Hangers

Hangers, hangers everywhere
And not a uterus to scrape.
Until now.

SCOTUS is giving every woman in America a bent scrap of wire to hang her rights on.
But if she uses it, will they hang her?

Rejoice, all ye faithful
Who have waited so long
To look sweetly into the eyes of every scared teenage girl
Every rape victim
Every pregnant person trying to flee an abusive relationship
Every human with a uterus
And say
That it’s just too fucking bad.
That they’re not worth as much as the cluster of cells growing inside them.
That they’re not really Persons.

You can’t force Persons to donate blood
Or even accept medicine to save their own lives.
But if they have a uterus
— And something living in that uterus —
Then they must let that being feed on them
And accept medical intervention
Not for their own sake
— Oh no, you can’t make a Person accept medical intervention for their own sake —
But for the sake of someone else
Someone they don’t want living inside them.
You wouldn’t force a Person to do that.
But you would force a woman.

[While you’re at it, is there anything else you’d like to force a woman to have “in there?”
Two of nine sure would.
One of nine did.
Maybe this will make them feel better about it.]

Oh, but do not rejoice, all ye faithful
Who long for the good ol’ days
When they could tell women to make all the babies
And decide who consenting adults can marry
And fire trans people for being themselves.
Do not rejoice
Because if the right to privacy is ignored
Or the Fourteenth Amendment pooh-poohed
The state will waive your rights for you, too.
Welcome to non-Personhood.
Take a number.
The Supreme Court will not be with you shortly.

And when the Black Robes hand you some twisted metal to hang your rights on
Should we say to you
It’s all just too fucking bad
Like you said to us?
Do unto others, as you like to say.

But maybe
— Just maybe —
There’s a resolution
That doesn’t make having a uterus a liability
Or its owner not a Person.
You can work with us to make it happen
Or you can take that hanger and shove it up your rights.

The text of the leaked SCOTUS draft on Dobbs v Jackson Women’s Health Organization: https://www.politico.com/news/2022/05/02/supreme-court-abortion-draft-opinion-00029473