V-O-T-E and Save Lives
I've never been one for politics.
In fact, I'd much rather steer clear of conversations that too often end in close-minded arguments and intense emotional overload. The energy exhausts me and feels painful that either someone feels hurt that their beliefs are challenged...
or someone walls themselves in and closes themselves off...
or there's simply such an incredible lack of empathy that the conversation runs in circles instead of seeking to understand one another.
The words I write might offend some people, it's true. But I would not stand for women's healing and empowerment without writing to address this issue... one that hits home for me. This is more than just about politics, this is a humanitarian issue. I initially shared this poem when Roe vs Wade was overturned. This Supreme Court decision rebuked around the world will, according to Dr Jeanne Conry of the International Federation of Gynecology and Obstetrics, "multiply the number of unsafe abortions in the US, resulting in a rise in wholly preventable deaths, disabilities, and harms to women, their families, and communities across the country. And the impact of this decision will be felt on a global scale.”
You, sir, were not there When your daughter, your sister, The woman who shares your pew on Sundays Had to make the choice you so righteously deem illegal The choice she cried & prayed about As she internalized the shame cast upon her.
You, sir, were not there As your fifteen year old neighbor Cast out the seed of her rapist Enabling her to finish high school Though his face would flash before her In her nightmares for decades to come.
You, sir, were not there When the excited mother discovered Not only the sex of her baby as expected But that her long awaited little one Was not growing the organs necessary To sustain life outside the womb.
You, sir, were not there When I made the heart-wrenching choice Having finally escaped the abusive relationship From which I'd suffered That I'd choose to end the life within Instead of taking my own.
As you place more value in a fetus, not viable outside the womb, than that of the woman carrying it... I ask you to call to mind the beautiful, strong, powerful women in your life. One in four of them has made this choice. Not without tears, reflection, and contemplation. Not without shame, secrecy, and pain. And as they carried this burden, the God you claim is leading your decisions was beside them. Holding their hand, reassuring their heart, healing their soul.
YOU, SIR, WERE NOT.
It's easy to agree that in an ideal world, abortions would not be necessary. In an ideal world (one that I love to envision in my mind's eye when daydreaming about what a healed world would feel like) all babies would be born and loved and cared for. All mothers would be supported and showered with love, care, and nurturing empowerment as they bring their babes into this world. All fathers would be gentle and kind and caring. All would have enough food to eat, resources to keep them safe and well, and a village of community to take turns leaning upon.
I hold hope for this to be the case one day, in this lifetime or beyond.
But the truth is, sadly it's not our reality. Women... girls... are abused and raped. Children are starving. Mothers are not able to access patient-centered medical care. And those who will never be personally making this decision (and are often entirely uneducated as to a woman's reproductive system) are those deciding the fate of thousands, many of whom could and will die.
Save the babies. Of course we should. Who doesn't want babies saved? In order to actually do so, we need to free and empower the mothers from a patriarchal system based upon greed, religious manipulation, self-righteousness, and false power. We need to restore balance between the unique strengths of the masculine AND the feminine and allow the representation in decision-making to reflect this new balance. We need to honor the rights and bodily autonomy of those able to foster this miraculous ability of growing new life as more than breeding stock.
We must
VOTE.
(and carry on, regardless the outcome.)
Love & Healing,
Ashley Kay
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