If I Wanted the Government in My Body, I’d Have Fucked a Senator

I’ve written a lot about bodily autonomy and weariness on this blog. I wrote about it in 2016, when Donald Trump was elected and numerous people told me that I was overreacting. I wrote about it in 2019, when the Georgia 6-week abortion bill entered common discourse and hearing room floors. And now I write about it again, because of a leaked Supreme Court draft opinion that states an intent to overturn Roe v. Wade. 

Contrary to what I’m sure conservative fearmongers might suggest, my worry is not because I am planning to have an abortion tomorrow, nor because I have an intent desire to wander around murdering babies. 

I’d like to present and perhaps discuss a few simple facts. 

Flat abortion bans, regardless of circumstance, privilege an unborn bundle of cells with neither consciousness nor sentience over the body carrying it. 

Abortion bans in general, whether at six weeks or fifteen, are explicitly religiously biased. Abortion may be anathema to many or even most Christians. That’s fine. I have no objection to people not getting abortions. I am not telling anyone that they have get one, should they find themselves in a situation where it might be necessary. 

Not everyone in the United States belongs to a religion that problematizes or criminalizes abortion in the first place. Judaism, for instance, indicates that life begins at first breath, not at conception. Even putting that aside, pikuach nefesh, the principle that values human life over nearly every other tenet of Judaism, would dictate that an abortion is not just an option for a woman with health concerns related to pregnancy or motherhood, it is a necessity. 

Reproductive autonomy is a fundamental freedom. 

Biological determinism is bullshit. Just because someone has a uterus does not automatically mean that they are a woman. Just because someone is a woman does not mean that they should be a mother. 

Pro-life is not, currently, a concept that addresses poverty, food insecurity, children ripped away from their families and put in cages for the crime of existing on the wrong side of a fence. Health insurance and insulin are unaffordable, the foster care system is fundamentally broken, police brutality remains a significant issue, and the planet is in ecological crisis, yet it may be deemed a crime not to bring more children into a world that cannot sustain them. Overturning Roe has absolutely nothing to do with the value of life. It is about control.

There is no other law, to my knowledge, that only exerts its control over only fifty percent of a population with no repercussions for the other half. Furthermore—an unwanted pregnancy requires the act of impregnation, which would require both a person with a penis and a person with a uterus. Yet the person with a uterus is the only one who might face consequences for the crime. 

The current makeup of the supreme court screams a certain reality: a man, particularly a privileged white man, can rape someone and end up on the Supreme Court bench. A woman cannot abort a fetus resultant from rape, but a doctor or nurse or friend can be deemed accessory to murder for helping her try.

I’m not here to preach about the morals of what to do with an unwanted pregnancy. I’m really not. If your God tells you that you can’t do it, that’s fine with me. It is your choice. But it doesn’t give you the right to tell me what to do with my body. 

And let us be clear—a ban on abortions will not stop abortions. It will stop legal, safe abortions with medical oversight and safety regulations. It will stop poor people and disenfranchised communities from accessing safe, legal options for ending a pregnancy. Someone who, deep in their gut, does not want to be pregnant, will find a way not to be. They will poison themselves, throw themselves down the stairs, stab themselves in the belly, resort to coat hangers and back-alleys. If they cannot be, without being pregnant, then they will simply choose not to be. 

When abortion is not an option, suicide is. This is murder, plain and simple.  

I am particularly troubled by language like ‘longstanding tradition’ when it comes to the topic of Casey and Roe. The Roe v. Wade decision is not, in fact, longstanding. It was in 1973. That’s less than fifty years ago. That’s less than a fifth of the lifetime of the United States. And frankly, the U.S. is hardly a longstanding institution in comparisons to other countries—looking at this as a historian, I can say that 246 years is barely a blip in the radar. I think back to the slogans that people who defend Confederate monuments shout—they, too, speak of legacy and longstanding tradition surrounding institutions that rely on oppression. The Confederacy lasted for six years—less time than it takes to get through med school or college plus a master’s degree. That’s not a legacy or a tradition, that’s someone’s misbegotten fraternity years. Even this fight isn’t longstanding, not yet, not in the grand scope of history.

Our foremothers are our grandmothers and our mothers. The people who fought this fight first are still with us, still here.

I don’t think we get to be the weary ones about this. 

I adamantly refuse to believe that a leaked memo means the end. 70% or more of Americans oppose a total abortion ban– in every state. There are protests to attend, funds to donate to, organizations that need resources and clinics that provide information in addition to services. And as much as I want to scream into the void until it’s all over, that’s not an option right now. 

What I can do, what I’m trained to do, is research and educate. 

I doubt that reproductive legislation stops with overturning abortion law. Plan B and regular birth control (whether that’s in pill, patch, shot, or ring form) is an imperative. I’d recommend getting a prescription, or at least stockpiling some emergency contraception that is shelf-stable (the Plan-B that I have a prescription for has a 5 year shelf-life). Mail-delivery birth control services are usually insurance-flexible and able to prescribe in many states. Some even deliver COVID tests and Plan B as well. Most are also cost-effective, even without insurance. All are well aware of the crisis headed their way. 

Here are some resources and services that I’d recommend checking out: 

Mail delivery birth control: 

Favor (formerly the Pill Club, I had good experiences with them and they’re remarkably cost-effective for what you get)
Nurx
TwentyEight (this is what I use, they’ve been great)
SimpleHealth
LemonAid
PandiaHealth

Other organizations with helpful material (and lists of projects or places you can donate to, by state):

ACLU
Planned Parenthood
the Center for Reproductive Rights