There is no law that governs men and their bodies that, at any moment, can be reversed.
By Natasha White
It is sad that women in the United States required a law to protect their right to do something with their own bodies in the first place. Now that same venerable law, which gave us the freedom to make those decisions, is taking that freedom away?
What’s next?
For decades, we have been fighting for equality in this patriarchal country: Equal pay and the right to vote are just a couple of struggles that come to mind. We deal with more assault and abuse from men than they deal with from women, and there aren’t enough protections or laws to keep us safe.
Then there is the question about men: What law governs them and their bodies that, at any moment, can be reversed, depriving them of autonomy?
None.
Look at where our country is regarding gun laws. More men buy guns, use guns and hunt than women. God forbid they take away the right for men to bear arms.
It didn’t take long to reverse a 50-year-old decision regarding a topic premised on when the act becomes murder. But when guns unequivocally kill people? One has to wonder if this reversal is a diversion from the real murder problem in our country.
The U.S. is officially moving backward: White cops killing Black men like we are living in the times of slavery; electing Putin’s friend Donald Trump to the presidency; and now fighting for the right to govern our own bodies … again.
Men’s voices are rarely, if ever, taken away. If anything, they are heard louder when they have an issue. But us women? We have to organize and cultivate whole movements — like #MeToo — just to be heard.
How many women were a part of the initial discussion to reverse Roe v. Wade? How many of their voices versus men’s were a part of the ultimate decision?
Understand that this is not about what type of abortion is considered murder, or when an abortion is considered murder, or not giving an unborn child a chance at life.
This is about a woman, in the so-called land of the free, having the right to do with her body as she chooses.
What will they take from us next?
Natasha White is a writer incarcerated in New Jersey. Originally Published by Prison Journalism Project. Prison Journalism Project trains incarcerated writers to become journalists and publishes their stories.
