You may have read about the Texas woman who is having to leave Texas to get a medically necessary abortion. You may not have. It doesn’t really matter. Because this was bound to happen. It is morally, legally, ethically, and in every possible way wrong to refuse abortion access for women and anyone with a womb. Anyone who bans abortion is a misogynistic fuckweasel.
Now, banning abortion is completely different than being pro-life. You can be against abortions. You can educate people about why you think abortions are wrong. You can tell people things about fetuses and souls if you want. But you better be offering women alternatives if you do all this. I’m talking free healthcare. Free child support. Seriously supporting funding for adoption agencies and, even more importantly, foster care. If you come at me with a bunch of pro-life ideology and I find out that you don’t donate to adoption and foster care agencies, at the bare minimum, I’m going to tell you to sit down. Do not tell me you value babies while doing absolutely nothing to value the babies.
And most of all, do not ban abortions. Abortions are healthcare. Some people medically need abortions. Some people did not choose to get pregnant because they were raped. (Pro-life people, I get it. You want the raped person to keep the baby because you value life. I understand. But. Value the mother’s life, too. Support harsher penalties for rape and hold men accountable for their actions. Then we’ll talk.) And some people need abortions because they are financially poor, they are socially poor, they are without support networks or money or sober living or jobs or any of the many, many, MANY ways women and people with wombs are discriminated against. So you value life? Advocate for equal pay for women. Advocate for believing women. Advocate for trans-women. Advocate for queer women. Advocate for women who are not white. Advocate for anyone who calls themselves a woman and all the shit they constantly have to go through to prove they are just as equal as everyone else.
In fact, you should vote for women. And when women outnumber men in every single fucking branch of legislation, then we can start talking about how women have become equal. Because you know what? There are more women than men in America, so I have no idea why we have so many incompetent old white guys making laws. Who the fuck do they think they’re representing? Not me. I didn’t want any of this. I don’t want less pay and no rights to my body and victim-blaming and having to prove that I’m an expert in my field over and over and over again. I have a PhD. I’m in MENSA, for fuck’s sake. Trust me. I’m smart.
And because I’m smart, and incredibly well-read, I can say with some assurance that abortion access isn’t something politics has ANY business in. It’s a moral decision, an ethical decision, one that is governed, not by the laws of humans, but by eternal law, divine law, and natural law. It’s a religious decision. It’s a personal decision. It’s a covenant made with your beliefs and your body. But it’s not something that gets to be banned because a bunch of lawmakers say so. They don’t get that say. And I refuse to recognize it.
Because the truths that I hold to be self-evident are that my body is mine. And my life, my liberty, my pursuit of happiness is intrinsically linked to my body that is mine. My body is equal in value and importance to other bodies that don’t have wombs. My body should be free from harm, free from damaging legislation, free from abuse and terrorism, and when my body is harmed, the person who harmed my body should be held accountable.
I’m so sick of the inequality and treatment of women and people with wombs in our justice system. In our society. In our workplaces. In our homes.
If I am not treated as an equal citizen of this country, then what the fuck am I? What the fuck am I paying taxes for?
Not this shit. That’s for damn sure.
ZERO COMMENTS???
What the fuck is up with that?
This truly deserves a wider audience.
Most who read it would agree with you IF THEY HAD A CLUE. Those who disagree won't be able to make logical, thoughtful arguments BECAUSE THERE AREN'T ANY TO BE MADE.
Brava, Vickie.