This is the Moment That Will Define Us
We rise in blood or we die in dust.
We are officially at war. Pick your side.
No more finger pointing. No more evisceration of feminist backlash totems like Amber Heard. No clutching our pearls and bemoaning the religious overthrow of the Supreme Court. No more hemming and hawing. No more “I’m anti-abortion but pro reproductive rights.”
Right here, right now, you draw a line in the sand and you decide what side you’re on.
This historical moment is not just for American women, but ALL women. We are either going to win it or lose it, but we must be together. That means overcoming petty disagreements. That means remembering that the needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few. That means taking up arms in whatever way we define them.
If you are a transwoman, I expect you to be in this fight. Full stop. If you were born a woman, I expect you to fight like hell for the rights of women. All women. Your help is needed—and more importantly, it is expected. This is your moment.
Get in the goddamn boat and row.
If you are a single mom with no time and less money, I expect you to be in this fight. Full stop. If you’re too tired to take up arms against those who would oppress you, too bad. This isn’t P.E. There are no excuses given.
Get in the goddamn boat and row.
If you are apolitical, always on sidelines, I expect you to be in this fight. No more sidelines for you. Care, don’t care, it doesn’t matter. This isn’t about just you. It’s about all women and the American jihad that had been waged against them. If you have a daughter, you’re in this fight. If you have a vagina, you’re in this fight.
Get in the goddamn boat and row.
If you are a man, WOE BETIDE YOU if you recuse yourself . I expect you to be in this fight with all the force at your muster. This isn’t just noblesse oblige, it’s your responsibility to push back against a war that is subjugating your wives, sisters, mothers, and daughters. We will accept no excuses.
Get in the goddamn boat and row.
We are officially hemorrhaging, and there’s no stopping it. Perhaps we shouldn’t try to stop it. Pain is often all the motivation we need in order to effect change. So don’t sedate your pain. FEEL IT. Let the rage wash over you. In this case, fury is your friend.
Don’t tell friends to “calm down.” Don’t tell your contacts on social media to “calm down.” Fan the flames as high as they will go. We need banshees, not babies.
Here’s our first plan of action. There will be others.
Call your senator.
Call your congressperson.
Call the White House.
Give money to Planned Parenthood or your reproductive healthcare organization of choice. If it’s five dollars, that’s fine. GIVE.
Search out ways to participate in marches and protests. Trust me when I tell you, civil disobedience is one of the most rewarding things you will ever experience in life. The feeling of solidarity alone is unrivaled by anything I have ever known.
Let’s start there.
And most of all, let’s remember that what we do from this moment on will define us. Are we going to sit around moaning, or are we going to rise to this moment in history and ensure that our daughters and granddaughters never have to hang their heads in shame because we failed them on every level?
WHO ARE WE?
Now is the time we decide.
Copyright © 2022 Stacey Eskelin
This NEVER had anything to do with saving lives. The hypocrisy would be stunning were it not so blatantly evil. Someone posted somewhere "Tonight we turn the clocks back... fifty years." Too true. I'm right beside you on the barricades, Stacey.
This is a day that makes me ashamed to be an American. FULL STOP.
The party of small government has finally triumphed in their drive to be just small enough to fit into a woman's uterus. And, yes, that's every bit as lame and disgusting as it sounds. NO ONE- not you, not me, not ANYfuckingONE- has the right to tell a woman what to do with her body. Yet Conservative White males in 26 states are chomping at the bit over the opportunity to reduce women to second-class citizens.
Hail, Gilead!
Right now I'm so angry I can barely see straight, so today is for anger and reaction- for tomorrow we fight. I don't know what that looks like yet, but I can't sit by while my nieces' generation have to wade through this lake of pure, unadulterated shit. For their sake, I hope they'll take up the (metaphorical) sword as well.
Fuck Donald Trump, and fuck every member of the Supreme Court who lied about Roe v. Wade being "settled law" during their confirmation hearings. Overturning Roe was their plan all along. May they all roast in the Hell I don't believe in but that they so richly deserve.