Tuesday, January 22, 2013

Blog for Choice 2013: Roe vs. Wade Anniversary Cake

Lisa Kip, Guest Blogger (Tufts University School of Medicine '15, Medical Students for Choice)
This post is part of Blog for Choice 2013, launched by Boston Students for Sexual and Reproductive Justice (BSSRJ).

This post can also be found at http://lisakip.blogspot.com/2013/01/blog-for-choice-2013-roe-vs-wade.html.

Last week I bought a cake, had the baker write "Roe vs. Wade" on it, lit some candles, and sang an anniversary song with friends from multiple graduate programs across the city who love reproductive justice as much as I do.

Roe v. Wade means that women can make their own decisions about their sex, their reproduction, their health, their families, their lives. Definitely deserves a cake. But to most of my peers, it doesn't even deserve an opened email. Here in Massachusetts we have a surplus of abortion providers and insurance-covered abortions for women on state-run health insurance. Women feel safe. But that safety has lowered our defenses. It seems to me that the people of Massachusetts have stopped fighting for reproductive justice, probably because they feel like the fight is over. That we won.

In my medical school ethics class, more than 90% of my classmates, when anonymously polled, identified as "pro-choice." As president of our Medical Students for Choice (MSFC) chapter, I can tell you that we don't even have 25% of my medical school class on our email list. And probably less than 10% of my class attend MSFC events. I often wonder - where is this mysterious pro-choice majority?

Well, pro-choice ladies and gentlemen of my class, Massachusetts, and the world - show yourselves! The fight is not over. Not here, not anywhere. Here in the liberally blue and fabulous Massachusetts that we all love, there are plenty of laws restricting women's access to abortions (click HERE or HERE for more information), and dozens more being proposed in our state house and senate each year. Not to mention any of the crazy and mind-bogglingly backwards things going on in our country's red states. Not to mention other countries where abortion is often out of the question, completely illegal, never, no way, don't even think about it. Where women die because they have no other choice.

Peers, fellow millenials, women, men, everyone - my only request is that you care. Care that we have a lot of rights, but we still have a long way to go as a global community. Don't sit around waiting for someone to poll you anonymously or for a funny meme to catch your eye or for something really bad to happen before you put on your reproductive justice hat. Wear that hat all the time. Don't be part of the silent pro-choice majority. Share your stories. Blog. React. Write letters to representatives. Discuss the current issues in your state. Volunteer.

And today, celebrate that it is the 40th Anniversary of Roe v. Wade. Light candles, sing a song and eat some Roe vs. Wade cake! Celebrate that we have come a long way. Celebrate our victories. Just don't forget that we still have a lot left to fight for.

This blog post is part of a number of different Blog for Choice initiatives.

1 comment:

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