The last few years have seen some pretty bad things happening, but the Overturning of Roe v Wade in the United States and the subsequent banning of and criminalisation of abortion in many states shows how quickly basic freedoms can be taken away. The right to bodily & reproductive autonomy for cis-women, gender non conforming people and trans-men is something that must not be taken for granted. This is especially damaging in the USA where delivering a baby in hospital itself is very costly so puts those in lower economic groups at risk, in turn also putting many ethnic minorities at risk. An abortion is safer than giving birth, and in many cases an abortion must be carried out to save the life of the parent. A pregnant person has the right to decide what they want to do with their body. There are many reasons as to why someone might seek an abortion, but please do not believe the lie that so many people just use abortion as a contraceptive, this is a very rare occurance and would be flagged by providers as a safeguarding concern. As to the words of my picture, banning abortion does not stop abortion, it just drives people to desperate and dangerous methods if they need one. It is not original to say at this point but do not believe the lie of ‘Pro-Life’, there is nothing pro-life about fanatic, derranged anti-abortion activists. I have used gender neutral language in my post, but of course it must not be overlooked that what underpins the decision to overturn ‘Roe V Wade’ is misogyny, pure and simple, whether it be backed by religious scripture or not. When a handful of people have the power to overturn something that affects millions, you have to question whether you are really living in a democratic or free society. When they come for one set of human rights do not think that they won’t come for all eventually. With a right-wing government in power in the UK I also worry about how this could have a ripple effect here, given the rise in anti-abortion rhetoric online. If you are in the UK there is a march on 9th July starting from Trafalgar Square at 4pm organised by https://linktr.ee/abortionrights.