The mission of We Will Not Be Silent is simple: to advocate for every woman who wants to end her pregnancy to have easy abortion access, without judgment or State involvement.

 

This is a woman-centered blog, meaning that arguments here for accessible pregnancy termination are focused on women’s human rights, dignity, and sovereignty over their bodies. Issues such as children in foster care, economic circumstances, and infants dying painfully due to laws against euthanizing terminally ill pregnancies traditionally have been the focus of pro-choice people; all these repercussions matter. But because the woman herself is most directly affected when she is forced to bear a pregnancy, discussion here will spotlight the direct impact on her body and mind.

 

The right to obtain abortion is not merely about “choice”; it is the choice to refuse others use of our bodies. Nor are even phrases about “women’s bodies” sufficient. Compelling a person to carry a pregnancy forcibly uses her internal organs, indeed her entire physical being as a vessel of housing and feeding; birth by default exploits her vagina as an exit point. Even the most sensitive, private parts of her are no longer her own, but commodities for others’ service–and this violence is legal to commit against innocent, harmless human beings simply because their female bodies perform their natural functions.

 

In a myriad of ways, women are told not to talk about the dehumanization they suffer from anti-abortion laws. Pregnancy is “just nature,” so it must be benevolent; the idea that it could seriously hurt someone is called ludicrous–in the face of documentation of physical and psychological harm. Major pro-choice organizations avoid explicitly discussing this harm, while people who do attempt to educate others are accused of denigrating motherhood. Compelling unwilling women to carry their pregnancies to term is justified by the uterus’s reproductive function; those who resist are called selfish.

 

This culturally-imposed web of denial and shame is why it is so important for women to talk explicitly about how bans and restrictions on abortion hurt us. American author Hurston commented the above quote about her experiences of racism, but it applies powerfully to reproductive human rights. As long as we do not speak, forced-birth supporters can continue to claim we must be suffering from ending pregnancies we did not want; that by stripping us of our most crucial agency and causing us physical harm, they are in fact protecting us. They can twist the truth about a woman for whom being denied abortion was fatal, and say she died joyfully "to protect her baby."

 

Ultimately, forced birth degrades all women, whether or not they have ever been pregnant; whether they are childfree or find fulfillment in motherhood. Each one of us can become a tool for others’ sustenance, regardless of our wishes and our own humanity. It is time to break our silence.