Letter From Managing Editor

The day the paper was to be sent to the printer was also the day the Supreme Court overturned Roe vs. Wade and gave guns more rights than women in one fell swoop. I cried for my daughters, nieces, and every other person born with a uterus—the day consumed by anger, frustration, fear, sadness, and discouragement. A numbness fell over me between the tears and commiserating with female friends. What alternate reality is this? I could shout at the top of my lungs, but the only ones who would hear me were my sisters. It’s like screaming and fighting in a dream, but you have no voice, and your flailing arms have no force. I’m helpless; I have no control. I wish I could be one of those clever heroes in a movie who plays out the perfect plan to do good and stop the foreseeable trauma that will affect so many lives.

Some people celebrated. Their personal ideologies won over the autonomy of one’s own body. This decision was not about babies because if it had been, there would be a discussion about accessibility to healthcare, childcare, food, and mental health services. This decision was about controlling women. Abortion will not disappear. Those states immediately banning abortion are creating a death sentence for those with an ectopic pregnancy, a septic uterus, a miscarriage that your body will not release (a stone baby), victims of incest and rape, and every other situation that would require a safe abortion.

Our rights as women have been stripped. Our human rights and those of so many others are in jeopardy. However, there is always hope. We must never stop fighting to regain our rights. What does the good fight look like? Speaking your truth; letter campaigns, protests, raising funds, and most importantly, education. If you are not of voting age, you can still do all of these, and when you can vote, vote like your life depends on it because it does.

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