Decency is a myth
(Issue #23) In the United States, taking away bodily autonomy is less offensive than protest
Last week, the United States dove back into the cultural war on reproductive rights head first with the leak of a possible Supreme Court decision to repeal all rights guaranteed by the Roe v. Wade decision of 1973. While the main focus should be on the possible prosecution, death, poverty and violence that will come with this decision, the media cycle has shifted to the right to hate, rather than the right to protest and stand up for your fellow American.
Roe v. Wade provides anyone with a uterus the chance to terminate a pregnancy if need be. This is not “killing a baby,” it is neutralizing a bundle of cells that may or may not have become a human at some point. There is no mandate requiring or encouraging people to terminate their pregnancy as soon as possible, and there are even laws preventing abortions after a certain stage of pregnancy. Abortions, while objectively physically traumatic by nature, are not murder, and have been proven to save lives when performed on people experiencing birth complications. But that’s beside the point: neither I, nor the Supreme Court, should be involved in individual decisions on pregnancy, period. It should not matter what someone’s reason is for an abortion.
This is not just about women either. This law goes for any person of any gender with the ability to give birth. Repealing the protections provided by Roe v. Wade is a direct attack on queer people and women by our government. It is hidden behind the want to save lives that don’t exist yet, a perverted savior complex promoted by Christian institutions and conservative values. Christian values and conservative tendencies are the same drive behind attempts to halt gay marriage, stop interracial marriage and the promotion of the “Don’t Say Gay” bill. These values say one thing and one thing only: if you are not straight, White or a cisgender male, we do not care about your comfort or your choices.
If you are reading this and think I’m being dramatic, see this clip of a Republican Senator Mike Braun discussing his validation of states possibly “choosing” the right to allow interracial marriage.
The repealing of Roe v. Wade is a slippery slope, just like recent legislation in Texas banning trans kids from even existing (a state that already has harsh anti- abortion laws, in case anyone forgot). The government comes for the marginalized individuals before widening the scope to their cohorts. As someone in an interracial marriage with a friend group full of transgender, gay and indigenous people, it’s impossible for me to pretend I don’t see the future getting bleaker for anyone below a certain tax bracket with specific lifestyles. Children are being taken away from their parents for being transgender, and now women and queer people will die at record rates due to birth complications and attempted abortions if Roe v. Wade is dashed away. All for the “protection” of children, who will be killed, forced into foster care and kill themselves if all of these actions are passed and remain in place.
Our government is not ours, at least not when we operate under their supervision and follow their rules. While most Americans were shocked that the leak happened, it was mindboggling to see the handwringing of the leak from so-called journalists, public figures, and our president who pretended to care about protecting Roe v. Wade enough to take immediate action, which he is not doing. They are more concerned that their insignificant, implied neutral code of honor among government employees was broken than they are about the possibility women will be dying from back alley abortions. They are more concerned about finding the leaker than they are about infringing on the religious rights of Jewish people with the possible repealing of Roe v. Wade. Meanwhile people across the country are researching how to give themselves unsafe abortions and stocking up on Plan B, making it loud and clear that the law of the land will not stop them from controlling their own bodies.
Decency is the weapon, along with misinformation. One Supreme Court Justice, Clarence Thomas, keeps parroting a long busted myth about how Planned Parenthood destroyed the Black community, as he has been for three years. He is, falsely, weaponizing the Black family dynamic as a saving grace for destroying Roe v. Wade as if botched abortions and forced births will make the Black family any stronger. Clarence Thomas is using his status as a Black man to “save” us, when really he’s playing the same game the alleged rapist on the Court, Brett Kavanaugh, is also playing. The myth he’s pushing makes him feel better about ripping away rights for over half of the country’s population, just like the myth that it’s easy to put a baby up for adoption, or the myth that the foster system is objectively better than an abortion. It’s plain, heartless neutrality disguised as a noble deed.
Now, these Supreme Court Justices are seeing daily protests outside of their houses, as they should be. The protestors are noble, choosing the first option you should in this situation when violence will get you killed: annoy the hell out of the people trying to put you and your fellow man in the dirt through legislation. No matter how man expletives are shouted, how many pieces of property are destroyed, or how many hours of sleep Kavanaugh and crew lose, it will never be as violent or inhuman as their want to strike down Roe v. Wade. This is the only way that is not through further violence, and these Supreme Court Justices should be counting the days until Americans get as bold and fearless as French protestors do, which they will soon.
And yet, with protestors responding with the same fervor and vitriol implied by a nixing of Roe v. Wade, the news media, talking heads, politicians and, again, our own president are still on the side of decency. They would rather us sit at home and argue with each other on the internet or wait to vote periodically. The Supreme Court does not see us as people. They see us as numbers they can control. When the numbers can walk, talk, cry, scream, burn property and organize, all things a weeks old fetus can’t do, they cannot stand it. That means it’s time to turn up the heat and keep the fire warm and under their asses.
When they attempt to deny rights, making their children feel the fear of a protest is a consequence. Feeling fear and a sense of being wrong is a consequence. Feeling unsafe is their consequence for attacking the marginalized and they need to deal with it and respond, not hide in their homes and pretend they are doing the right thing. I hope the children they, and media pundits, use as shields hear every single awful word the protestors have to say about their parents. As for media pundits and common Americans feeling pity for the judges, they are spineless and care more about optics than raising awareness for the fact that many people will die if Roe v. Wade is gone. We have the history to prove it.
Decency is a myth. It was created by the upper class to keep the working class docile, non-violent and compliant. We saw this in 2020, when protestors took to the streets for George Floyd and were painted as violent and angry for no reason, despite his death. The Supreme Court wants to take away the rights of Americans, all while pretending they are elite, cream of the crop intellectuals who have our best interests in mind. They are not. They are Christian, holier-than-thou, upper-class rich people with God complexes. Decency is the cloak they wear, their gavels and their title, not their actions. What is decent about prosecuting people who want to have abortions, a personal choice? What is decent about forcing women to have unsafe, lethal abortions and increasing the mortality rate? What is decent about hiding in your home after your plan to reset the country by decades was leaked? There is none, so the justices deserve none.
A slap in the face, a burned piece of property, a cursed name and a living hell will never be as violent as what they are doing with their power.
While the Democrats debate whether or not they should actually do something to stop the potential mass death of minorities, queer people and women, it is up to the people in the street to do their duty. It’s time for people to be louder, vulgar and defiant. Respecting opinions is okay when we’re discussing movies or books, not whether or not a person should terminate a pregnancy they do not want or that could kill them. It is not time to fall for decency. It is not the time to be worried about offending someone who does not like abortion and wants to force the rest of the country to agree with them. It’s time to have a hard stance on reproductive rights. It’s time to react with massive organization and rage when our rights are played with.
Keep organizing. Keep being loud and aggressive. Do not let decency stop you from defending yourself. If you feel like you can’t do anything, it’s because you’re not trying and decency has already worked its way into your brain.