I wanted to start talking about Planned Parenthood and all of the fantastic services they provide to low-income and minority women. And I found myself minimizing their provision of abortion services. And I got pissed. So this post isn’t about that. This post is solely and entirely devoted to the termination of pregnancy and the women and girls who require them. Too many very well-intentioned people talk about Planned Parenthood as only doing some teensy number of abortions. That ain’t the goddamn point. Let me be among the first to call for an all day, everyday, 24 hour, drive thru abortion clinic with twofers and a free milkshake if you come on Mondays. Why? Women, that’s why. Because there aren’t enough abortions in my frank opinion, that’s why (you know you agree with me). Because to terminate a pregnancy is not a bad thing, it is a medical procedure, that’s why. 

This may be hard to read but, honestly, it really shouldn’t be. What I’m about to say is based on the belief that a woman’s life matters. That a girl’s life matters. Well, actually, that’s not fair. What I’m about to say is that our lives and bodies matter more than a baby’s. Yes, I am that warrior. I am saying what I suspect many of us feel but are afraid to speak aloud when confronted by talk of when the fetus is viable, when conception starts, when the fetus grows nails, heart beats, knows its mothers voice in the womb. And that is this: so what. So what if the fetus — fuck it, the baby — is playing chess rivaling Magnus Carlsen, playing double-dutch and hopscotch in the womb. If the mother does not, cannot carry the baby to term for gut-wrenching or superficial reasons then oh the fuck well.

I care about the lives of adult women and girls who are faced with a decision about their bodies and livelihoods. This battle is not about choice versus life. It’s about — and has always been about — whose life matters more and who gets to determine that. Think about it, women have always terminated pregnancies, that’s never going to end. This abortion battle is about the fact that many folk, mostly men but not all men, don’t like women deciding who lives and who does not.  In the history of women and motherhood, whether abortion was legal or not, women have had to determine who mattered more. Folks don’t like that. That’s what this age-old debate is really about and will continue to be about. So folks make it harder for lesser empowered women to make that choice about giving or not giving life. Because last I checked no one’s shooting up insurance companies that fund abortions, nope. Just the places that offer affordable options.

So to sum up, this is not about life versus choice, this is about women deciding to give life and the implications of such a reality. Further, this is about poor and women of color deciding to give life. Because, again, last I checked, private insurance companies can and do cover abortion and nary a protest or shooting occurs outside of their offices.

(Photo Credit: Urban Grace Magazine)