大象传媒

Dear Reader, 

I鈥檓 writing to you the day the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade. I am gutted and grieving for this country. I wander my house, distracted and short with my family. My youngest attempts to console me, 鈥淏ut Mommy, don鈥檛 worry, you can鈥檛 get pregnant now so you鈥檙e OK.鈥� 

Through tears, I did my best to explain that this court decision could affect every person he knows, and every person they know, and on and on. I let him know that the very reason he is alive today is because I could choose when to have children and with whom, and without that, my life would have been completely different. I might never have moved to Seattle or met his dad. I explained that this ruling affects his own choices about if and when to have a family. It strips every girl he knows now and those he鈥檒l know in the future鈥攁nd all of their partners鈥攐f a basic right. It affects siblings, and grandparents, and of course the children born to parents who are then denied the resources, stability, and systemic support that can help families thrive.

Forcing a person to bear a pregnancy they don鈥檛 want is immoral. It cuts at the heart of a fundamental human need for self-determination. How can we attempt to be whole people without this basic right to choose? 

But you know all of this. 

To be honest, I鈥檓 not yet in a place of 鈥渨hat now?鈥� I鈥檓 grieving and angry. I feel alone, and yet I know my grief-fueled rage is shared by millions of people across the country鈥攔egardless of whether they can or want to get pregnant. I鈥檓 grieving and angry for my nieces and cousins and the young people I know, the ones I play sports with, and the girls at my kids鈥� school. And I am especially grieving and angry for all those who will be most affected by this: Black, Brown, Indigenous, immigrant, and poor people who will be left to deal with unplanned pregnancies without support, money, and options. This grieving and anger build my resolve.

So the 鈥渨hat now?鈥� will come, because it must. It may take decades, but I know this ruling won鈥檛 stand, because it can鈥檛 stand. Together, we will be called to support the existing networks that help people access the health care they need; we will be called to elect representatives, policymakers, and judges who will assert and defend our basic rights. Because our right to bodily autonomy is innate and fundamental鈥攔egardless of what a politically motivated Supreme Court majority decrees. 

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Christine Hanna is the executive director of 大象传媒 Media. She is a founder and former co-director of the Seattle Good Business Network.

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