Today, the Supreme Court rolled back 50 years of human rights by overturning the constitutional right to an abortion.
By Holly Ellis - TGP Associate Creative Director
This lets state governments ban abortion without exceptions for rape, incest, or the birthing person’s health. It allows them to criminalize those who seek or perform abortions, to cast suspicions on even “spontaneous” miscarriages, to make anyone who can carry a child fear their own bodies, fear being sexually active, fear–even more than usual–the possibility of rape, lest they end up pregnant when they don’t want to be. The conservative justices who placated the public during their nominations with words like “precedent,” “nonpartisan,” and “law of the land” decided that no precedent exists after all, no inalienable right to one’s own body, to one’s most intimate bodily functions, to self-determination, or the pursuit of happiness. Today, justices representing the religious and social views of a minority of Americans made a decision that will affect all of us. This is an assault on the personal liberties of women and other people with uteruses in this country, and we must fight back.
In the wake of this unthinkable decision, writing even the terse, emotionless words above felt insurmountable.
How do you even find words when such a fundamental right has been stripped from you, people you love, and millions of others? When you know women, other people with uteruses, and even very young girls will suffer or die because they can no longer safely and legally terminate a pregnancy? When you recall the not-too-distant misery of women in the pre-Roe generation who were sent away to birth babies in secret, who scrounged up money to travel to get a legal abortion, or who risked their lives or died in back alleys, motel rooms, or on kitchen tables? How do you move forward when everything feels bleak and impossible?
If you’re fortunate enough to not be a person needing an abortion now, you remember how much more impossible and insurmountable it must feel to be without access, without options, and with a government forcing you to carry an unwanted pregnancy to term and birth a child you never intended to have. Even if you can’t become pregnant, you fight for the millions of people who can, who now, upon conceiving, be stripped of their bodily autonomy. You think of what it would be like to live in a society where the government compels people to bear children, yet doesn’t help feed, clothe, or house them adequately, doesn’t guarantee their parents paid leave or child care subsidies so they can support their families, and provides the bare minimum health care coverage for families, including people caring for children with disabilities or chronic conditions. The only way to describe a society that values pregnancy but not the person who results from it is “pro-birth.”
Today, the game has changed forever. The supposedly “nonpartisan” has become decidedly political, and the threat to our bodies and futures has finally materialized.
We must fight this oppression head-on, and stop at nothing to demand that fully grown, birthed, and autonomous humans have the right to control their destinies regardless of their reproductive capabilities.
We must make sure that every candidate to lead our communities, states, or nation is judged not on what they say in regard to abortion and reproductive rights, but what they do.
Finally, we must empower pro-choice candidates and advocate for human rights-based policies at every level in our government, and most importantly, VOTE in every election.
If you’re looking for an outlet for your despair or rage, seek out your local Democrat and donate to or volunteer with their campaign TODAY. You can find them here.
At the Guerrilla Politic, we support progressive, pro-choice candidates running for everything from city council to Congress. We’re working hard to create a better world for everyone, one election at a time, and your support makes all the difference. Learn more about what we do and who we work with at theguerrillapolitic.com