I must openly apologize to my grandchildren, and in truth, I feel I must apologize to yours, as well. Somehow, because I have always believed my beloved country respected women and their rights, I have given my daughters and their daughters the sense of entitlement to be treated as equals by their father, their husbands, and their brothers. Apparently, I am wrong, and although the Constitution supports the rights of those who insist upon toting assault weapons to schools, supermarkets and houses of worship, the women of the country have just lost the right to determine if they are prepared to not only carry a baby, but to now raise one. My heart is breaking for the onus this puts on women to have to hide in back alleys or deal with illegal abortionists whose actions may, in fact, kill them.

I was an extremely naïve Freshman at Emerson College in Boston when two students in my dorm had babies. One delivered in the toilet and there the baby remained until the next morning, and one left her baby in a shoebox. The fallout for these young girls was awful, and the way it hit those of us in the dorm was equally paralyzing. This took place right before Roe v. Wade, and I have never forgotten my terror at the thought that pregnancy could be so deleterious to a woman. As these girls were ushered summarily out of the dorm and out of the school, their parents crying in shame and I suppose, anger, we all kept our eyes down on our shoes, as if that would save us from the same humiliation.

And now, some 50 years later, my daughters and granddaughters have lost the ability to make decisions about their bodies, their ability to determine what is best for them and their families. What form of government has the right to enter their bedrooms? And why is it that women alone must pay the price for loving their partner? What do I tell my granddaughters about my fear of becoming pregnant before I was ready to have a family, and now they must carry the same consequences? We had come so far, and yet here we are. And what do I tell my grandsons about their piece in all of this? They have been raised to respect women, to respect their rights and to respect their place in society. Now, due to the repeal of Roe v. Wade the answer is incredibly real…our lack of status is now confirmed by a conservative majority in the Supreme Court. Are we to no longer be heads of companies, professionals, wage earners, educators, therapists, surgeons because we must carry a child we are not prepared to carry and raise because we loved our partner? How is this fair? Where are the scales of justice? Where is our voice? Is it gone forever? I am so very sorry for all the young people today, both male and female. Our grandchildren have traveled back in time, and sadly, they will remain there even as they attempt to move forward.

 

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