What The Hell

Thoughts on the Roe vs. Casey news

This is my first newsletter I’m “officially” sending out and it was originally going to be a fun post about 3 books that I read recently and enjoyed. But last night, a draft was leaked from the Supreme Court that showed that Roe vs. Casey is most likely going to be overturned. Now these books with their odd, dystopian premises seem kind of unfitting to flood your inbox about so instead I’m going to share my thoughts on this news. This is going to be long so just scroll through the pictures if you want to!

For those of you who don’t know, what this means is that abortion rights will be unprotected in the US, leaving it up to states to decide laws regarding abortion. Here is a snippet of what was in the leaked draft:

Focus on the Constitution? The Constitution written by a bunch of white men who only had the interests of other white men in mind? When the Constitution was written, women couldn’t vote, slavery was still legal and the Founding Fathers were literally inebriated all the time. How can we expect these men to have our best faith in mind?

VS.

This is a devastating blow for those with reproductive rights (because yes, not just women can become pregnant), and it’s effects will be especially horrible for those from marginalized communities and those who cannot afford out of state care.

If they insist that a fetus is a living being, shouldn’t pregnancy, childbirth and childcare be supported? Shouldn’t people who are pregnant receive mandatory and affordable care? Shouldn’t childbirth be taken care of? Yet the US stands with the worst maternal morbidity rate among similarly wealthy countries. Studies have shown that Black women have been more likely to die from childbirth than white women for the past 100 years. This is such a common fear that many pregnant Black people opt for at home births with midwives instead of hospital births. Black babies are also twice as likely to die at the hospital compared to white babies.

As I was looking up the statistics for this, I also came across an awful study that showed Black babies were three times more likely to die than white babies when cared for by a white doctor in America. If the doctor in charge was Black however, the baby’s mortality rate shrunk by 39-58%. If the baby was white, the mortality rate was pretty much unaffected with any race of the doctor. What the actual fuck.

And let’s not even get into maternal and paternal leaves in America. Forcing a person through childbirth and then immediately expecting them to return to the workforce is cruel and inhuman.

To take away the right to choose is a way to keep up the cycle of poverty and keep those marginalized in their place. Children are expensive, even more so when you’re unprepared for them and the government refuses to provide any aid.

Just because abortion will soon be banned in states doesn’t mean that it’ll stop happening. Just because it was illegal before Roe vs. Wade doesn’t mean it didn’t happen. Those who can afford it will continue to receive care. The secret mistresses of politicians and wives of millionaire tech startups will get to abort if they choose. Making abortion illegal and difficult to access is a way of keeping those who are down, in their place. No time to think when you’re struggling to pay and care for children you didn’t want to have in the first place.

People are going to hurt themselves trying to induce an abortion. People are going to die having abortions. Doctors are going to risk their jobs and livelihood to secretly provide abortions. People are going to take advantage of those pregnant who are looking to terminate.

I’m mad. I’m mad because of the blatant control over people’s reproductive rights are being determined by groups of men who could not live through a single day in the body and life of those they are aiming to control. I’m mad because people are going to die and people are going to be traumatized and punished for trying to remain alive. I’m mad because of those children who are born, are born into a world that wasn’t ready for them. I’m mad because once these babies are birthed, they cease to be an issue. Instead of funneling money into education, public safety, gun reform or universal healthcare, America continues to pour billions into its military and cover for the rich. I’m mad because these children will grow up in a country where they have to learn active shooter drills. They’ll grow up in a country where books are banned in schools and any talk of race or gender are erased.

I’m mad and I’m sorry that my first newsletter is a big ramble of me being mad but like I said, this newsletter is for me to process my own thoughts so if this isn’t up your alley you can unsubscribe! Or alternatively, you can: