I wanted to sit with my thoughts before I spoke on the Supreme Courts decision to overturn Roe. I understand that, that is a privilege many cannot afford. No woman should be forced to carry a child due to trauma inflicted upon her. It’s a very dangerous & triggering tactic to consistently bring up sexual assault as a means to persuade anyone that a woman deserves autonomy over her body. This isn’t just about abortion. This is about privacy, this about the ability to make decisions regarding your own life and health. This is about the disadvantaged having another basic human right stripped away from them yet again. I cannot fathom the collective trauma that is set to occur based on this one decision. My heart is broken and yet I cannot sit in my despair because I am enraged. To have a group of predominantly men make a decision that overpowers the general consensus of Americans in favor of retaining Roe seems barbaric. To once again be reminded that a woman’s voice is to be ignored and talked over is a sentiment we are all too familiar with. If you don’t agree with abortion due to your own beliefs then simply don’t have one. And pray you’re never in a situation where not having the option threatens your life. Your views aren’t universal and they cannot be inflicted upon women as a whole. If you are a man who has profited from the ability to make a decision then your voice should be just as loud as ours is. If you are a man and you are silent then you are complicit. This decision is yet another way of maintaining poverty and creating a false narrative about how women are viewed. Take your pro-life opinion and put it into the causes that support that. Where do those values align when you talk about education resources, foster care, gun reform, and universal healthcare? Especially in communities other than your own. If abortion is selfish to you then how many children are you providing a loving, rehabilitative, and supportive home for? Or is that line simply drawn for the children you made a choice to have? I will fight for reproductive freedom. I will lend my voice and aid in the communities affected. This fight has just begun and it’s far from over.