Our Minds, Our Bodies, Our Souls
Olivia Ludwick (she/her)
In a recent Supreme Court decision, Roe versus Wade was overturned. This means people with uteri across America no longer have the right to safe abortions. Not only is this ruling extremely devastating, it only has created a gateway for other laws to be in question, further regressing our society. Some of those laws protect rights to interracial marriage and same-sex marriage. For many years, the pro-choice movement has been relentlessly working to keep and restore these rights. However, there is something the campaign is missing: inclusivity.
I am a cisgender woman, and I identify that way. The decision to overturn Roe versus Wade directly affects me because I have a uterus. I couldn’t help but notice pro-choice posts that only would use feminine language and pronouns. I could relate to them because I use she/her pronouns and am very feminine. Still, not everyone with a uterus is a cisgender woman. I know many people who do not identify as cisgender women, but the ruling still impacts their lives. Completely neglecting non-binary folks, trans men, and intersex people from the movement can be emotionally damaging. There is a whole community of people wanting to be heard and seen, struggling to do so due to the terminology being so heavily geared towards cisgender women.
In light of this, I reached out to someone who I admire a lot, LJ Mercer. LJ is a trans male and one of the most talented singer-songwriters I’ve ever heard. He said, “a lot of the world thinks “women” when they think of a uterus or “female body parts”…I think a lot of the world is uneducated in that way.” He also states, “I think some people don’t even realize how they are excluding trans people when only referring to women when talking about these subjects.” Hearing an opinion on this was very enlightening. We, as humans, deserve the rights pertaining to our bodies. We will continue to fight and not give up. It gets to the point where the fight for our bodily autonomy is not just about our bodies, but also about our hearts and souls. The battle is tiring and emotional, impacting many people's mental states. So I sit and ask myself, is it just our bodies that are in danger, or are our souls also at stake? After realizing this, it became even more apparent that we need to be inclusive in this movement and band together to take a stand. To rise up and not remain silent; to protect our minds, our bodies, and our souls.
