Women are making decisions over life and death
The reaction to the Supreme Court’s decision to overturn Roe v. Wade reveals how language can be manipulated to push a particular agenda. Women’s “reproduction rights” have come to mean our capacity “to choose,” to choose between allowing a pregnancy to progress as science and nature would have it, or to terminate that pregnancy, which, in the majority of cases, was not forcibly foisted upon us.
I strongly believe in “the right to choose” and in a “woman’s control over her own body.” However, “the choice” that is now a “right” is not as simple or as difficult as either side of this controversy insists. If I am pregnant, both “pro-choice” and “pro-life” adherents declare there is one decision before me: to abort or not to abort. Do not insult my womanly intelligence. Didn’t I knowingly and willingly engage in a sexual act that could, according to science, result in pregnancy? And wasn’t I, prior to that time, fully informed of the array of technological advances made in the area of science known as birth control? We women can choose when, how and with whom to have sex (except in cases of incest or rape).
We can decide which kind of birth control to use or forego it altogether, aware and responsible for the consequences of our actions. We can say “no” or “yes” to sexual advances. We no longer have to pander to the “stronger” sex’s wishes. These are our bodies.
Except when they’re not. Except when our bodies have become the nurturing environment each new human being needs in order to grow and develop into a sentient creature with a heart and mind of its own.
“Unwanted” or “wanted,” the healthy embryo will progress from fertilized egg to bawling infant, fully dependent upon the care of others. If our only choice is to abort or not to abort, then we women are making decisions, not only about our bodies but for bodies forming inside us who belong to the next generation. We’re putting ourselves in charge of who will live and who will die.
This is a power and a moral decision I do not want, nor would I wish foisted on other women.
In truth, it’s a power and moral decision no one should be forced to hold over another — male, female, trans woman, trans man, gender neutral, any human at all, including Supreme Court justices. And, yes, sometimes truth is inconvenient. It may require from us things we never thought possible. But we women are stronger than we think we are. We can stand up for the the rights of the unborn with the absolute power to back those rights up.
The unborn are living within us. They share our bodies. They share our blood. They have our protection. We alone have the power to usher in new life. No, we are not merely “baby receptacles.” We are doctors, lawyers, business owners, scientists, politicians, soldiers — you name it. The possibilities are endless in a way past generations could only dream about. We are in charge of “reproductive health” and can move heaven and earth to protect it. These are not political decisions we’re making. These are real-life decisions that can only be made by us.
Our minds. Our bodies. Our rights. Let our words reflect the reality we face. Our lives matter. How can we then turn around and withhold a potential life and future from anyone else?