When I read that book several years ago, I asked myself what type of society would end up with such a twisted set of rules and values.

And then a few years passed, and I realized exactly what type of society it takes:

A society in which reproduction becomes coercive.
A society in which women are either breeders or not breeders.

And we're on our way.

As the South Dakota anti-abortion law works its way to the Supreme Court, many people are concerned about the future of Roe v. Wade. While a serious issue, the Supreme Court could do far more harm than overturning Roe. They could go farther into precedent and overturn one of the foundations of the case - Griswold v. Connecticut. Griswold is the first case in which the U.S. Supreme Court recognized a Constitutional right of privacy. Griswold made the use of contraception by married couples a Constitutionally protected activity. The Supreme Court is going to need a basis for overturning Roe. If they decide that the basis for overturning it is that there is no inherent right to privacy in this country, they may have to go back and overrule Griswold.

If we reach the point where reproductive rights, including the right to purchase and use contraception, are unprotected for anyone, reproduction becomes coercive. Abstinence, good timing and luck become will be our only safe alternatives to coerced reproduction.

The Indiana law and the same-sex marriage debate bring the breeders/non-breeders issue into sharp focus. The same-sex marriage debate, by defining the primary purpose of marriage as reproduction, rather than creation of a legal relationship between two people, begins to delineate between breeders and non-breeders. The Indiana legislation blatantly creates a class of people who are legally authorized breeders.

So, how close are we to The Handmaid's Tale? I submit that if we have to ask that question, we're already too close. Although we may not end up with exactly Margaret Atwood's future, the possible non-fiction future is chilling enough.

And by the time we know, it will be too late.