Handmaids and the Plight of Abortion

The Handmaid’s Tale was never written as a prophecy for America’s abortion debates. Margaret Atwood drew from historical precedents to explore the dangers of coercion, not to demonize motherhood or family. The fact that women today freely wear costumes and protest proves the opposite: America is not Gilead. 

In our system of federalism, states have the right to govern differently, and individuals have the freedom to make choices within that structure. What protestors who dress up at handmaids to "stand" for abortion rights often miss is that the world of Gilead was defined by totalitarian control, where women had no say in whether they became mothers, workers, or even readers— far removed from America today, where women not only vote, work, and speak openly. Citizens retain freedom of movement and choice under the law in America, where the elected officials who uphold the interest of citizens are voted into those offices by those very citizens. That reality stands in stark contrast to the fearmongering that insists any regulation of abortion = Gilead. 

Motherhood is not oppression. It's actually the most profound and meaningful calling; one that has built civilizations for millennia. It's our literal biology. Families are the cornerstone of stable societies: they are where children learn values, where communities are anchored, and where love and sacrifice shape the next generation. To treat family life and motherhood as signs of oppression ignores the reality that women upon women upon women freely choose this path. So many, myself included, find purpose without even expecting it— shocked by their God-given ability to love and nurture so deeply someone beyond themselves.

The truth is that America allows public debate, open dissent, and freedom of conscience— none of which exist in the dystopia Atwood imagined.

The real lesson of The Handmaid’s Tale is not that motherhood is dangerous, but that government coercion is. Upholding the value of family and the sanctity of motherhood strengthens society, while weaponizing Atwood’s fiction to spread fear distorts both literature and reality. Reality continues to show true government overreach in America when Presidential candidates skirt primary elections and mandates require U.S. workers to take a health-altering shot in order to keep their jobs. Denying the facilitation of murder to an innocent human being via abortion, is not.