Politics

The Rage and Devastation of Being a Woman in America Today

Reflections on the Supreme Court overturning Roe v. Wade

I’m one of those obnoxious people who loves birthdays. Especially my own. A day to celebrate me? To open presents? To eat cake? To dictate the cuisine and the day’s itinerary, and when I was little, the music choices on the car radio from the all-day shotgun position? Oh yes, please.

But on June 23, 2022, instead of imagining the delight of our first full day of a years-overdue vacation, I woke up thinking “please not today, please not today, please not today.” I knew the Supreme Court’s decision about Roe v. Wade was imminent. For that day, my 40th birthday, I gave myself the gift of avoiding the news and most of social media, aside from accepting birthday greetings and sharing snaps from the beach. And, as it happened, I enjoyed my last day as a person with bodily autonomy in America.

Waking up Friday to realize civil rights in the United States had been rolled back 50 years was no less a gut punch, despite anticipating it for months. To start my first full day at age 40 with fewer rights than my mother and grandmother at this age? There aren’t adequate words to describe the rage and devastation.

To know so many other civil rights are now at risk thanks to the extremist beliefs of a handful of unelected people, a couple of whom lied to assume their current role? To know guns and dead bodies have more…