You would think by 2017 all Americans would have rights to their own lives and bodies.

If a woman wanted access to birth control, the government wouldn’t be standing in her way. If a woman wanted to have an abortion, it would be her own personal business and not something state lawmakers argue about.

In light of these topics being continually part of political discussions, marches, peaceful protests and signs of solidarity, they have begun showing up across the nation, mostly in the form of women’s marches.

These marches are not meant to point out the vulgarities that President-elect Donald Trump and other political counterparts have spat at us over the past year, but are meant to educate and empower women.

The theme of “women’s rights are human rights” is the most prevalent topic at these marches, as women’s rights is constantly a topic in state and national legislatures.

Between the national march in D.C. and the local march in Wichita — occurring at 10 a.m. Saturday at the Keeper of the Plains — the ideals are similar in fashion, as both want all-inclusiveness for women’s rights, and they want every religion, race, sex and age to come together in support of women’s rights.

The differences between these marches, though, are that the Wichita one is strictly about empowerment. It’s about educating young girls and women about politics as well as their rights. CNN reported that the Women’s March on Washington is a statement to Trump after his inauguration.

Whether or not the marches are meant to take a jab at the new president, they ultimately are organized to send a message to all political leaders that they cannot control what a woman does with her body.

By limiting a woman’s freedom to make decisions about her body, we are ultimately regressing in time to the time of the suffrage movement. Have women not suffered enough from ultimately always trying to prove that they are equal to men, or do politicians need to take away their basic human rights as well?

Whether or not you agree with a woman’s right to choose what to do with her body does not matter. A politician’s religious views or personal thoughts are not allowed to cloud their judgment on whether or not a woman is allowed to have her basic human rights to her own body.