This Body Belongs To Me

Senator Brownback (R, Kan) and candidate for the Republican presidential nomination, made a point at the National Catholic Men’s Conference, that even in the case of rape, women should be denied the right to an abortion. (Guess he didn't have the guts to say this to a roomful of women.)

I don’t get it. Why should a woman be forced to be what is essentially nothing more than a vessel? Why should her life, her body, be of less value and consideration than a fetus’s? If Brownback and others have their way, the hapless rape victim will first lose control of her body through the act of rape, and then will once again lose control as she is forced to bring the fetus to term.

Why is the right of a woman to control her body so difficult for some to understand?

At least California’s 9th Circuit Court of Appeals understands. The court recently overturned a decision by an immigration judge to deny asylum to a couple from China based on forced abortion. The immigration judge simply could not comprehend how a government edict ordering an abortion is “forced.” But the Circuit Court found that just as forced sterilization is grounds for asylum in the US, so is forced abortion.

The court's decision has nothing to do with fetuses, religion, right-to-life, etc., but everything to do with a woman’s right to control her body. Three cheers for California’s 9th Circuit Court of Appeals.

Look, the issue is really rather simple: The right to control one's body is basic. Without this control, one is nothing more than chattel.

Midnight Rape

Tired last night from a lovely day in Golden Gate Park, I fell asleep early, snuggled in the linen sheets and light, cotton blanket on my bed, my window slightly ajar. I’ve grown so accustomed to the street noise that drifts up my way – the cars passing on the busy street half a block up, the low rumble of cars pulling up to the curb, doors shutting, the small amount of foot traffic on my street - apartment dwellers returning from the bar and restaurant scene within walking distance of my roost and teenagers, strolling in the middle of the street, giggling and sometimes whispering in loud, tipsy voices as they head home, no doubt well past their curfew.

But last night I was awakened from a dead sleep by a young woman’s voice, calling out from the street “RAPE! HELP! RAPE!” I grabbed my cell phone from the nightstand, sprang out of bed to the window and peered down into the street. I saw and heard nothing. I hollered out, “HELLO? WHO”S DOWN THERE? “ There was no answer. For a moment, a moment only, I thought – maybe a prank. But I couldn’t take the risk – I dialed 911 and within moments, a patrol car was cruising up the street, then slowed near my apartment building, spotlight on, trolling the shadows.

I went down to the street to talk with the officers. Told them my tale. They walked the street, heavy flashlights in hand, beaming a strong light into bushes, cars, doorsteps, stairwells. They knocked on doors, searched the construction site across the way, gained admittance to the apartment building across the street and I could see through the building’s windows the light of their flashlights going this way and that as they walked the hallways and listened for sounds of distress.

But they found nothing. Whoever had sent out that initial cry had disappeared, or was silenced in some way – either through her own volition, or coercion, or force.

The cops left; I returned to bed, yet I refused to shut and lock my window. I refuse to live in fear on my own street. But I slept badly the rest of the night, tossing and turning and wondering about the young woman whose voice I heard so clearly: “RAPE! HELP! RAPE!”

Men in Dark Robes

I lost yesterday. My daughter lost yesterday.

Men in dark robes told us that our autonomy, our dignity, our well-being is irrelevant. Our primary concern is to be a vessel, no matter the cost.

Men in dark robes made a decision. They decided that the American College of Obstetrics and Gynecology doesn’t know what it’s talking about. Science and best medical practices are irrelevant.

Those men in dark robes decided that if in the third trimester of pregnancy, a woman discovers that her much wanted child has severe or fatal anomalies and bearing that child to full term puts her health at risk, possibly jeopardizes her chances of experiencing a healthy pregnancy in the future – that doesn’t matter. She cannot, in consultation with her doctor, her god, her own conscience, choose to save herself, safeguard her health.

The Supreme Court’s ruling doesn’t techinically prevent a woman from getting an abortion in her third trimester. But it does prevent her from getting the safest, possible abortion.

This decision isn’t about the fetus, isn’t about a culture of life, isn’t about protecting women. This decision is about controlling and punishing women.