To the girl that was raped . . .
And shamed for what she wore
Punished nine months
To carry a being she didn’t create
At 12 years old
She shoulders a parents weight
Robbed of the childhood she was meant to have
No thanks to the state
To the mother who couldn’t be . . .
For the child she never got to meet.
Accused of murder for not having sacrificed her soul.
Unbeknownst to them she lost it in whole.
Unable to mourn, she sits on that court bench
Facing charges from the state in a heartbreaking wrench
To the woman who died, dismissed of her concerns
Who cried so excruciatingly, to the point of no discern
Neglected by the system, Ignored by her doctors
The ones meant to help her live, were the ones who failed to give
The poem All in a Woman’s World, is meant to address some of the issues women experience when they lose access to federal abortion protections. Historically, women’s healthcare has been under researched with abortion pills and menstrual products being discovered to induce health complications and risks. Women of color have been the most affected by the healthcare system from strict o restrictive policies on health to the systemic racism built into the treatment they receive.
Medical racism in a post Dobbs world presents various concerns regarding female health and marginalized women are the first to experience the impacts and eventually losing trust in the system. The aim of the poem is to depict scenarios that can and have resulted from the Dobbs v. Jackson ruling, it presents the reality of women and the concerns they develop if they ever find themselves in a similar scenario. Abortion which is viewed as a controversial topic by many, is essential to providing proper healthcare to women regardless of one’s views.
