On Monday, May 2, 2022, documents leaked from the Supreme Court that Roe v. Wade would be struck down. This didn’t surprise me. For years, I knew that this was a possibility. Since the election of Donald Trump, and when I could understand what was at stake, I knew that Roe v. Wade’s time was limited. Of course, as a person of color with a uterus, it scared me. Fascism requires complete control of the people, and subsequently, a workforce that can be constantly supplied. According to the draft opinion by Alito and Coney-Barrett, people with uteruses should create a “domestic supply of infants,” a talking point used by conservatives in light of an aging workforce and an aging white population.
Bodily autonomy is under attack, and it has been for the last few years. With anti-trans legislation ramping up across the country, specifically in states in the South and the Midwest, it feels directly related that now abortion is being strictly regulated in the country. Although the media seems to separate these issues, reproductive rights and trans rights go hand in hand. They both deal with the right of bodily autonomy and what we deem as our healthcare.
I am non-binary and childfree.
Since I was younger, I always knew that I was not someone who wanted children. Children, through no fault of their own, freaked me out (and they arguably still do). I knew from a younger age that I would never be fit to be a parent, a mother, specifically. This revelation of childfreedom is what urged me to think about other things in my life, because, for most of my life, my femininity was tied to motherhood, something I didn’t desire in the slightest. This was when I started experimenting with my gender and had found that maybe motherhood and womanhood were not analogous. They didn’t have to be. There was a lot of comfort in that, especially because so many people made me feel guilty for not wanting to be a parent.
For me, childfreedom was not a political choice. It wasn’t a “fuck you” to the government, it was a practical decision. Now, that practical decision is being threatened and has all of a sudden become a political stance. It has become a stance against Christianity, a stance against white supremacy, and a stance against cisheterosexuality.
I, like everyone else, am a person with feelings and different experiences. My choice to not have children and my identity as non-binary should not be seen as radical as it is. My Brown body should not be criminalized, and yet it is. My body is some messed up political experiment because society made it that way, constantly in liminal spaces within legality. With Roe v. Wade on the chopping block, it just adds to the already frustrating lack of control I have over my body and the way it is perceived.
Both parties in the United States are responsible for this. Democrats will use this as a way to further their capitalistic, neoliberal agenda. Republicans have always been fascists, and my body is as good as dead to them.
But if any politician is reading this, my body is not your political playground. No one’s body should be a political playground.
I will scream this from the rooftops, as I continue to fight for myself and my trans and cis siblings.
To the community, we must support each other during these tumultuous times. We can’t rely on these government institutions to hand us our rights as they’ve shown time and time again that we mean nothing to them unless we can make massive donations to their campaigns. Donate to your local abortion fund. Attend protests. Become a volunteer to escort people into Planned Parenthood clinics. Create mutual aid campaigns in your community. We must ensure protection for those that need it.
List of Resources for Abortion/Birth Control:
r/auntienetwork – A subreddit containing resources for abortion, specifically, people who are offering up their homes for those seeking abortions in states with less strict abortion laws.
bedsider.org – A website that discusses in-depth different birth control options and has resources for abortion.
abortionfunds.org – A website that has a list of funds for those who cannot afford an abortion. They also have resources describing different ways to afford an abortion.
Planned Parenthood – Planned Parenthood is the main provider of abortions. The site is pretty easy to navigate, and you can find clinics for many reproductive health matters, including contraceptives and abortion.
Credits;
Author: Judah C (They/Them)
Copy Editors: Brooke Borders (She/Her), Bella (She/They)