• Our Stories
    • Nuestras Historias
    • People Power: Democracy Stories From the Ground Up
  • Who We Are
  • Submit
  • Get Updates

#safetyis reproductive freedom!

When my friend told me she was having an abortion
It wasn’t for me to give approval
To grant permission
To give my blessing or the opposite

Her decision
Pertaining to her body
Regarding her appointment
Was merely her choice

And What a beautiful thing that was
To have it be her choice
To owe no one an explanation or apology

My friend
Doing what she felt was best
For her own self
For her own health
Did not need political consent
How they quick to take away her right of self-government

How they call her a murderer
Like blood ain’t been on this country’s hands for centuries
Like genocide ain’t imbedded in this countries history
As if they be God, when even He, give the gift of free-will

My friend
A strong woman
Did not need congressional authorization
Did not look for legislation to give her allowance
She only consulted her conscience
Her God
And her body

My friend
Is not just a womb
She is a woman
A woman who is completely capable of caring for herself

And who am I to tell her that she isn’t?
To force my religion and call that righteous?

My friend
Did it the only way she thought just
Better the clinic than the coat hanger
Better the doctor than the lady next door

And I get it
We all won’t have the same experience
Won’t agree or share the same conviction
But my friend will never need your forgiveness
So forgive me if I don’t condone your condemnation
If my frustration won’t allow you to cast stones

But my friend will not be the subject of your threats
Will not be the recipient of your picket sign protests

She will not be shamed into the shadows
Will not be hushed, hounded or harassed
She will not be persecuted by policies that politicians put into place
My friend
Will not broken
See when my friend told me she was having an abortion
It wasn’t for me to give approval
To grant permission
To give my blessing or the opposite
Her decision
Pertaining to her body
Regarding her appointment
Was merely her choice

End of story.

 

  • Our Stories
    • Nuestras Historias
    • People Power: Democracy Stories From the Ground Up
  • Who We Are
  • Submit
  • Get Updates