Roe v. Wade was overturned a year ago today, and it’s the epitome of a uniquely American tragedy, the unceremonious stripping away of individual rights that American women and girls benefited from for almost 50 years.
These are some of the many women who had abortions before Roe was decided in 1973. This the world we’ve reverted back to in much of the country, especially in the South.
As my mother said, women and girls deserve freedom even if we’ve not been grievously violated, or in the case of “life of mother” exceptions, on the brink of death. We shouldn’t have to earn our bodily autonomy through abject and ultimately meaningless suffering.
Despite all the tragedy incurred through the overturning of Roe, I hold true with the words of Ursula K. Le Guin. The powers that be may want to hurtle us back to the Dark Ages, but we can dig our heels in and refuse to go. And that’s what we have to do.
