As a woman, mother, philanthropist, and American, I am angry. I am livid, really.
Livid that people with uteruses aren’t trusted to make their own decisions.
Livid that so many find an embryo more human, more worthy of protection, more important than the pregnant person before them.
Livid that people in power don’t recognize abortion as healthcare. As nuanced. As necessary.
Livid that a country without affordable childcare, with the worst maternal mortality rates in the developed world, with deficient sex education, and with no paid maternity leave policy is also forcing births.
Livid that politicians and judges don’t listen when we say that the right to choose if, when, with whom, and under what circumstances to have a(nother) child is not only fundamental to gender equity, it is a human right.
Livid that they do hear it—that they know it quite well—and still make the decisions they do.
But here’s the thing about anger: it sprouts from hope. It is a beautiful thing, really. I am livid because I know things can and should be better. I can imagine a more just reality. I am unwilling to accept this as something we cannot change.
And do you know what livid people do?
Livid people show up for their communities. They donate to abortion funds and independent clinics. They watch kids, cover shifts, and provide rides when their friends, coworkers, and loved ones need to travel across state lines to access healthcare. They vote for reproductive justice candidates, from school boards to Congress to the presidency. They have difficult conversations. They listen.
They imagine—and then they create—a better world.
— Sabrina Merage Naim, Founder