January 22, 1973 - Blog for Choice

A woman's right to bodily autonomy was my political awakening. I was 16 and completely politically apathetic in 2003 when the Bush administration used their brand new mandate to shoulder through a new piece of legislation: The Partial Birth Abortion Ban.

That was all it took. I was a done deal. I immediately saw the incredible hypocrisy of this conservative, small government president (government so small it can fit in my uterus?) and it pissed me the hell off. I've argued for and championed women's rights ever since. That's what this post is for.

Today is the 39th anniversary of Roe vs. Wade, probably the most famous case the Supreme Court has ever ruled on because it gets under people's skin like very little else. And when it comes those of us who care deeply, no matter the side, there's no swaying us. We talk at each other. I've been vocalizing my support for women's rights for nearly ten years, and I've only worked one person back over the line with me. It's not an easy topic.

But it's one I continue to discuss because it continues to be an issue. Elected on a platform of economic issues, this 112th Congress pushed twice the anti-choice legislation in 2011 than in any previous year. Apparently, the GOP spells "jobs" u-t-e-r-u-s. And they're pushing this legislation through to take our county backwards, even as Americans themselves move forwards. So much of our government is pandering to (to quote the Daily Show) a small but vocal group of elderly lunatics.

Most Americans support abortion rights. Conditionally, yes, but they don't cop to this bullshit about eliminating it entirely, like, say, the uber-religion governor of my state. But even if the majority of Americans don't support the unconditional right to terminate a pregnancy, this is one of those situations where we need our government to be better than us. To handle what we cannot.

I talk about it because the conversation won't end. These people who call themselves "pro-life" will continue to execute doctors, and to promote their assassination and label them targets. To bomb our clinics and harass any woman who dares use their services. And then they stick their god in my government to legislate my body.

On this anniversary, as on every anniversary, NARAL (a previous employer!) promotes their Blog for Choice day. So I am blogging for choice. I'm an insignificant blip, but I am a blip. I exist. I have a voice and just as importantly I have a vote. I vote for Eddie Bernice Johnson. I vote against Kay Bailey Hutchinson and John Cornyn and Rick Perry and I am vocal about it.

And just sayin: Abortion Rates Are Higher In Counties Where Procedures Are Illegal

Things I forgot to include:

Reproductive coercion: In a relationship, it's sexual violence. When it's state-mandated, it's just being a good Christian.

And the Texas sonogram law that just cleared the courts? That ain't always a jelly-on-the-belly sonogram. "The vast majority for women in their first trimester of pregnancy will be done by a vaginal probe." A) So much for any sense of privacy or freedom from government intrusion and b) the state is going to force a doctor to put a stick up a woman's vagina? Is it just me or does that fit the FBI's updated definition of rape?