Trust Women

This blog is going to be a little different. Dare I say, a little bit more important than what I usually write here.

But today is a little different. Today is important.

January 22, 2010 marks the 37^th anniversary of Roe v Wade, the court case that effectively secured women’s access to safe, legal abortion services.

This year, the anniversary feels a little different for me than it has in the past few years. Typically, the day was celebrated by my fellow pro-choice activists and I as an important marker of women’s fight for bodily autonomy. And while it was a reminder that the fight is not over, as a woman’s right to choose is still under constant attack from anti-woman political ideologies, it was a joyous occasion.

But not this year.

Because it was only a few months ago that Dr. Tiller was murdered. All that Dr. Tiller did was perform a medical service for women who desperately needed it. He broke no laws. He had no motive other than to help women who needed his help. And for that, he was murdered.

As many of you know, I have worked for or with Planned Parenthood in one capacity or another since my sophomore year of high school. Though Dr. Tiller was not technically a part of the Planned Parenthood family, he was known and loved by many people at PPSLR and PPKM. While the media coverage of his death has long since ceased, the feeling it evoked in all of the reproductive justice community has not.

And I think that’s why this year feels different. This year, the anniversary of Roe v Wade serves as a reminder that while that court case secured rights for women, it did not secure abortion services providers from violence. Every time I walk into a clinic, whether I’m there to work, volunteer, phone bank, or provide support for a friend, it crosses my mind that I may not be safe. I don’t think that walking into a medical office should evoke that feeling and I think it’s despicable that it does.

The point of this post is a reminder that without abortion services providers, abortion rights mean little. It’s a reminder that regardless of your feelings about the “morality” or abortion, Roe v Wade has saved thousands of women in the US from early deaths or infertility-the complications of illegal abortions. It’s a reminder to thank the women and men who continue the fight to insure women have access to necessary medical procedures. They deserve it.

I feel the most appropriate way to end this is with the mantra of Dr. Tiller.

TRUST WOMEN

Thanks and love to all.