WOMEN, BE WOKE -- ASSERT CONTROL OVER YOUR BODIES!

I am utterly appalled at the backwards slide the US is making on so many political, social and moral fronts, but what galls me the most at the moment are the attempts by conservatives to limit a woman’s right to abortion.  How can this atrocious trend towards upending Roe v. Wade almost 50 years later be getting any traction?  Reproductive freedom is a basic human FEMALE right!  And that includes the right NOT to reproduce -- regardless of the reason for this choice. 

The legal maneuverings in red states around the country, including my home Commonwealth of Kentucky, to set outlandish conditions and regulations on abortion services have really got my goat.  Putting ANY restrictions on a woman’s right to choose what to do with HER body is tantamount to Gilead-esque tactics.  We are no man’s handmaid!  For now, the federal constitutionally protected right to end a pregnancy up to 24 weeks supersedes these shenanigans, but several states have gone ahead and enacted “trigger laws” which would take effect in the event that Roe is overturned.  In addition, many states never repealed pre-1973 statutes that criminalized abortion, and some of them could again be in force if the right-wing contingent gets its way. 

This is not the first time that the landmark ruling has been challenged.  In 1992, the Supremes reaffirmed the central holding of Roe, saying, "Our law affords constitutional protection to personal decisions relating to marriage, procreation, contraception, family relationships, child rearing, and education. [...] These matters, involving the most intimate and personal choices a person may make in a lifetime, choices central to personal dignity and autonomy, are central to the liberty protected by the Fourteenth Amendment. At the heart of liberty is the right to define one's own concept of existence, of meaning, of the universe, and of the mystery of human life.”  (boldface and highlighting mine)

I fear that the current uber-conservative judges on the highest American court have a different point of view and could well send the country back to the pre-women’s lib Neanderthal age.  Who are these shortsighted, predominantly Caucasian males to tell women they have no choice in these matters? 

Could it be a sort of insidious, despicable retaliation for ♯Me, Too?!?!?!

Or simply a straightforward form of white supremacy and oppression? 

I am the mother of three myself, and carrying, bearing and raising them were the most precious experiences of my life.  These children were utterly desired, planned for, eagerly anticipated, deliriously welcomed, and all within a healthy, loving marriage – and even then there were countless trying times when I felt overwhelmed, resentful, infuriated.  Parenting is tough AF, folks, even under the best of circumstances, so imagine how much more challenging for a mother to give the requisite parts of herself to unwanted offspring. 

It is particularly unfathomable to me how a woman who has been through the trauma of rape or incest should be expected to unconditionally love the result of such a heinous crime.  Isn’t this the even greater offense?  For children to arrive already burdened with such a strike against them, such a stigma?  Sparing them this undeserving indignity is, imho, the best form of what pro-lifers call when attacking abortion, “the protection of unborn children.” Such undaunted maternal devotion is the very least that each and every human brought into this world is entitled to. 

And in preaching about not punishing children for the “sins of the fathers”, can these conservative, predominantly Caucasian males really be oblivious to the fact that, certainly in cases of rape and incest, the biological fathers are not going to be around to provide any sort of support whatsoever?! 

How dare they attempt to legally compel women – and oftentimes girls! -- to endure the burdens of pregnancy and childbirth?! 

How can they be so indifferent to the plight of the mothers who, after suffering unspeakable offenses against their physical bodies and emotional wellbeing, are forced to carry and bear and then left to care for the resulting offspring?! 

Why do they place more value on the unborn than on the women whose lives would be radically disrupted by the issue of an act of violence?!

And what about an oopsy pregnancy that is simply unexpected and/or unwanted?  I’d like to know how each of those lily-white, lily-livered legislators would feel if their wife / sister / daughter found themselves in such a situation and no longer had the power to legally, safely, willingly take control of their bodies and lives. 

So yeah, I angrily and wholeheartedly echo this placard: STAY OUT OF OUR UTERUSES!  

Next week:  Check this space for a post-♯MeToo playbook