I can not believe that after so many years of women fighting for our own rights, these people in power just want to take that away from us. What will be next? Why is it that these people think that they can just tell women what they should and could do with their body, that they did not help make at all. Was I born to be controlled by these pigs? Oh yes this is mind wrecking. This Roe v Wade over turn would be a disaster. They will have women depressed, anxious and doing things themselves and maybe even killing themselves etc. the list goes on and on.

Rebecca Gomperts is a great woman who I never knew existed until this reading. I am sure there are lots of women who are grateful for her. Its amazing to know that she makes it possible for women to get the abortion pills. When reading the article she says “If you can prevent abortion, you can keep the people poor” “And when you keep people poor you can control them” I agree with her when it comes to these statements. I have always believed that they want poor people to stay poor to be controlled. That is what makes them richer and more empowered. Especially in the countries that have these healthcare barriers with health and abortion. No one, especially a man, should be able to decide what a woman does with her own body. Our bodies don’t belong to the system!

The readings and video this week taught me a lot. Although, I knew  some of these things the ban on abortions in the 1860’s I had no clue about. It honestly made my eyes burn, because I know in all reality the people in power are thinking of how this situation can benefit them and no one else outside of the people in power. I understand this effects all women and not one particular race but I cannot stress enough the effect it will have on the AA community it feels like it is a plan to force struggle and keep the weighted scale unevenly set. Too much progression from minorities scares the government and I will likely never stop feeling this way based off of the things I see hear and have learned so they implement ways that will affect the community without flat out saying it. I am disgusted with the way of the world and wish I was just a kid- who had no clue of the things that actually take place in the “land of the free”.

Initially when reading this week’s announcement, I knew it was going to be a hard one for me. The week that everyone found out about the draft for Roe v. Wade I was extremely upset because not only are matter becoming worse for women but the government and supreme court allowing it. It is not shocking to me that they want to change something to benefit themselves like what congressperson Henry Hyde by sponsoring a bill banning the use of federal dollars for abortions. This did not benefit the thousands of women who do not make end meets and struggle due to the lack of help from the partner. What Rebecca Gomperts said about why abortions are controversial, eye opening and a chain of power over poor people that most do not acknowledge. Gomperts reasoning being “if you can prevent abortion, you can keep people poor. And when you keep people poor, you can control them. Poor people have no voice in most places.” To me this was what stood out to me the most because after congressman Henry Hyde sponsored that bill, he made it hard for most and that was what he wanted to keep the poor, poor and have the rich become richer. Overall, this week’s readings provided information I did not know about and allowed me to understand more about what is going on around me and come up with ways to help and become part of that community. 

This week’s reading reflection made me face what I have been avoiding. I have been trying not to stew in the realization that we will likely always be fighting for rights over our own body. It is surreal to walk around in a country that boasts freedom and liberty yet actively facilitates the oppression of so many groups of people. It makes me more scared for black and brown women who this can now be weaponized against. Scared for survivors of violence and it’s so very obvious with all the babies and children in the world circulating the system with no homes that this was never about the babies. It has been and will always be about the control over women’s bodies. I am angry, for how i cannot protect myself against forceful rules placed against my own body and angry that i may not be able to protect women in my life who want to make decisions about their body. I am confused how  men believe they have a right to an opinion without being qualified. The qualification being identifying as a woman. Roe vs Wade being overturned is scary. The world is becoming more and more scary. While I try to build my own world to be as fruitful as I can make it. Realities like this come up and I just hope protests will be enough to change the heart of the justices before they publish the overturning. That we aren’t going backwards and people and the systems that are created will stop trying to oppress people.

Roe vs. Wade  

I wanted to write my reflection about this important landmark decision. 

