Where do I start? Actually, I know where:
THIS IS MY BODY! DON’T LIKE IT? OH WELL!
Since when was it okay for men to delegate jurisdiction over a womb that doesn’t belong to them? With the exception of some Transgender men, cisgender men do not have to endure the mental, physical, and emotional trauma that comes with having a child. They don’t have to deal with Postpartum depression. They don’t have to deal with hormonal imbalances. They don’t have to experience their bodies being ripped and torn apart by the birthing process. They don’t have to deal with internal bleeding or blood clots. In retrospect, cisgender men don’t have to deal with ANY of the hardships that women MUST endure for the sack of having a child. So why is this nation allowing for the reckless policing of womens’ bodies?
Simple: this nation was not created with women in mind. Historically, this nation was created for the middle-to-upper-class white man. This nation was created to house and breed the toxic masculinity that exists in the heteronormative society we live in today. That’s why its okay for a man to sexually abuse or rape a woman, but not okay for that very same woman to abort that ill-conceived child. Women aren’t looked at and respected as people: we are looked at as objects. To them, we are objects that can be owned for the purpose of reproduction, maintenance of the home, and reinforcement of the male ego. Now if you are pro-life, cool. If you are pro-choice, cool. But what you WILL NOT do is criminalize every single woman for reserving enough agency for herself to decide whether or not she wants a child. It is her choice to do whatever she sees fit. You don’t have to like it nor do you have to agree with it. However, you must respect it nonetheless. Her body = her rules.
If a woman brings a child into the world but is unable to care for it for whatever reason, she is deemed irresponsible or negligent. If a woman decides to abort a child for whatever reason, she is deemed murderous or heartless. This type of evil rhetoric must end, and it must end NOW. It pains me to know that we still live in a country that values a biased sense of “morality” over the actual care and well-being of a child. There are children in foster care systems RIGHT NOW who are being abused, neglected, and trafficked. What about them? What about the children that will never be adopted because they’re too old or too broken by a system that they were forced into? What about the children that will never be adopted because they’re a specific race or because of their gender? WHAT ABOUT THEM?
Until something is done about THAT problem, DO NOT force a woman to have a child that she does not want. DO NOT force a woman to take care of a child that she cannot take care of. DO NOT force a woman to do ANYTHING. Period.
Queen Media Collective 