“This Texas abortion law was crafted precisely to prevent federal courts from blocking it,” @chrislhayes says. “So, I want to take a moment and explain just how egregious this is.”https://t.co/HJ2bbMtWGa

— MSNBC (@MSNBC) September 5, 2021

I’m 71 years old. I have marched many times in my life for women’s rights.

I have waited since 1972 for the Equal Rights Amendment to be written into the constitution, but it still has not happened.

In 1973, when the United States Supreme Court ruled on Roe v. Wade and made abortion a constitutional right for women, I thought women’s reproductive rights would always be protected.

It now appears I was wrong. The newly passed Texas law, banning abortion and turning citizens into paid vigilantes, is a horrifying way to control women and make Roe v. Wade impotent in any state that wants to pass a similar law.

I struggled to put into words my utter despair at this latest attack on a woman’s right to control her own body. Then I came across this poignant piece of writing—posted on social media—no author noted. For me, it perfectly expresses why I am both pro-choice and pro-life. These parenthetical stories could be told in any city, in any state in this country.

All of these women need their rights protected.

“I’m pro-Barbara who found out at her 20-week anatomy scan that the infant she had been so excited to bring into this world had developed without life-sustaining organs.

I’m pro-Susan who was sexually assaulted on her way home from work, only to come to the horrific realization that her assailant planted his seed in her when she got a positive pregnancy test result a month later.

I’m pro-Theresa who hemorrhaged due to a placental abruption, causing her parents, spouse, and children to have to make the impossible decision on whether to save her or her unborn child.

I’m pro-little Cathy who had her innocence ripped away from her by someone she should have been able to trust and her 11-year-old body isn’t mature enough to bear the consequence of that betrayal.

I’m pro-Melissa who’s working two jobs just to make ends meet and has to choose between bringing another child into poverty or feeding the children she already has because her spouse walked out on her. (Maybe one of those is a minimum wage job at Hobby Lobby, and she can’t afford birth control because her employer went to the Supreme Court to make sure her insurance plan doesn’t cover it.)

I’m pro-Brittany who realizes that she is in no way financially, emotionally, or physically able to raise a child.

I’m pro-Emily who went through IVF, ending up with SIX viable implanted eggs requiring selective reduction in order to ensure the safety of her and a SAFE amount of fetuses.

I’m pro-Jessica who is FINALLY getting the strength to get away from her physically abusive spouse only to find out that she is carrying the monster’s child.

I’m pro-Vanessa who went into her confirmation appointment after YEARS of trying to conceive only to hear silence where there should be a heartbeat.

I’m pro-Lindsay who lost her virginity in her sophomore year with a broken condom and now has to choose whether to be a teenage mom or just a teenager.

I’m pro-Courtney who just found out she’s already 13 weeks along, but the egg never made it out of her fallopian tube so either she terminates the pregnancy or risks dying from internal bleeding.

You can argue and say that I’m pro-choice all you want, but the truth is:

I’m pro-life. Their lives. Women’s lives.

You don’t get to pick and choose which scenarios should be accepted.

It’s not about which stories you don’t agree with. It’s about fighting for the women in the stories that you do agree with and the choice that was made.

Women’s rights are meant to protect all women, regardless of their situation—or how big their bank account is. Because, let’s face it, rich people’s daughters (yes, even the ones who voted for this bill) will always be able to find safe abortions.

They did before Roe v. Wade. Most poor women will still get abortions too, whether from centuries-old, unsafe home methods or from opportunistic untrained, unsafe people.

Roe v. Wade didn’t create abortion. It ended poor, desperate women dying from them.”

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