A Different World

Today I changed my personal Facebook cover photo from a picture of the Pink House Defender team to a sunrise at my new place in California. I am just now beginning to get that I actually live in California now. And the sun is rising on a whole new world, in more ways than one.

The Pink House is gone. Jackson Women’s Health Organization no longer exists. The antis won – abortion has been illegal in Mississippi since July 6th. Now, at least 12 other states have no abortion access. That’s a lot of suffering people. It should have never come to this.

Welcome to the cold new world - the Dobbs world. A world where your bodily autonomy is up to the state. We can no longer say we have control over who uses our bodies when and for what. A world where “state’s rights” trump our human rights.

We Engage is still here. But our clinic isn’t. Along with so many other clinics closed across the country.

Like the Alamo, “Remember the Pink House” should be THE rallying cry going forward. We can’t forget where this all started, how and where we lost our rights to our own bodies. Mississippi passed laws chipping away at our rights for years and everyone looked the other way…” meh, it’s just Mississippi” …yeah, until it’s not.

There is still so much work to be done, y’all. We Engage will continue working for the day all pregnant people have the healthcare they need, easily accessible and without stigma and harassment.  We Engage will continue to stand for and work in support of reproductive justice, the right to safe and equitable abortion access, bodily autonomy, and the separation of church and state.

But We Engage can’t continue doing things the way it was before Dobbs – our world changed, and we will change with it.

Y’all, this is an “all hands on deck” moment. We ALL have to work together to roll back this tide of misogyny driven legislation, couched in Christian nationalism. If we do nothing but march politely, fund abortion and practical support, WE WILL NEVER GET BACK TO WHERE WE WERE, much less do better. AND IT’S GONNA TAKE US ALL doing something EVERYDAY to push back against their Christian nationalist laws.

For years now, antis are working EVERYDAY to take away our right to abortion, to contraception, to marriage equality, to be who you are freely and safely. Until we meet them with the same energy, saying “no” to their bullying and misogyny, they will CONTINUE to take our rights. Because they can.

Welcome to the Dobbs world.

The rebellion continues.

#WeEngage #PinkHouseDefenders #JezebelRebellion