It’s 9:43 am of a Sunday morning. R has gone off to the ward meeting, I went to church last night at St Stephen Episcopal. I enjoy church on Saturday, I feel close to God.
Went for a walk this morning with Belle at Tompkins Park, where I used to take Mitzi. She still is way too excited on the leash and she gave a few barks when she saw dogs in the distance. But I think she is calming down. Hope so! I plan to do this regularly for the next while which will entail setting the alarm for 5:00 am to be at the park at 5:30. Cross fingers this will be a good thing for all concerned :)
There are some political postings on Facebook about the Supreme Court striking down Roe. I believe strongly--for personal reasons--in a woman’s right to choose. Especially young, vulnerable women for whom that might be the very first time they are ALLOWED to choose. I like what my nephew’s wife posted:
If every time men had sex,
they risked death, physical
disability, social shunning, a
life altering interruption of
their education or career,
and the sudden life-long
responsibility for another
being, I think they'd expect
a choice in the matter.
But I won’t copy/paste on my feed. I am done being “public” on Facebook except for liking other’s posts (I liked this one.) I just don’t want to get into contentious issues with people whose minds I am not going to change. Facebook is not the forum to debate things; people say things without any personal experience, without actually researching the pros and cons.
I will just quietly put my money where my beliefs are, sign petitions anonymously. Sometimes when R and I discuss the situation here in the US, with the ultra-conservative Supreme Court, with the hearings where Donald Trump is clearly guilty of treason, sedition, violence but he will not be prosecuted--probably because the DOJ believes they’d never find a jury that would convict him--I feel hopeless about where our country is heading. People want rights, want power, without the responsibility that brings.
But then I go to church or read a book and am reminded that there have been times in the past, stories of the past, where it seemed that people faced hopeless situations. But they came through and, sometimes, sometimes, the world was a better place. For awhile.
Anyway, I am thankful today that I have, as Richard Lovelace wrote in his poem “To Althea,”:
"If I have freedom in my love,
And in my soul am free,
Angels alone that soar above, Enjoy such liberty."
And I wish the same for my sisters. I learned the hard way the importance of choices, and the responsibility we as women shoulder because of our reproductive system. Men don't have that responsibility, it's not their reproductive system--although they ought to, as partners, be aware of it, respect it, give women dominion over it--just as we women have had to be aware over the centuries of THEIR trials and tribulations.
And that's where I am at on this Sunday morning in July.
You have a wonderful and balanced perspective. Of course all of us with female reproductive systems who live in the USA have been pondering over this in the past couple of weeks... or even months since the draft opinion was leaked. Those of us "of a certain age" muse back over our own lives, before 1973, during our active reproductive years, and now. We may have feared being accused of doing something bad if we had something unfortunate happen (as I did when I miscarried). Laws are funny that way... and worries are funny that way. Most of our worries are over something that never happens.
ReplyDeleteJust because I believe that the choice belongs to each woman doesn't mean I don't view each loss of a "potential child" to be grief worthy. I know of no one who makes that choice lightly, when push comes to shove.
This morning, spending time with my son's fiance's mom, we shared a few words about it. How could we not? Each of us has only one child, so our maternal feelings are concentrated!
May the remainder of your Sunday be calm and peaceful. And totally with you on avoiding the public "copy/paste" stuff on FB... not worth it!