Invisibility, Fertility, and the Pro-Life/Pro-Choice Camps

I rarely write about abortion.  I barely write about reproductive rights.  

I choose to explore other mentalities of the pregnancy, contraception, rep rights, abortion scene because I have strong (volcanic) feelings that the two camps just don't sum up my concerns and thoughts well enough.

(Oh, FYI, the article that I am linking to is to one of the most powerful and important posts on sexuality, fertility, and Rep Rights I have read in a long time.)

Probably because I myself have fertility problems.  At age 20, I had tumors and partial ovarian removal.  This came after a lifetime of irregular menstrual cycles, one that even last 40 straight days.  Yes, that is a true fact. I have had hormone deficiencies, struggled with weight balance and blood sugar levels, and am at risk for high blood pressure.  Everyday, I struggle with health, its implications for impending motherhood, and my stubborn ovaries.

So, when my concerns about having children surface, my immediate thoughts concern themselves with how well I know my own body.  Not how loud I can be or how many people I have shared a bed with.  My reproductive rights are a right of intimacy with my own skin and organs, knowledge about health, wellness, and empowerment.  It's not just about access to medical procedures and doctors.  It's about womyn, ALL womyn, truly understanding our cycles, our gifted bodies.  Perhaps Rep Rights are realizing that the most radical and authentic control we can exercise is not about ensuring that a doctor can perform a procedure in our womb, but about the very ability to independently read and understand our own bodies.

Read these words.