Yes, this is in reference to the Supreme Court overturning Roe vs Wade. And this is notes that I’ve been collecting all weekend and may be disjointed.
As a person with XX chromosomes they’ve stripped me away of rights. The right of bodily autonomy, to decide what happens to their body.
This decision tells me that as a woman my only value is my uterus and what it may or may not contain. My thoughts, fears, concerns no longer have any bearing on my life and my personhood once I become pregnant. This is bullshit.
In the leaked opinion, Alito referenced the number of women nearly “1 million women were seeking to adopt children in 2002, whereas the domestic supply of infants relinquished at birth or within the first month of life and available to be adopted had become virtually nonexistent”. I mean, what the actual fuck? I presume these women are unable to have pregnancies and babies of their own and the answer that he stumbled upon is to have other women who don’t want their children carry the child, pay for pregnancy and birth and then give up the baby for adoption? Double what the actual fuck. There is a lot to unpack even there.
The Court seems to be grabbing for a tarnished ring that gives them a win for the 20% of Americans who want abortion overturned. Because it has never happened to them. Or because they have money and access to care for themselves and their children. Or because they can support themselves and the child they already have. Or because they’ve never been told that the wanted baby they are carrying is desperate ill and will not survive continued pregnancy or birth. Or because they have access to childcare while they work to earn money to support the child. Or because they haven’t been told another pregnancy will kill them.
So, you say that all laws have to be grounded in the constitution and that abortion is not mentioned. I’m sorry, what about how during the 18th century and the founding of this country abortion was legal until the quickening (roughly 15-20 weeks). I mean women are barely mentioned in the constitution, why would this have been mentioned? Like, at all. We know the men of the Court are not going to think about that and the woman who voted to overturn only sees the fractured truth that she thinks her god demands.
There will be more death. America already has the highest mortality during pregnancy and the post-partum. 23.8 dead in 100,000 births. This will only serve to heighten it. And the racial disparity is stunning and not in a good way.
There will be far flung reverberations to the economy, to healthcare, to having even OB-GYNs available, as abortion goes underground again. And don’t point that there are TWENTY-TWO states that do not have laws on the books that make abortion illegal. Out of fifty or less than 50%. That is 56,000,000 women of childbearing age. How are women supposed to get to these states? How are these states going to handle the influx of patients? And the word I think you are searching for is that is not illegal YET.
And this decision opens up other rights that are held dear by the majority of the population that are grounded in the 14th Amendment. This includes gay marriage, biracial marriage, and birth control. Some people who have the megaphone right now don’t believe in those things. They will be next on the chopping block. The ability to prescribe and take birth control will be on the docket soon.
I fear for the young women of this country. I truly do. Doesn’t impact me, but will impact my nieces and nephews. Because this absolutely impacts boys.
I am sorry that the world has moved beyond what you think is familiar and comfortable. I am sorry that the world has left you behind and grasping at ideals from a time past that are no longer relevant. I am sorry that you perceive this as a weakening of your power and control over women.
Speaking to women, this shows that we are viewed as a vessel only, as chattel, and stripped of our own self-determination, which is antithetical to the Constitution. Our value has been sunk to that of a broodmare, and our only value is in the children that we can bear.
This is forced birth. Where are the people who have been chanting my body, my rights about masks and vaccinations? Or, are they the same people behind this abomination?
As a gender we are less free today then we were a week ago. Aren’t you tired of men telling you you can do with your body? I am.
The overall message being broadcast to me, my sisters, my nieces, all persons with XX genes is that as woman, there is no greater contribution to society than the ability to reproduce.
Are there such things as “convenience abortions”? I am sure there are. But all the D&Cs and D&Es that I’ve circulated have been for wanted pregnancies. I know that this is a talking point of the anti-choice.
Let’s discuss why some women seek abortion for wanted children. It is because they have been told that their child will not survive continued pregnancy and will have limited survivable outside of the womb. We are to carry these doomed children, birth them, and watch them die, or live in agony for less than a year. Makes complete sense to no one.
This is not an argument about the child, or potential child. This is vicious misogyny.
Ar-15s are not in the constitution but they have more rights than us and are allowed to exist. Why?
You bet I’m pissed.
And afraid for those who do not access to get to a state with legalized abortion.
And afraid for those who enjoy the marriage rights, even in they are gay.
And afraid for those who enjoy the marriage rights, even if one is a black and the other white.
And afraid for those who want to access and take birth control to have what little say they have left over their bodies.
I’m sick of having a man tell me what I can and cannot do with my body. Who makes him right? Because he has a penis?
Hell, yes, I’m mad and willing to work for others.
Dispatches from the Evening Shift 