The War on Women

I had a dream that I was in a doctor's office where one of my male friends was giving medically safe abortions. For some reason, he had invited me to come hang out while was working and so I was in the room with these women as they came in for their procedures. I have a very squeamish empathy that kicks in with anything that could be even remotely painful but in the dream, I did my best to put on a brave face and stay there to help ease these women through their procedures being administered by my friend. He is not a medical profession IRL but he was more than competent in this dream-space and did an excellent job making these women feel comfortable, clearly explaining what he was doing while also idly chit-chatting with me.

I woke up thinking what a weird dream.

That was the morning of Friday, June 24, 2022. Roe vs Wade was overturned mere hours after my waking.

Friday, June 24, 2022 is a frightening and grotesque day in the United States of America.

I learned the news of the Supreme Court's decision when an email from an Ohio gubernatorial candidate landed in my inbox. It said Roe Struck Down: Ohio Governor’s Race is More Important Than Ever in large bold letters. My eyes scanned these words, not fully comprehending them as they moved on to the body of the email:

Following the Supreme Court’s decision to strike down Roe v. Wade, thereby taking away a woman’s right to make decisions about her body, Democratic gubernatorial nominee and pro-choice champion Nan Whaley released the following statement:

“This is no longer a hypothetical. Unfortunately for women in Ohio, the Court’s decision to strike down Roe means that Governor DeWine will move to criminalize abortion. That means women in Ohio will have the right to a safe and legal abortion taken away from them, even if their life is at risk or if they’ve been the victim of rape or incest. It’s exactly what Mike DeWine and the extremists in the Ohio Legislature want, and that’s unacceptable.

“This election has never been more important. If DeWine is reelected, he’ll take Ohio women back to a time where abortion was criminalized and dangerous. The right to access a safe and legal abortion and reproductive care is on the ballot this November. Ohioans have an opportunity to elect a pro-choice governor who won’t interfere with a woman’s right to make decisions about her own body.”

But all I could see was Following the Supreme Court's decision to strike down Roe v. Wade... I read that line over and over again. Wait, when did this happen? I thought. How did I miss this news?

The timestamp on the email is 10:16am. Then I searched the internet to see when this news had broken.

The decision was barely 10 minutes old.

I didn't know what to do with my body.

So I got up out of my chair and started to pace.

I was working from home on that absolutely gorgeous Friday. I had been preparing for a steady but not too arduous end to the work week. But all of that fell to dust as I processed this news.

SCOTUS had overturned Roe v. Wade.

I didn't even make the connection that I'd had a dream about abortion the night before.

It would be a whole other day until my brain reminded me of that dream at all. It wouldn't be the first time in my life I had a dream aligning with a major national event the night before it happened -- on the morning of September 11, 2001, I woke from a dream about a flying car crashing into a glass building. And, true, in my dream, abortions were still legal. But it's also true that my friend who was administering this revolving door of abortions was in no way professionally trained to do so, at least not in my real life experience of him. But there he was -- calmly and confidently welcoming woman after woman into his makeshift office to peacefully end their pregnancies.

Could this mean that more underground abortion clinics will start to emerge? Will more unlicensed abortionists be trained to perform medically-safe procedures or will we be returning to the barbaric, life-threatening methods of days before Roe? Did this get embedded in my psyche after hearing a podcast about the history of abortions in this country, including a discussion of the new documentary The Janes where pre-Roe volunteers performed (safe but very illegal) abortions to hundreds of women a week?

I am fearful of what this SCOTUS decision will mean for women and minorities going forward. As iconic as our Constitution seems to be in the realm of democracies, it was still written by and to uphold the rights of property-owning White Men. So it won't be that difficult to offhandedly mention that gay rights and minority rights and women's rights aren't protected by the Constitution -- a document that did not given women or minorities even so much as the right to vote let alone many other personal freedoms White Men have never had to give a second thought to. The Constitution lists slaves as being worth on 3/5 of a person.

Are we really using this document as the law of the land?

Friday, June 24, 2022 was a very worrisome day.

Here's why: what overturning Roe v. Wade means is that abortion now becomes a state's rights issue. States can dictate if women can get abortions at all, at what stage of pregnancy, and by what methods. It is projected that within the next two weeks, as many as thirteen to sixteen states will outright ban abortion, full stop. Several more will enact so-called "heartbeat laws" that ban abortions beyond 6-weeks, often well before the window of time a woman even knows she's pregnant. Before the year is over, half of US states are expected to ban abortion completely Beyond that, I've heard story after story from family planning clinics that note the many obstacles and technicalities in place to prevent abortions from being carried out -- and with these soon-to-be legal restrictions, how much easier will it be to push a woman past that six week mark before she can receive her desired abortion.

Birth control access will be next.

Gay marriage, too, will be a moving target to watch.

The news of Roe v. Wade being overturned all came one day after the Supreme Court overturned a +100 year old New York state law that had restrictions around conceal and carry. No longer do gun owner need to demonstrate a reason to conceal and carry -- they can just do whatever they want because of the 2nd Amendment.

All of this after weeks and months of first shortage on baby formula and then tampons. Women, mothers, children, babies, families -- all at the mercy of Conservative strangleholds around safety and health issues that impact women and minorities -- and most of all, minority women -- more than anyone else.

It's a free country, alright -- if you're White, Straight, Cis-gendered, and Male.

Otherwise, watch out -- it's hunting season. The Supreme Court made it so you won't even see the metal flash and bullet flare until it hits you.

It was easy enough to strip away abortion rights away. What's to stop SCOTUS from pushing for more and more and more as Conservatives in both State and Federal branches of government ganged up on a Biden presidency, barely a punch to be packed.

It's more than the medical inequity this creates for women. It's more than the inhumanity of a forced pregnancy on a woman who doesn't wish to be pregnant, regardless of the reason.

This is about control.

I am genuinely afraid.

This is a war on women.

It is not a new war. But it is a new phase.

And it has only just begun.

If you are someone who needs support in this matter, I am an ally. I am unwavering in my belief that a woman -- that all people -- should have autonomy over their own bodies and should have the right to medical care in a manner they deem appropriate for themselves. I believe in the right to safe and legal abortions. I believe in the right to gender affirming care. I believe that our bodies are our own and that we have the right to live peacefully, safely, and freely in them without threat of harm, threat of violence, threat of deprivation, or untoward control by a political entity.

This moment is a call to action.

This moment finds me wide awake.

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A few resources:

Allow Me to Retort with Elie Mystal (Chris Hayes, Why is This Happening? podcast)

Abortion: The Body Politic - Part One (Katie Couric, podcast)

Abortion: The Body Politic - Part Two (Katie Couric, podcast)

Abortion: The Body Politic - Part Three (Katie Couric, podcast)

Abortion: The Body Politic - Part Four (Katie Couric, podcast)

Abortion: The Body Politic - Part Five (Katie Couric, podcast)

Abortion: The Body Politic - Part Six (Katie Couric, podcast)

Abortion: The Body Politic Storytellers (Katie Couric, podcast)