This is a solemn requiem for a fundamental freedom lost. It honors the 1973 landmark decision, Roe v. Wade, which gave women the dignity of privacy and bodily autonomy. The verdict, passed 7-2 by an all-male court, was a “miracle” that allowed women to choose their careers and their lives.
The poem’s emotion centers on the abrupt, devastating reversal in 2022, which the court called “egregiously wrong from the start”. The piece laments the terrifying consequences: women now face death from fatal pregnancies or the trauma of carrying a rapist’s child. The final words serve as an inscription on the tombstone of women’s rights.
- Roe v. Wade – I don’t have to carry my rapist’s child to term.
- Roe v. Wade – I can concentrate on my career.
- Roe v. Wade – a fatal pregnancy won’t kill me.
- Roe v. Wade – my body, my right.