the female experience.

Did anyone ever give you Mace unironically?

What did your parents tell you when you and your friends went out by yourselves for the first time?

You are walking alone at night - where are your keys?

There is a man standing next to his car on the side of the road, clearly needs help. You have time. What do you do? 

Answers:

Yes. I was 16.

"If someone tries to grab you, kick him right between his legs." 

In my hand spread out between my fingers like a weapon.

You do not stop. That's how women get killed.

If I were a man, my answers would be completely different.

New question: does the government control what you can and can't do with your body?

As a woman, my answer is yes.

The Supreme Court leaked a draft regarding Roe v Wade is terrifying to me and women everywhere. Forcing someone to give birth against their will is inhumane. As a person who has given birth, I can tell you it was the worst experience of my life. My doctors told me I could have died. It was a horrendous time for me, and I chose to get pregnant. I can't imagine how much more awful that would have been if I had not wanted to carry that pregnancy to term.

Even more inhumane is the fact those who want to overturn Roe often will not add exemptions for rape, incest, and events in which the mother's life is in danger. A rape victim who gets pregnant as a result not only suffers the trauma of the rape itself, but the trauma of carrying and birthing her rapist's child. If a woman's life is in danger because of a pregnancy, that woman receives a death sentence. Does that sound like pro-life to you?

As women, our very personhood is slipping away. We are nothing but brood mares to them. A pregnant woman has fewer rights than a corpse - to remove a corpse's organs for donation, there must be signed documentation to do so. Otherwise, they'll leave the organs even though tens of thousands of people die on transplant lists ever year. Yet - a pregnant woman does not get to decide whether or not to continue that pregnancy, even though the "baby" in question is an inviable clump of cells. Again: pro-life?  

The memes sprouting from this leaked draft are spot-on.

Sure, adoption is an option - a great option for some. But again, giving birth is traumatic. Pregnancy is traumatic. You sacrifice not only your body, but your emotional well-being - and for a "domestic supply of infants"? That is undue suffering for someone who never wanted to be pregnant. Plus, it takes time and money to be pregnant and give birth - things that not everyone has the luxury of. Some women can't miss work or don't have childcare to make it to doctor's appointments, and even more women have little to no paid time off from work to recover from childbirth. Many of those factors are reasons a woman might want an abortion in the first place. 

I am disgusted the anti-vaxxers have repurposed the pro-choice phrase "my body, my choice" to bitch about wearing masks and getting a vaccine that will save lives. It's not even close to the same thing as delivering a baby. Wearing a mask is painless, and getting a shot takes a second or two. Both of these measures are meant to protect you and those around you: people who are already ALIVE, not an embryo. The anti-choice movement is meant to "protect" an organism the size of a raspberry who thinks nothing and feels nothing and is not a person yet. 

As it stands now, it's hard enough to obtain a safe and legal abortion. Many states have restrictive policies in place, like 72-hour waiting periods. In South Dakota, there is only one abortion provider in the entire state - and that abortion provider flies in from Minnesota once a month with a full security detail. 

I firmly believe if men could get pregnant, we wouldn't be having this conversation at all.

Speaking of men, it's always old white men clamoring to control women's bodies. People who will not ever experience the consequences. Don't these men have wives, daughters, granddaughters? What if their daughter was not able to abort a life-threatening pregnancy and dies as a result? Or what if she got pregnant at 15? Would they see things differently then?

I've already discussed how these people who claim to be "pro-life" are simply pro-birth. Once that baby is born, they don't want to have anything to do with it. They want to cut social and educational programs, they don't want affordable health care. So not only will women be forced to have babies they don't want, they'll also be on the hook for the $20k (or more) it takes to have said baby in a hospital. My son Phineas was born early and spent a month in the NICU, so his bill rang in at over $110k. 

The decision to have an abortion should be between a woman and her doctor. Those are the only two people who should be involved. Period. 

The doctors themselves can be a hurdle as well. Did you know many physicians won't grant a woman a tubal litigation unless she is over 30 and has had at least one child? "Just in case." Even if this woman will never change her mind about childbearing, this procedure is not always an option. Think about it: the doctor won't do what a woman wants just in case a man wants to use her for childbearing someday. That's wild.

This country was built on the premise of freedom of religion. What is there about "freedom" that is so hard to understand? The anti-choice movement always, ALWAYS brings God into the argument against abortion. "Babies are God's miracles" and so on. But freedom of religion means you don't get to force me to practice your religion, and I don't get to force you to practice mine. But that's exactly what's happening.

So that's what it's like to be a woman right now. You fear for your life, and you fear for your rights. But we’re not going to take it.

Come this November, let's vote these bastards out.