Pro Roe vs Fade Wade
I’m pissed off. I’m more than pissed off.
Last week, news leaked that the Supreme Court was talking about overturning Roe v. Wade, which was a landmark case that that protected a woman’s right to have an abortion without government interference.
Now, back in 1973, when the decision was made, “man” and “woman” were pretty much the only recognized terms for folks. Now, we know that there are people with uteruses who don’t identify as female (or even as male). I’m going to be using inclusive terms from here on out.
What’s even scarier than the potential of a person’s right to choose an abortion being overturned is the fact that some states are going so far as to say IUD insertions should be made criminal, that only married couples should be allowed contraceptives, and so on, and so forth. I love my IUD.
A Handmaid’s Tale was supposed to be a warning, not a guide!
The thing is, banning abortion does not mean people will stop having abortions, it just means people who find themselves pregnant will be forced to make dangerous decisions. More people will die from botched abortions. More people will die from unsafe pregnancies. More people will die because they are being forced to bear an unwanted child, potentially from a violent assault. It may even be a life or death matter for the Mother or child who may not be healthy enough to survive. The list could go on and on.
But Republicans don’t care.
They don’t care about the child once it’s born. If they did, then children wouldn’t have to pay for lunch at school. Young adults wouldn’t have to go into life-long debt in order to get an education past secondary school. Children with medical concerns won’t have to have parents working two or more jobs just to keep them alive.
They also don’t care about the person they call “mother” or “wife.” If they did, then it wouldn’t cost so much to give birth in a hospital. If they did, then they’d approve longer maternity leaves. If they did, they’d approve a universal basic income.
What they care about is control. Poverty breeds poverty. What do impoverished people do? They are forced to work terrible jobs because they have no other option. Terrible jobs like Amazon, who despite paying the bare minimum to their workers (and treating them like shit), reported a net income of $33.36 billion dollars. We are essentially being bred to work our asses off so rich oligarchs can remain rich. Don’t even get me started on the pee breaks or lack thereof.
I realize I’m writing this from a position of privilege. There are tiers of the working class and I’m grateful I have it better than others, but that doesn’t make what I say any less true. It gives me a little bit of protection. A person working two jobs barely making enough to pay for their children will be less likely to stand up for themselves because they need that money.
If you’re not mad, you need to be. If you can’t understand what this means, then take a whole step back and listen to the people who have uteruses who will lose autonomy. If you’re not mad, get mad.
And then start being a part of the change. Support lawmakers who support the right to choose. Donate to places like Planned Parenthood. And fucking vote.