The Systemic Gag
Owning a business around women's wellness on a day when women's health is at risk is hard. I wonder what's the point. Why continue focusing on women's wellness when the country and our "leaders" don't care. We haven't stopped abortions. We have stopped safe abortions. And this isn't even about women's health/children. This is solely about controlling and ensuring the white man can get it back. Hypocrites.
We have been second-class citizens all along, and the fact that we are continuously reminded of it is beyond infuriating. The idea that we had to work for our right to vote, and now for the rights over our own bodies is disgusting. I really do wonder what is next...gay marriage? Transgender rights? Black votes? Women's votes? Freaking 3 steps forward and 20 steps back. Do we have to start burning our bras again? Walking out on our households? Continuing to march the streets? What happens now?
Why do we, as women, have to KEEP FIGHTING for women's wellness when it falls on deaf ears. No one cares about pregnant women, postpartum women, women's depression, rape/assault, or the choice to just not be pregnant. No one cares.
No one cares about the babies.
Babies die.
We can't even get Formula for the babies. We can't get lactation consultants. Babies die. We were told to GIVE OUR MILK away instead of getting government relief for formula. We, THE WOMEN, had to be the ones to step up and fix a fixable situation. All the responsibility falls on us.
So why do we have to fight for the babies that people try so hard to forget? All they want is the babies to be born. Then they immediately stop caring. Once the baby is born, that the woman can or can’t afford, she gets blamed for being a bad mother. The baby gets lost in a system that is drenched with neglect, abuse, and assault. Then they turn into adults and are slandered and yelled at for not doing more for themselves. Neglected by a government that tells them they aren't worth support, education, or help. They are left alone and ignored by the government that demanded they be born.
So why the does women's wellness matter?
Why should we care when we are constantly told that we aren't important? We are a vessel to grow life that our country ends up condemning. We are the container that the men in our government pour their pride in. They force us to be responsible for their pride, but they hold no responsibility of their own.
All the judgment and responsibility of this country falls on women. But we aren't allowed to put our own health into our hands. We aren't allowed to have a say. We are forced to bear the weight of a country on its knees and yet we are not allowed to stand up.
I am standing up. I stand up for women. I will always stand up for women's health. I stand up. I get off my knees. I stand up for women in Mississippi, Tennessee, Kentucky, Louisiana, Arkansas, Oklahoma, Texas, Missouri, North Dakota, South Dakota, Wyoming, Utah, and Idaho. I will continue to stand up for women in Alabama, Arizona, Georgia, Iowa, Michigan, Missouri, Ohio, South Carolina, and Wisconsin. You are not alone. Women all over the country stand up for you.
In a country that doesn't support you, we do.
I stand for all women; regardless of your decision to have an abortion, safe sex, no sex. I support women's mental health AND physical health. Our Supreme Court, the Supreme Court in "The Land of The Free", has proven they do not.
I hurt. I ache. I'm so angry I can't even cry. I am devastated. I am scared.
When they remove our voice, they force us to become better and they force us to fight. They force us to push back on the gag. They have forced us to our knees. And now they force us to stand up.
We have done it before. And we will do it again. And again. And again. We will be equal. We will get to say who has the right to touch us. We will get to say who and what has the right to be done to us.
But today....today, I am lost.
