_Jacobb_

I've been reeling for a few days from this, but I've seen a couple kind of concerning posts on here about the recent overrule of Roe v. Wade in the United States, so now I'm here--trying to make a wall post on a Minecraft fan-site that makes me feel like I'm helping restore some balance to our fucked up world.


I feel so bad for the young people here who have been raised into ignorance by their families and hold opinions that are so damaging to not just other women, but all people who can become pregnant, people of color, and LGBTQIA+ people. I was one of those people, but chose to seek knowledge and perspective from others with experiences different than my own. I grew and changed and came to understand the broad and overreaching implications of this Supreme Court decision.

If you are someone who is against abortion--regardless of why--please educate yourself. Some people take all the right precautions not to become pregnant and do everything right and still wind up in the position where they have to decide to terminate their pregnancy. Maybe their child has a birth defect that will result in a short and painful life. Maybe their pregnancy is ectopic and a threat to person carrying. Maybe they are too unhealthy to carry a pregnancy without complications such as increased blood pressure, excessive weight gain, depression, exacerbating poor dental health, or gestational diabetes. Maybe they miscarried and need an abortion pill or procedure in order to fully remove it because their body isn't doing it themselves.

Maybe they lack the finances to support a child and could not bear to send another soul into the broken and wanting Foster Care system, where some 80% of children face mental illness (National Conference of State Legislatures 2019). If you are reading this and consider yourself "pro-life", have you considered lives of people who are going to be trapped in generational poverty by being forced to carry an unwanted pregnancy to term or permanently injured or killed because of a treatable pregnancy complication? That is the reality of this decision. It's also not the end of the consequences for the United States.

Justice Clarence Thomas of the United States Supreme Court suggested that the Court reconsider "past rulings codifying rights to contraception access, same-sex relationships and same-sex marriage" (Forgey & Gerstein 2022). Just because he is officially alone in this opinion now does not mean the court is not coming for those rights next. We know this because the justices who supported this decision lied during their Senate confirmations about their views of Roe v. Wade and their intent to overturn it (Sullivan 2022).

Please--if you hold yourself against these rights on the basis of religion or morality--consider that the founders of this country intended freedom from religious tyranny and the freedom for people to live as they see fit. Another person making the impossible choice to terminate their pregnancy is not your choice as much as it isn't their choice to force you to get an abortion yourself.

If you are reading this and are like me, please consider supporting a reproductive rights organization in some way. Be it agitating for change online, going to marches and protests, donating time or funds to the right to an abortion, or just being an ally to the people around you. Get involved in your community and get to the God-damned polls to vote. Everyone deserves the dignity of the ability to make these intensely private and difficult medical decisions for themselves.

Forgey, Q., & Gerstein, J. (2022). Justice Thomas: Scotus 'should reconsider' contraception, same-sex marriage rulings. Retrieved June 27, 2022, from https://www.politico.com/news/2022/06/24/thomas-constitutional-rights-00042256

National Conference of State Legislatures. (2019, November 1). Mental Health and Foster Care. NCSL.org. Retrieved 2022, from https://www.ncsl.org/research/human-services/mental-health-and-foster-care.aspx

Sullivan, B. (2022, June 24). What conservative justices said - and didn't say - about Roe at their confirmations. NPR. Retrieved June 27, 2022, from https://www.npr.org/2022/05/03/1096108319/roe-v-wade-alito-conservative-justices-confirmation-hearings