In 2017 my IUD expired. Donald Trump had just taken over the White House and the writing was already on the wall. It spelled trouble for women living in red states as far as the eye could see. People ignored the ramifications of voting for a piece of shit whose policies would impact half the population in ways we could have never prepared for.
I opted for a tubal ligation at that time. I already had to have my IUD surgically removed because it had embedded in the lining of my uterus, but I also knew I was finished having children at that point. During my last pregnancy I found out I had a normally fatal (for the fetus) condition called Intrauterine Growth Restriction. Which is usually caught after a stillbirth. There was far too much damage and scarred tissue in my uterus from my prior c-sections that caused this.
While my daughter was born itty bitty, she thrives nearly thirteen years later.
I made the responsible choice of shutting it all down. Knowing the damage that would be done on the Supreme Court to allow this miscarriage of justice to merely be recorded in history.
I never grew up thinking basic healthcare would become out of reach for our very own daughters, because if we are being honest here that is exactly what is happening. Basic standard reproductive healthcare for women is deteriorating at a rapid rate. Physicians are fleeing states because they are in fear of being jailed or sued out of business for making the wrong decision on behalf of their client. What will the courts do? Will they lose their medical license? Their livelihood?
The standard of maternity care in America has been on a rapid decline at the same time with the United States seeing more women dying during and surrounding childbirth than any other industrialized nation. That is a disgusting fact of the for profit healthcare system we are forced to live under.
As the months go by we watch the stories about the women like Kate Cox, denied a medically necessary abortion despite appealing all the way to the Supreme Court in her state. Imagine being pregnant with a fetus that will not survive and knowing the longer the pregnancy continues the more damage it will do to any chance of you having a health, very much wanted child and the Supreme Court of your state says no.
What fucking planet are we living on?
How did we get here and how the fuck are we going to fix this?
Vote.
That is the only thing you can do. Vote these people out of the positions of power they have sat in for far too long. Lift up sane, and rational lawmakers. Vote blue up and down the ballot. State, local, county, national. Send a message to these out of touch lawmakers that enough is enough. Fight back against these religious extremists forcing their agenda onto the laws, which the Constitution completely is supposed to protect us from.
Until a blue wave hits America like we saw during Americas most prosperous years, we will continue to regress.
Our daughters deserve better.
Your granddaughters shouldn’t have less rights than you did.
Your wives shouldn’t have to worry about a pregnancy that could kill them.
The whole world is watching.