Dear Doe:
Can you believe it? We're 37 today!I thought I would drop you a little Happy Birthday note. People always seem to remember me ... and just forget all about you, even though we came out twins on the same day from the same court, wrapped up in one parchment blanket.
I mean,I just Googled me and came up with 1,270,000 hits in .013 seconds for Roe v. Wade. And you--I only came up with 74,700 in 0.15 seconds for Doe v. Bolton. It's not totally fair that I should get 17-18 times the hits that you get, especially with everything you've been through. So I thought I would give you a holler on our day!
Still, when you think about it, Doe, we both should be more popular. After all, there's over 45 million women who've used us since 1973. That's one out of three women in the U.S. ... so why aren't more of them saying so on the Internet? We could use the support ... don't you think!
After all, dear Doe, I don't have to tell you how much we've both been slammed around in the past 37 years. Sometimes it just makes me want to cry. I mean they've been battering me so hard, every year, cutting out one chunk, and then another. And this goes way back to Henry Hyde in '76 and all his anti-abortion antics, stopping Medicaid funding and trying to make life miserable for women and girls. And then the courts letting those attacks stand, even when I thought I was supposed to be safe and protected. It's been rough, Doe, definitely hard times.
But I never imagined they'd get away with going after you -- after protections for women's life and health. I honestly don't understand how these people come off saying women can't make their own decisions about abortion even when a pregnancy might kill them or make them sick or make them go crazy. And that's all about you, Doe, my lovely twin, my best friend. (Face it, without you, I'm nothing!) And that last Supreme Court decision in Gonzales v Carhart when the Supreme Court said you didn't matter and that Congress could make certain abortion procedures illegal, no matter what it meant for a woman's health-- wow. I never thought the country could get so mean.
And then there was the last year, my dear Doe. What can I say? We lost our wonderful friend, our comrade, our ally -- Dr. George Tiller. Hard for both of us. But especially for you: Dr. Tiller was all about saving women's lives and health.(And what good is your holding, Doe, if there aren't docs like George Tiller to make it a reality.) He helped women facing the most difficult circumstances. It was an incalculable loss, Doe, no other way to say it. I'm real sorry.
"Trust women." It was so simple, so wise, what Dr. Tiller used to say. Maybe as we head to 40 (40!) in the next few years, more people will hear his words. Let's trust the women of this country to step up for us like Dr. Tiller stepped up for them -- the women who've used us and those who might have and those who understand that we're part of women's fundamental rights.
I really believe, in the end, they'll come through for us, Doe. I'll make a wish on a candle -- or two! So hang in there, partner, and see you next year!
Your loving friend,
Roe
Written on participation with Blog for Choice Day 2010Posted by Cindy Cooper, for Roe,
Pictured above: Blog for Choice logo
Subscribe to Words of Choice: Up the Creativity by Email
Posts
