» The first-person story, and how far Alito is from reality

1 November 2005 - 8:57pm

The first-person story, and how far Alito is from reality

media girl's picture

Alley Rat shares her own story. This is but a part at the end:

I get really angry when I hear the anti-choice folks calling women like me selfish, or cowardly, or murderous. I made a my decision in an attempt to save myself, but I also made it out of love. There is no way I would have been a good mother to two children. I could barely take care of myself. My own terrible childhood had made a mess of me, and I was struggling just to hang on to my sanity.

If you haven't been me, you don't know what it's like to be me, so you can keep your judgement to yourself.

I felt relieved after my abortion. But I also felt intensely sad. I mourned and I grieved. But I never, ever regretted it.

I get very angry when I hear that people like Judge Alito think it's not an "undue burden" for people like me to get permission to make decisions that will save our lives. Yes, I do think that abortion saved my life, in a variety of ways. I did get my GPA back up, transferred to the University, and went on to graduate with honors. I was even accepted to a graduate program at the same school that had failed me out many years earlier. And I got therapy and I am not depressed and I rarely have nightmares or severe anxiety anymore, or any of the other symptoms of PTSD. I don't know exactly what would have happened to me if I hadn't made the choice I made, but I know it was the right decision.

And it was my decision to make. Not my parents, who I would have had to consult had I been just two years younger and in a different state, and who were largely responsible for my PTSD, anyway. Not my husband, had my boyfriend and I been married. Despite the misogynistic fantasies of the pro-male-ownership-of-women crowd, most women do actually tell their partners when they are pregnant. I did, and if I hadn't, you would know I had an excellent, life preserving reason, just as I did for not telling my parents.

Like others, I see my autonomy on the verge of being drastically restricted by men who think they know better. And this brings up a rage that I am not sure how I will cope with. It's a scary, burning rage, and I've got to find something to do with it. What that will be, I'm not sure yet.

This feels like fighting time. This feels like in-the-streets, facing off with the state, rebellion time brewing. Excuse me if I sound dramatic, but these are our lives they're fucking with, and I for one am not ready to roll over and take it.

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Comments

Peggy Archer's picture

AMEN, sister..

I'm right there with you on not believing how or why women are buying into this crap.

Let's all start fighting back now.


(1 November 2005 - 11:41pm)
yogakorunta's picture

Alley Rat, you are well spoken.

David


(2 November 2005 - 7:39am)

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» The first-person story, and how far Alito is from reality