Revisiting Roe

In light on the US Supreme Court's judgment on Roe v Wade, let me begin by (re)inviting you to (re)visit my thoughts on the issue here.

Now that you’ve re-acquainted yourself with my position on this pressing issue, I wanted to touch briefly on the disgusting decision that was published on Friday, June 24, 2022. Let me begin by saying WTF. But I don’t think that ‘WTF’ can accurately capture the blood-boiling rage, anger, and frustration that weighs on my conscience today. It weighed on my conscience yesterday and it most certainly will do the same tomorrow.

On Friday, the US Supreme Court made the powerful point to women, all women, that our bodies are subordinate. We have long lost the ability to choose who can touch our bodies—the unreported sexual assault statistics illustrate this harsh reality—but now women and reproductive bodies have also lost the capacity to govern our own lives. It is not a question of whether we will become mothers but now a question of when. At its core, the US Supreme Court sees women for only their reproductive capacities; indeed, it appears as though reproductive bodies are exclusively seen as baby-making machines.

But why is abortion so threatening?

Is it the destruction of life? Is it the religious significance of procreation and sexual activity? Or, perhaps, is it the fact that abortion seeks to offer women mere fragments of control over their own lives and bodies?

The answer is control. It's all about control. It's always been about control. And when it's no longer enough to control your own body, the gaze turns outward and onto someone else.