Sojourners - A womanist response to Roe’s overturn

Women’s Needs Are Holy. Overturning Roe Ignores That Moya Harris I’ve been sitting with the ramifications of being a Black clergywoman in a post-Roe United States. Let me rephrase that: I have been ruminating on the significance of being a pro-choice Black clergywoman in a post-Roe United States. I understand how this may sound subversive, despite the fact that two-thirds of American women disapprove of the Supreme Court’s decision last Friday to overturn Roe v. Wade. To some people, it’s incompatible that I could be a minister and support someone’s right to choose to have an abortion. Our culture loves binaries so we often feel we must choose which side we are on, regardless of the pain that is inflicted upon those whose voices are drowned out by the cacophony of either/or. As a Black clergywoman, I see the world through a womanist viewpoint, which means that I center the voices and life experiences of Black women, children, and other marginalized people. This doesn’t mean that I disregard other viewpoints, but rather that I am concerned about those whose voices are often ignored. I am both pro-choice and pro-life. I cherish life. Life is precious whether it is in the womb or outside the womb. I care about the life of the fetus that could yet become a baby, as well as the mother, the father, and the community. Yet I am not fooled by violent rhetoric that cloaks its control of women’s bodies with a singular concern for unborn babies. The court’s overturning of Roe v. Wade means people who get pregnant no longer have a federal right to decide whether they bear children; it also makes it more difficult for people on the margins to obtain safe and private reproductive health services. I am afraid. Specifically, I am afraid for Black women. READ THE FULL ARTICLE Forward Share

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