Her Body, His Choice?

The Good Girl Movement interviewed Julie Sidique, graduate of Spelman College and just completed her masters in Public Health from one of the top schools, Emory University. She’s also the Founder of Project Womb.

Keeping in mind the recent debate regarding abortion, here’s her love letter to you…

Dear Black Women,

How did we get here?

We have to have a much needed conversation. We need to talk about the history of how we got here, it wasn't until the 60s and 70s when there started to be an increase in concern about family planning. Even back then, it wasn’t the idea of actually stopping birth or giving women the option to stop birth it was really just an idea to promote safe motherhood, to breed a pure race of white people, and promoting eugenics.

Birth control didn't become legal until the 60s and it did not become legal for single people until 1972, there really wasn’t any concern for women’s health.

It wasn't until 1973 when Roe vs Wade happened, in which the main plaintiff was a Jane Doe, challenged the Texas law in a number of different grounds including the due process of law, right to privacy, and equal protection under the law, which is all constitutional, right?

Basically, rights to privacy aren’t absolute according to the law in the interest of maternal and child health. States can basically intervene for whatever compelling reasons that they want to. So this law, Roe v Wade, is a constitutional Supreme Court ruling. Why we keep hearing it is because fetuses usually reach viability between 24 and 28 weeks, and that’s the standard Roe v Wade makes abortion legal.

Viability meaning if we took the fetus out of the womb right now, would it survive? Could we call it a human, is it living? So states can prohibit abortion after viability except when it's necessary to protect a woman’s life or health. That’s pretty much what Roe vs. Wade is and how it became legal in short. When we think how it became legal, and who’s getting these abortions its disproportionately low income black and brown women who are getting these abortions.

Sometimes they can’t pay for it, sometimes they have to go to planned parenthood, especially for states that didn't expand Medicaid as an option. Black and brown women especially can’t  access affordable birth control, this is a problem in where we see an increase in unplanned pregnancies.

What we are seeing is really scary to be honest with you, the good girls should know thats why everyone needs to vote. We need to take control of who we are putting in office because there are about 7 states that have bills this year that are going to prevent women from getting abortions.

It’s pretty much different depending on what state it is, in Georgia, Kentucky, Mississippi, Ohio, there are what we call heartbeat bills. These bills effectively stop abortions after 6 weeks of pregnancy. So they are not completely banning abortions, but the problem is that 6 weeks of pregnancy, is usually only 1 missed period.

That means after that first missed period, you can’t get an abortion. That’s around the time most women are first finding out they're even pregnant. A good friend of mine who recently decided to undergo the procedure,didn't find out she was pregnant until 7 weeks. If this had gone into effect earlier this year, we don't know what her situation would be. Then she had to wait even longer because she didn't have the money. So that’s another thing.

In Arkansas,they voted to limit the procedure to the middle of the second trimester but still less than Roe intended. What is frightening about what we are seeing in Alabama is a complete, all out ban, on abortions period, even in the case of rape or incest. This is a completely Republican and conservative agenda, something they've made very known for awhile...they don’t support abortion access. They don’t support women having a voice.

They take the funding and take advantage of these Evangelical christians in order to get their agendas pushed. It’s really not about protecting life. This whole idea about these abortion bans is that, the fetus in the womb is a human, they deserve just as much protection as a human, and they deserve a right to life. Well, okay let's go back and look at the Republican agenda, Republicans support capital punishment and the death penalty. So if they were all for protecting human life, why are they in support in taking one?

We also have to think about comments on rape and incest that a lot of these republican legislators have. A republican from Texas, Clayton Williams, literally said, and I quote, “Rape is kinda like the weather, if it's inevitable relax and enjoy it.” Okay so much wrong with that statement, can you imagine saying if rape is going to happen to you anyways well you might as well enjoy it?

Here’s another one, from Lawrence Lockman, “If a woman has the right to an abortion why shouldn't a man be free to use his superior strength to force himself on a woman? At least the rapist’s pursuit of sexual freedom doesn’t (in most cases) result in anyone’s death.” I say that to lay the landscape to describe in detail, the climate of the people we are dealing with. It’s absolutely ridiculous,this has nothing to do with protecting life, it has everything to do with controlling women and their right to decide.

Last thing I want to note is why there’s so much nervousness, attention and advocacy about this making it to the Supreme Court. It’s because a lot of these bills were structured verbally to get appealed again and again in the circuit courts. The hope is they make it to the Supreme Court where you’ll have justices like Brent Kavaughn in the position to be able to vote and overturn Roe vs Wade, because that can happen.

These Supreme Court seats are for a lifetime, so it’s not like another administration can happen or another President can just put on whatever justices they find suitable. We are dealing with the pickings of Trump appointed specifically to overturn Roe vs Wade.

Steps moving forward, depends on what we can do right now. We can start by calling governors offices. I demand that you veto this bill for xyz reasons. Women are going to die, children are going to be increasingly placed in the foster care system, there's going to be a bigger cost to society on unintended pregnancies, because we do pay for that. We can vote. We gotta turn up and vote for people who are going to protect us. What you can do personally and for your sisters? Seek contraceptives.

Think about how you are going to prevent yourself, friends, sisters, and family from having to be in this situation. If this is a situation you don't want to be in, what is the contraceptive method that works best for you? There's such a range that literally you can choose anything and it should work and be comfortable for you so that we don't have to get here. Calling, emailing, advocating, and demanding they veto this bill.

Project Womb just started. It is a political campaign, here to promote women body autonomy, tell our audience members, not everyone wants to know the nitty gritty of what's going on or the technicalities of how this affects them they simply want to know pure facts, what they need to know and how they need to act.

We understand that.

We want to make it easier for you to understand, and interpret. Eventually we want to expand so we can start to lobby, gain funding, and make donations. A movement dedicated to get people excited and passionate about things that affect women and family. Just expanding new fun things coming. Even with all of these bad things happening, letting people know whats going on- answering questions, staying positive, moving forward- getting everyone we can around this advocacy work, girl.

Just know….

“I see you. We see you. Not everyone has the money to go to another state to get the services they need. Fortunately there are people here fighting for you. I’m fighting for you. We are going to get through it together and we aren't going to let any old white man tell us what to do with our bodies not today, not ever.”

Follow @projectwomb, promote the agenda, and resist cause we got this!

Love, A Good Girl With A Choice

Julie