Unpublished, but not Unsent v7

Photo by Gayatri Malhotra on Unsplash

Dear Editor,

I have been thinking a lot about blame (which surprisingly is *not* one of the stages of grief). I don’t want to hear one more person lay the fall of Roe v. Wade at the feet of Ruth Bader Ginsburg. I blame trump voters but at least there’s a through line in what they believe - first, they believe him, second, they believe fox news, and third they believe in an invisible, extra-terrestrial higher power called god, and it’s now the decrees of that belief that determine what living, breathing women can do with their bodies (and this coming from someone [me] who sometimes go to church:)!

But I also blame the rest of us and am struggling to find the through line there. How is this our fault? The simplest answer I can come up with is that we haven’t been political enough, because it’s too painful and too uncomfortable be political. I hate talking about politics in any situation that may cause even the slightest distress, especially with people who aren’t as “progressive” as I believe myself to be.

But as of now our reality is being legally defined by people who believe that bringing every pregnancy to term is what is best for the physical and emotional well-being of ALL women. By people who believe adopting out an “unwanted” child to strangers will be less painful for a new mother than terminating the pregnancy would have been. It’s our reality that is being legally redefined and if we don’t start talking about - and keep talking about - why we demand the right to abortion than that reality could disappear all together. Without Roe vs. Wade you really are going to need to become involved in politics at the local level and educate yourself about pro-choice candidates and elect them, which might sound overwhelming, but if we don’t do it now then our reality will literally disappear. How depressing.