This is preposterous, overturning abortion rights is part of human rights. Women should be the ones to handle the decisions of their own bodies. These men in office have no right to decide for us when they know nothing about woman’s anatomy. They already control how women in thirty-three states from using their health insurances to pay for abortions cost. Roe vs. Wade was made to protect pregnant woman’s liberty to choose to have an abortion without excessive government restrictions. This goes to show that men in office do not care about an unborn child/fetus but more about the control of women. There are Thousands of families in the United States living in poverty and going hungry and yet they want to force women into having children they cannot afford. Every woman who has had an abortion due to circumstances out of their control. Side Bar: I recently found out that the plan b pill is only effect for woman up to 195 pounds! That is insane to me women come in all shapes and sizes why has not anyone correct this or made a pill that is effective for all sizes. This goes to show that the government has no interest in women’s needs or rights. We are expected to procreate and shut up. I hope that we will not live in a world where all our rights are taken from us.  

This week’s video and reading were depressing, to be honest, the reason why I say that is because of how the government is planning to overturn Roe v Wade. When I read this article there was a quote that struck me it stated, “Roe was egregiously wrong from the start. Its reasoning was exceptionally weak, and the decision has had damaging consequences. And far from bringing about a national settlement of the abortion issue, Roe and Casey have enflamed debate and deepened division.” What sickens me more is the state that says the decision has had damaging consequences. In reality, banning abortion is a damaging consequence, especially for woman’s health. A woman’s health may be at risk for being pregnant, and might not even afford to have kids either. The choice isn’t for every woman, not every woman wants to keep the baby. It made me sick to hear about banning abortions considering there have been planning on doing that for decades.

When watching this week’s videos, I had no clue abortion costs a lot around $450 or more, and not many women have enough money at all. Lisa helps the woman to get an abortion. Since the medical system is so expensive in America, having an abortion is expensive along with insulin and asthma spray. It’s even upsetting that the husbands don’t want anything to deal with the wife and the children. It’s hard to get support from others and hearing a woman crying on the phone is upsetting to me knowing that this is how women have survived in America.

It’s unbelivable thatc after many years of fighting for our rights, politicians want to take them away from us to have control over our lives, bodies, and prevent women’s development. I was really impressed by the situation in which most of the women who are being the most negatively affected are. Some of them have other children to worry about, have a terrible financial situation, are rejected by the person who got them pregnant, and probably their mental health it’s suffering as well since being in such a terrible situation can cause anxiety, depression symptoms, and they could feel very alone, helpless and hopeless. Their bad mental health state could manifest on physical symptoms, and pregnancy by itself causes a lot of alterations the woman or person’s body. Having an abortion it’s difficult enough for people who live under the line of poverty now that it’s legal, if the constitutional right of abortion it’s banned, getting a safe abortion would become something almost impossible in the 26 states that are most likely to ban abortion if things turn wrong. It’s horrible that these politicians that are so obsessed with ban abortion fail to empathize with women. They let their ego and misogynistic ideals guide their actions and decisions, instead of making an effort to see things from a more factual or rational point of view. Politicians are supposed to support citizens and prioritize their well-being, but it’s evident that they are trying bring women down, especially the impoverished ones. Thankfully, there are a group of politicians who use common sense and may be able to influence the situation. I can’t imagine things having a bad outcome, I hope that we are still able to have our rights.

This week’s readings and video gave a comprehensive look at abortion and the pro-choice movement. In addition to my class engagement with the issue I have been reading and listening to podcasts, like The Daily, covering the news and historical context of abortion rights in this country. Something I am continuously struck by is how the pro-life movement solely seems to focus on the fetus, with a disregard of the financial, social, physical, and emotional impacts denying access to abortion would have on women and families. It’s a disregard I feel is absent from the pro-choice side. There is obviously a fundamental disagreement on when life begins, or viability of the fetus, or the many ways that argument is framed, but there is still consideration of the issue from the pro-choice side. I always feel it is heavily acknowledged how difficult this choice is, that the choice is not right for everyone, but that having the ability to choose is necessary. I feel Justice Alito’s argument similarly follows this pattern of disregard of a woman’s rights and autonomy, and the impacts this decision will have. I find this especially concerning in the judicial branch that is meant to heavily consider these issues. And though Alito specifically sights that this logic and interpretation of the 14th amendment should only be applied to Roe, I don’t see how this will not set a precedent that could dismantle so many other rights based on privacy. Many of those rights concerning the disenfranchised groups of Americans who are most frequently and easily disregarded.