I no longer think this place has good bones and other thoughts from the morning Roe v. Wade was overturned
A lot of times over the last six years I have thought the destruction was reversible. That to combat the damage done, we knock on doors, we change the legislature, and we fix the legislation. That we would not go down without a fight, and for much of the last six years, the thought of going down at all was unthinkable despite all indications we were moving in that direction. All problems felt temporary, and we would find the solution.
However, we have known for the last few weeks that a solution was not going to come. We held on to every last ounce of hope that maybe just maybe on the issue of abortion, the Supreme Court would kick the can down the road a little longer. That we prolong the inevitable for a couple more weeks or couple more months and we held our breath thinking maybe we’ll find an unexpected hero in these ranks. Of course, that was wishful thinking. Of course. I’m racking my brain now for a positive thought. Of course, we are one republican legislature away from abortion being illegal in all 50 states and women being forced to carry a pregnancy to term despite any trauma or danger they may face. Of course.
Clarence Thomas wrote in his comments on this morning’s opinion that they are coming for contraception and same sex marriage next. That they will not stop until on all fronts they set our rights back two hundred years. They don’t have any reason to think anyone has the power to stop it. Nothing that we once thought of as settled law is safe. Nothing is safe. Not same sex marriage, not trans rights, not healthcare, not the halls of our schools.
Jon Lovett said the other week after the shooting in Uvalde Texas that killed 21 children and teachers that children get shot every day- as when there is a gun in every household, gun deaths skyrocket, and we should be furious when every 20 children are killed by guns in this country not just when it happens all at once. He said that nothing will change until every one of those deaths receive the reaction of horror they warrant. It comes down to this: we should be livid when preventable deaths happen every time- when a person dies from gun violence, when a woman dies in childbirth, when a trans kid commits suicide because they cannot get the basic respect and care that they need to carry on. We should be sad, and we should be outraged because these are sad and outrageous things.
The poet Maggie Smith says her stomach drops when she sees her name trending on social media. When her poem “Good Bones,” about hiding the horror of the world from her children is making its rounds, she knows that something awful must’ve happened. The poem ends like this:
“… Any decent realtor,
walking you through a real shithole, chirps on
about good bones: This place could be beautiful,
right? You could make this place beautiful”
The last couple tragedies that we’ve witnessed in this country, I have looked at this poem trying to determine if I felt it was true that this place had good bones- that we could still make this place beautiful. In the last few weeks, it did not feel possible to share. Perhaps this country’s potential for beauty is there, but if it is, I have not seen it in a really long time.
I want to believe the fight is not over. That just because I can’t think of a solution doesn’t mean that nobody can. That maybe this place does have good bones after all. For now, I’ll get some rest, cry when I need to, donate to Planned Parenthood, call my representatives. We’ll get through it if we can. Be outraged, be sad, and be kind to others and yourself. At least we know our cause has good bones.
Additional thoughts from 06/26/22:
When I wrote this two days ago, I was thinking about some of the hardest cases- the pregnancies that are of most risk to the mother or the unclean and dangerous procedures that will risk the health of the woman now that precedent has been overturned. But there is something else I want to say here. I believe in a woman’s right to choose when and if she wants to be a mother. I believe in the ability to evaluate your options and decide what is best for you, your family, your circumstances no matter what your financial capability is you should have this right. It is true that for many women, to choose to have an abortion is the hardest choice that they ever have to make. For others it is easy. I believe in both scenarios. The Supreme Court just took those choices away. Occasionally, in the last two days my mind has wandered elsewhere and when these thoughts come back, the gravity of it all comes crashing down on me again. This place does not have good bones and they are dismantling what’s left one by one.