Roe v. Wade: I Survived Rape and Illegal Abortion, Other Women Shouldn't Have to Do the Same
TRIGGER WARNING: sexual violence and illegal abortion
Fam,
This piece has been brewing inside for a long, long time.
Like many elders, I anticipated the inevitable reversal of Roe v. Wade now confirmed with today’s news that the U.S. Supreme Court enacted a federal ban on legal abortion.
This is as personal for me as it is political.
I am very grateful to Madame Noire for providing me a space to express what so many of us are feeling right now.
TRIGGER WARNING: sexual violence and illegal abortion
I was raped at gunpoint in the woods near my father’s house—I was 17-years-old.
I staggered through the streets, miles from home, clothing torn, sobbing hysterically, until I stumbled on a phone booth to call my mother.
I spent hours showering in scalding water.
Like most Black victims, I refused to report my Black rapist to the police.
A week or so later, my mother looked at me and said, “You’re pregnant.”
A skipped period confirmed her diagnosis.
It was 1972 and abortions were illegal.
While many women in this country are horrified at today’s Supreme Court decision to overturn Roe v. Wade after 49 years, Black and Brown women are experiencing an overwhelming mix of grief, rage and terror at the intersection of racism and sexism where we all reside.
Because we know.