Roe Vs Wade Overturned By: Kiana Earley-Palafox
How does it affect women of color? I want to start this by saying that the overturn of Roe V. Wade was not something I personally welcomed with an open heart and open arms. I, like many women, sat there and wondered: “What is going on here?” I wanted to know why, after several decades, here we are again speaking on female bodily autonomy. Once the initial shock settled, I began to think about the women who at that time, were probably holding pregnancy sticks in their hands. Fearful. Feeling alone. There seemed to be more laws legislating the female body than studies to fully understand the female body. I also thought about the women who don’t have the means to travel to states that would protect them. There just seems to be something fundamentally wrong about it all. I thought about the rise of femicide. I thought about the rise in crimes against women. Seeing large crowds of women take to the streets. Demonstrating their right to protest. Disagreeing with The Supreme Court and showing just that. I didn’t speak on it as I watched and listened to those around me. One of the main things I sat to ponder was if the laws that now had women nervous, would lead to the mass incarceration of black women. It is no secret that black men make up more than half of the prison population. Even though African Americans make up 12% of the population, they make up
33% of the prison population. The factors very from court appointed lawyer to longer sentencing based on race. My worry is that when Black women are unable to carry in states where even a miscarriage is seen as a great offence, that black women will be locked up for good. Brown women as well. Locked up for something their bodies cannot control. No woman regardless of color should be subjected to review after experiencing child loss. However, I fear when it comes to women of color, courts won’t be as lenient. Instead of dehumanizing black women, the carriers of the Eve Gene itself, we should focus on politicians that want to help minority women. Politicians who invest in medical reform. One that teaches of generational trauma and how that is carried within black women and passed to their children in utero, one of the reasons for a high infant mortality rate. A medical reform that puts the woman and her needs first instead of steading out a census. Protect black women and the families that depend on them. Protect black children from the womb to the classroom.
Monument Valley Long Shadows near sunset by: J.D.Bosold
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