Personhood for the Already-Born

Contributions welcome!

Mon, 07 May 2012 19:06:58 -0400

Just a reminder (especially to my new followers) that you are all welcome to send me a picture of yourself with a sign/piece of paper/napkin/whatever declaring your personhood and a statement and I will happily post it!

Send any contributions (or questions, or comments) to alreadyborn@gmail.com.

-Julia

Ang, student

Mon, 07 May 2012 19:04:00 -0400

I declare my personhood! I declare that my life as an already born person matters. I declare that it is my right to choose whether or not I want to be a mother, have a child, be pregnant, have sex, use birth control, etc. I declare that I will never stop fighting for reproductive justice, (so bring it on). And in the wonderful words of Amy Poehler I declare “Don’t tell me what to do!!”.

stfuprolife: We never talk about people who need or want...

Sun, 06 May 2012 10:37:15 -0400

stfuprolife:

We never talk about people who need or want abortions as living things. All the focus goes on embryos, because for some reason, they’re more important than the people who are carrying them.

Sarah, student

Thu, 03 May 2012 22:43:00 -0400

As a queer female, many people wonder why personhood means so much to me, and why it bothers me so much that reproductive rights are being taken away from me. Let me set one thing straight: regardless of my gender identity, sexual orientation, religion, socio-economic status, group of friends, romantic partners, lifestyle choices or whatever else I may be judged or categorized based on, I am a human being—a person. I don’t attempt to govern anybody else’s bodies, thoughts, feelings, or desires. So please, leave my reproductive system alone.

Cuy, age 21

Wed, 02 May 2012 16:59:37 -0400

I am proud to declare my personhood. I am terrified of the potential effects of making abortion illegal. Abortion will happen whether or not it is legal. When abortion was illegal, many women found themselves with serious medical problems or even died after attempting to abort a pregnancy by untrained surgeons who performed abortions in unsanitary conditions. If it is illegal, unsafe and risky procedures may result, putting women at risk for infections and even death. This, even as a man, scares me. What if my sister needs an abortion but cannot legally abort her pregnancy? Will I get a phone call telling me that my sister is in the hospital, suffering the result of a failed illegal abortion?

Oberlin Sexco

Tue, 01 May 2012 19:42:00 -0400

Oberlin Sexco declares their personhood!

Sexco is an Oberlin Experimental College class taught by members of the Sexual Information Center.

An article worth reading

Sun, 29 Apr 2012 15:15:51 -0400

“’Maybe human beings have not evolved enough to hold the complex idea that many things can be true at the same time,’ Paltrow of the National Advocates for Pregnant Women says. ‘We can feel a certain way. We can value the unborn as a matter of religion, ethics or experience, but we can’t do that as a matter of law and still value pregnant women.’”

-The Criminalization of Bad Mothers, NYT

The women at National Advocates for Pregnant Women are so brilliant, so hardworking, and have taught me so much. Lynn Paltrow and Emma Ketteringham, you guys articulate things brilliantly.

Thank you to NAPW for the work they do, and thank you New York Times for publishing this article and raising awareness.

Alice, age 16

Tue, 24 Apr 2012 13:06:56 -0400

At least once a week, when I check my phone during lunch and find a tweet about a new law being proposed or passed, a law that restricts women, and forces them and their doctors to do things that are unnecessary and often cruel. It scares me that by now, these laws barely come as a surprise.

I’m frustrated that being a girl means that my very existence is a source of controversy. I’m tired of feeling like I have to fight 24/7 to have the right to my body. My body isn’t a battleground. I’m not a political issue, I’m a teenage girl. My body is not up for debate. I want to be worrying about grades and getting my driver’s license, not trans-vaginal ultrasounds.

