My daughter is an artist, a sculptor, and for her final project to obtain her bachelor’s degree in fine arts, she built a small town. A small-scale abstract rural town in Anywhere, USA.
Among other locations, she has a post office, a school, a fire station, and a water tower, all buildings that in any other town would boast an American flag. She had made some flags and had them prepared to attach to complete her vision. Then Wednesday morning, after the election, she texted me that she had torn them all up and that her town would not be part of this America. She was so disappointed, and angry, at the choices made by Americans that she could not feel a part of it at that moment.
Not only did Florida deny her rights, even though a majority of voting Floridians said otherwise; the country had also voted into office a president who will assure that women across the country suffer the same loss.
At the same time, we have men, young and old, following the lead of a single ignorant pod caster chanting “your body, my choice” to girls and women at school, on the street, and on social media.
While another young man in middle school when he hears someone bragging that “at least now our borders will be safe”, he tells them “Yeah…but my sister and mother won’t be”.
In a time where we can do so many things that would amaze our ancestors, women are being returned to a time that many of our grandparents wouldn’t recognize. Women don’t feel they have a safe space in this country. They don’t feel that they have a voice. And when we as women cannot even decided what we can do with our own body, why would they.
Before I worked in the abortion field, I had no idea so many women needed this care. And it is a need. And if I didn’t work here now, I wouldn’t know the profound effect that the reduction, or loss of this care would have on so many people, not just women.
With some men thinking they have been given permission to treat women as less than themselves, the need for abortion may grow larger while the ability to receive one diminishes. And while abortion is a major component in a woman’s argument for bodily autonomy, it is not the only argument, and it will not end there. Politicians seem intent on using our rights to any reproductive health care as a platform for their own self-serving agendas.
As parents we teach our kids how to be adults and as women, we teach others how to treat us. Never have those lessons felt so important. We must have those hard conversations. We must teach our daughters that in a society where we as women lack standing, we can still stand strong and make ourselves heard. We must do the difficult work to make sure we don’t lose our footing, and we must continue to provide each other with support so that we remain not just a force but a movement.
