 4, 2017
Screenshots of women in red robes and white bonnets began flooding social media, accompanied by chilling parallels between today’s health care chaos and the book’s depiction of a theocratic regime that subjugates women after taking control of their reproductive rights.
In The Handmaid’s Tale, Atwood’s dire account of a near-future United States called Gilead, an authoritarian government rises to power and quickly decides to drain women’s bank accounts, the first step in a series of shockingly quick policy moves that seem to strip women of their status as equal citizens before they even had a chance to fight back.
“I was asleep before,” Offred, played by Elisabeth Moss, proclaims in a trailer for the Hulu show. “That’s how we let it happen.”
Even Atwood herself has admitted that her book seems more relevant now than ever.
Instead of our bank account, they’re taking away our health insurance; and you thought Handmaid’s Tale was just a fictional story. #AHCA
— Sahaj Kohli (@SahajKohli) May 4, 2017
Women had already been protesting state senates by dressing as handmaids in an attempt to raise awareness of certain lawmakers’ pushes to limit reproductive health in states like Missouri, Minnesota and Texas. On Thursday, opponents of the AHCA followed suit, posting images and references to Gilead in the hours after the House decision in order to make their stance clear.
In a piece titled “Women In The U.S. Don’t Live In A Dystopian Hellscape. Yet,” HuffPost’s Emily Peck rightly pointed out that, despite the setbacks that have occurred under President Donald Trump’s administration, women in the U.S. have helped push for progress in 2017, too.
“The resistance in the U.S. is very much alive and well,” Peck wrote. “And in the first 100 days of the Trump administration, it’s been remarkably effective.” She cited the ousting of longtime Fox news host Bill O’Reilly, the “unprecedented” numbers of women considering running for office in upcoming elections, and the failure of other policies like Trump’s anti-immigration orders, which was fought by a huge number of female immigration lawyers.
Still, as Congress mulls a health care plan that could potentially put individuals’ lives at risk, women (and men!) are quick to voice their opposition to anything that resembles Gilead.
AHCA will directly punish women for their own rape / sexual assault / C-sections. Andddd we’re one step closer to the Handmaid’s Tale. https://t.co/px9E2fJURN
— Emily Calandrelli (@TheSpaceGal) May 4, 2017
2016 vs 2017 http://pic.twitter.com/bbxQdMoLIh
— Sarah Cooper (@sarahcpr) May 4, 2017
Having read “The Handmaid’s Tale” earlier this week, this all feels eerily similar… http://pic.twitter.com/1PXunB6Ejy
— Jessica Hessler (@jessicahessler) May 4, 2017
The Handmaid’s tale is real. Thanks Paul Ryan. #AHCA #Resistance http://pic.twitter.com/KqCK2sGqKp
— Kelsey Hale (@agirlnamekelsey) May 4, 2017
I do not see a single woman in this photo. #misogyny #Gilead https://t.co/2sA4mC7Y1f
— Liz Rood (@netzardfan) May 4, 2017
“Handmaid’s Tale will never happen in America.”
Counterpoint: women who get sex assaulted will no longer be covered by health insurance.
— Alex Silva (@aadbfs) May 4, 2017
It’s as if they read A Handmaid’s Tale for inspiration and then wrote the AHCA https://t.co/v8mJErfpkR
— Mike SanClements (@msanclem) May 4, 2017
Reasons why I am not yet emotionally ready to watch The Handmaid’s Tale. https://t.co/g9n2R7zS1i
— Bonnie O’Keefe (@bonnierok) May 4, 2017
If you’re wondering why The Handmaid’s Tale is relevant, take note of how many “prexisting conditions” in the AHCA only apply to women.
— Wesleigh Mowry (@hellowesleigh) May 4, 2017
This looks like an episode of The Handmaid’s Tale — scores of white men deciding whether to give women pregnancy healthcare. #AHCA http://pic.twitter.com/Gwy8dVLHb4
— pfishh (@pfishh) May 4, 2017
Curious about “The Handmaid’s Tale” but don’t want to pay to buy the book or watch it on Hulu? Don’t worry! Soon you’ll be LIVING IT!
— noah michelson (@noahmichelson) May 4, 2017
#AHCA has the votes it needs, rape is now a preexisting condition and America’s LARPing of @MargaretAtwood ‘s The Handmaid’s Tale begins.
— Ian Boothby (@IanBoothby) May 4, 2017
So thrilled to announce that we’ve all just been cast in Season 2 of The Handmaid’s Tale
— Lauren (@lilwetblanket) May 4, 2017
2017 so far: http://pic.twitter.com/zu1UGUTdHL
— Jenna Amatulli (@ohheyjenna) May 4, 2017
Hulu has a documentary about the Trump administration called “The Handmaid’s Tale.”
— Quinn Sutherland (@ReelQuinn) May 4, 2017
BREAKING: Season 2 of ‘The Handmaid’s Tale’ currently filming at the @WhiteHouse. #AHCA http://pic.twitter.com/kFft11j4op
— Tax March Chicken (@TaxMarchChicken) May 4, 2017
The Trump era is so far an experiment to see how close to “The Handmaid’s Tale” we can get in real life. #AHCA #handmaidstale
— Andy Stravers (@ajstravs) May 4, 2017
Why watch the new Handmaid’s Tale episode when I can just watch my own Twitter feed for all the dystopian horror we’re now living in?
— Missy Peña (@misspenart) May 4, 2017
The Handmaid’s Tale, now playing everywhere, outside your window. https://t.co/21Abl6JhCi
— Aaron Stewart-Ahn (@somebadideas) May 4, 2017
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May 05, 2017 at 03:33AM
from Katherine Brooks
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