On men declaring their personhood

Tue, 24 Apr 2012 00:57:00 -0400

Many people who have talked to me about this project have asked if there is a place for men in it. So here is my (somewhat lengthy) response:

This project is not specifically for women! It is for everyone who trusts and respects every human’s rights to their own decisions and bodies, and everyone who is outraged by our culture of disrespect for the living. There are many things I love about woman-centric environments, and I have deep pride in and love for my identity as a woman. HOWEVER…when we build our movements exclusively around identity, someone will be left out, and we will ultimately either have to exclude them, or twist and stretch our movement in ways that might not feel natural. I never want to alienate any person who wants to be my ally, whether they identify as male, female, cis-gender, trans-gender, or anything else.

The community I am attempting to create in this space is one not joined by identity, but by experience, empathy and emotion. So many men are affected by systematic injustice, and the heterosexist patriarchy oppresses all of us, albeit to different degrees. While I do not seek to equate different forms of inequality or different marginalized identities, I do believe that our own experiences with inequality can position us to be good allies to others facing an unjust system.

In my version of the revolution, there is a place for anyone who is thoughtful, respectful, and never seeks to replace my voice with their own. Men, I invite you to declare your personhood and your ally-ship! I will fight you if you try to speak for me, but welcome you if you speak alongside me.

-Julia

Sarah Lejeune, student, pictured with her artwork

Mon, 23 Apr 2012 22:07:00 -0400

It horrifies me that even the unborn are given more rights than the women who carry them.

Nancy, age 40, activist

Mon, 23 Apr 2012 22:05:00 -0400

Reproductive freedom is foundational to women’s bodily integrity, health, and participation in society.

Nikki, student

Fri, 20 Apr 2012 00:00:36 -0400

The GOP’s “War on Women” describes a very real phenomenon in today’s political landscape. In Wisconsin, my home state, Governor Walker and the Republican majority have pursued an agenda that significantly hinders womens’ ability to access reproductive healthcare and equal opportunities in the workplace. Recently Walker covertly passed four bills without any public notice and immediately before a holiday weekend. These bills repealed the 2009 Pay Equity Bill (Wisconsin women on average earn 78 cents per man’s dollar, with much worse rates for women of color). The bills also banned the private coverage of abortion, repealed a bill for comprehensive sex education in schools, and added new abortion restrictions with criminalizing implications for Wisconsin doctors. These bills represent an unfortunate nationwide political trend, one that is often funded by conservative fetal personhood and pro-life groups. I think this political trend could potentially have very damaging consequences for all women. I have previously relied on the healthcare that organizations like Planned Parenthood provide. If I ever need to make the difficult choice to have an abortion, I hope that I won’t be denied access to adequate, affordable healthcare.

Sam, student

Wed, 18 Apr 2012 00:17:00 -0400

I’m enraged by all the legislature restricting women’s rights to their own bodies. I have the ability to reproduce, not by accident, but because I can handle that responsibility.

Juliana, age 19, student

Wed, 18 Apr 2012 00:09:00 -0400

I’m concerned because I have the potential to become pregnant. I’d hope that pregnancy would be a period of happiness, not fear. When I’m worrying about morning sickness, I don’t want to worry about the rights to my body being taken away from me. If I face a miscarriage, I don’t want to face legal accusations claiming it could’ve been prevented. Laws are pitting the government against my body, and I wouldn’t want these laws to pit me against my future child. I’m concerned because my personhood is being sacrificed and my agency stripped away. This is something no woman, no body and no person deserves.

Julia, age 19, student

Sun, 15 Apr 2012 22:58:00 -0400

My name is Julia and I’m a college student. As a child, I had the privilege of being able to take my recognized status as a person for granted. I believed that I lived in a world where it would be unnecessary for me to ever declare my personhood. However, I have since grown up and realized that this is not the world I thought it was. Now, as a woman and a queer person, it feels vital to make this statement.

I’m really scared by the hyper-conservative turn the political climate in this country has taken. In Ohio, where I live, there will probably be a ballot item next November on fetal personhood, and so I am trying to inform my peers about it. I want everyone to think about what the personhood movement means, not just in terms of access to reproductive health services, but as in ideological statement. I want everyone to question whether this “personhood” that is being offered to clusters of cells is even truly available to all of the already-born people in this country.