Be forewarned: this is a dark topic, I am feeling particularly dark, and it has been on my mind for a few days.
It started with the overturning of Roe, and a chain of events that took place that are simply horrifying. It has made front page headlines so we are all familiar, but in a nutshell:
On June 24, 2022 the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade the 1973 case that affirmed a woman’s right to reproductive choice. This in itself is blogworthy because three justices reneged on their testimony specifically as it relates to Roe during their Confirmation hearings….moving on….
A week later news breaks about a 10 year old Ohio girl who was the victim of sexual assault and who became pregnant as a result of the assault, was denied access to an abortion, and had to travel to Indiana to terminate the pregnancy. Immediately, there was scrutiny from the far right indicating this story was a fabrication to boltser the pro-choice movement, the Wall Street Journal editorial board questioned the existence of this child, and questions like ’where is the police report?’ soon followed, along with terrible scrutiny for the medical team supporting this child.
Lets not forget all of our ’pro-life’ politicians tweeting this that and the other about fake news….Good Ole Kristi Noem had some choice things to say about a ten year old carrying a baby to term….and the Ohio Attorney General said it ”was likely a fabrication”…among other heinous things. Well the police report followed, along with an investigation, an arrest, a confession, and a whole bunch of backtracking and tweet deleting from the ‘pro-lifers’.
Even more disgusting than the validity of a child SA victim’s experience being questioned was the statement that came from an Indiana lawyer, Mr. Jim Bopp who said, “She should have had the baby, and as many women who have had babies as a result of rape, we would hope that she would understand the reason and ultimately the benefit of having a child”. Mr. Bopp, you are a disgusting pig. Mrs. Noem you are a disgrace to women.
Just typing Mr. Bopp’s statement makes me sick to my stomach. There are some major glaring flaws in his statement…aside from the absolute idiocy of it, a ten year old child is NOT a woman. She will not reach physical maturity for at least 5-7 more years. This Jack@$$ goes on to say that “We would hope that she would understand the reason and ultimately the benefit of having a child”. I’m sorry, but many adult victims of sexual assault would not understand that reasoning, and she is 10….still a child. She may not even understand the reasoning of ’No, we are not going to McDonald’s two hours before we eat dinner’, or ‘No, you are not walking around the mall by yourself’, because she is in fact a child whose emotional reasoning isn’t fully developed. When my daughter was 10 she told me she hated me because she was not allowed to go to her girl scout sleep over until her room was clean. Children are not capable of reasoning at adult levels NOR SHOULD THEY BE EXPECTED TO (many adults don’t reason at adult levels…Mrs. Noem…)
I am absolutely heartsick about this situation. You see, in my day to day life I have 30 ten year old girls that I am helping to raise. I am entrusted by their parents to keep them safe, to supervise their learning, to support their social and emotional development and this is a privilege I take very seriously. Statistically speaking five of those girls will be the victim of sexual assault at some point in their lives. According to rain.org, every 9 minutes an American child is the victim of molestation or assault. Yet, many times this goes unreported and un prosecuted….in part due to victim blaming. Look at the experience of the 10 year old Ohio girl who was unduly traumatized on top of the trauma of SA.
Here is my issue: unless you are willing to support the quality of life for all mothers and babies you ARE NOT PRO-LIFE, you are simply pro birth. Pro-life means that women get paid maternity leave that lasts longer than 6 weeks, access to pre AND post natal care including birth control, social supports to ensure that there is adequate housing and nutrition in the home, and quality childcare and preschool options that are universal and affordable. Pro life means that children are not political pawns, and are not forced to give up their childhood when they have already had their innocence torn from them. My question for Mr. Bopp: who is going to care for the child of a 10 year old 5th grader while she goes to school? Who is going to take the child to the doctor, pay for diapers and formula…because…ahem, she may not have developed breasts yet to feed the child (and as a mother who nursed her babies, nursing is harder than pregnancy and requires a level of self sacrifice that might be too much for a 10 year old). Forcing a 10 year old to give birth is not pro life, it is pro birth, but in the bigger picture, it is really ANTI-CHOICE.
In the overturning of Roe we have undone 49 years of progress for women, but even worse, we have doomed children and victims of SA….see related blog here pro life vs. pro quality of life
In the meantime, VOTE. Vote people like Mrs. Noem and Mr. Bopp out of office. Vote like your daughters, wives, nieces and grand daughters lives depend on it. Because they do.
