How To Save Abortion
So, this happened.
Here is what I am doing: donating money, screaming at the sky, supporting friends. Here is what I am not doing: giving up, ever.
These are dark times. There’s nothing I can write here that you haven’t read already, but I just want to say that if you’re having a hard time this week, I see you.
I don’t know what will happen next. It’s possible that we are headed into a period of full-on repression of the rights of anyone who doesn’t look like the majority of Congress. It’s possible that we’re already there.
But here’s what I do know: these dark times will not last forever. We won’t let them. Dred Scott v. Sandford, one of the worst decisions in Supreme Court history and a ghastly violation of human rights, probably hastened the onset of the Civil War, which eventually led to the end of legalized slavery in the United States. I think the Supreme Court decision nullifying Roe will have a similarly explosive impact, with short-term effects that disproportionately affect BIPOC people and long-term effects that are the opposite of what the “conservative” justices intended. If Alito and co. were better students of history, they’d know that you can twist the constitution into a knot to protect a moral outrage, but you can’t keep it tied up forever.
I don’t know what’s coming next. But I know what’s coming after that. Women and people with uteruses will be free. We were made that way by our creator. No man alive can make us otherwise forever.
If you’re looking for something to do in the meantime:
Donate. I asked friends for their suggestions and here’s one of my favorites so far: National Network of Abortion Funds. Feel free to add others in the comments.
Call. Hound your representatives and senators. Make sure they know how you feel. I know calls from constituents are most persuasive, but I’ve also been calling Manchin and Sinema to demand action.
Vote. There’s a reason the GOP wants to keep people from voting. (Especially BIPOC people.) They know that they can’t win a fair election. Do everything in your power to vote anyway. Make a plan now because you’re likely to need it come midterms.
Take care of yourself. Don’t forget this part, because it’s the most important. We need you healthy and well and strong for the fight ahead. Put away your phone, get some exercise, breathe fresh air if you have access to it. Rest. You deserve peace even in the midst of the fight.
What I’m Reading Right Now
The label on my Lexapro bottle. It’s like a magical incantation, really. Oh, Lexapro. Thank you for giving me the fortitude to put up with this bullshit.
Related: someone please recommend some light reading to me. I could use it. I like funny essays and just about every kind of genre fiction. My brain needs a break. Please and thank you.
Look, I know some of us are upset that we're losing our right to a safe and legal abortion, but it's just because America loves children so much. We're enacting a lot of new legislation to protect babies and children. There's going to be free healthcare for all pregnant women and everyone under the age of 18, regardless of income or immigration status. There's going to be universal free lunch. Supplemental nutrition assistance program (SNAP/"food stamps") disbursements are going WAY up. Car seats will be offered free of charge to all new parents, as well as cribs with organic mattresses and snug-fitting sheets to prevent SIDS deaths.
Maternity leave will be six months in every state, 100% paid, to facilitate the care and breastfeeding of our nation's beloved babies. And in case breastfeeding doesn't work out, formula is going to be affordable and, I think, in most cases FREE to any family that needs it.
I mean, the U.S. is really looking at the health of its children. We're going to see laws changing about vehicles and firearms (responsible for 20% and 15%, respectively, of the deaths of young children). We're going to see laws changing about pollution and health screenings and food additives in order to reduce pediatric cancer (responsible for 9% of the deaths of young children).
Day care is going to be subsidized by the government and have increase oversight to make sure that all our young children are safe.
And don't worry about reproductive health. After the new Contraception Bill is passed, all birth control medications and devices will be available free of charge and without prescription to every man, woman, and child in the United States.
America is turning over a new leaf.
Overturning Roe v Wade is just the tip of a beautiful, beautiful iceberg.
I'm sure it is.
I mean, I didn't just make this stuff up, did I?