Women's Choice

As you likely heard, Kate Cox (31, Dallas, TX) did everything by the book. She and her husband had two children, and they were successful in trying for a third-- Until complications with the pregnancy began to unfold. Her doctor advised her that continuing this pregnancy posed too big of a risk for not only the baby's health but her own, including her ability to have a child in the future should they hope to try again. After multiple trips to the emergency room, the only answer that seemed to make any sense for the family was to pursue an abortion.

Cox appealed for her right to a medically necessary exception to the law, and surprisingly, her appeal was granted. But that news exposed Cox to political figures with agendas to push at the expense of her life.

The Texas Attorney General then threatened to sue any doctor who would perform Kate's abortion - a risk that doctors have to be willing to accept up to 99 years in prison to make.

He petitioned the case for an appeal with the Texas Supreme Court, and they respected his request to revisit the decision.

While they mulled over this decision - one in which she had limited time to respond to while her health was being threatened, she fled the state for the care she needed.

The full story can be found at NPR, here: Link

My sister, neice, and many wonderful friends of mine live in Texas. I moved away less than two years before the time of this post. This issue stirs an intense anxiety in me as the safety of the women in Texas is threatened yet again. Not only is an abortion in Texas illegal and chargeable as murder in the state, but now the government is flexing its ability to decline medical emergencies it once previously used to convince people that the bill would never go too far.

With a deep emotional response to this news tonight, I wrote a poem to honor Kate Cox, and the brave, terrifying, and frustrating decision she has had to make in leaving her children to pursue treatment away from home and loved ones. My heart is with you today, Kate.

" Beeping slows once again;

My paper gown shifts noise into sterile air.

Sweat and tears sting my eyes

while anger swells my head with pressure.

I wait for a decision

that should be mine.

Does honoring life mean killing five,

For the idea of saving an unlikely one?

Unalienable rights:

Life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.

Where are mine?

Take your time deciding, again,

As a bomb counts down within my womb--

You may have to leave a message."