This past Saturday, I had the privilege of attending and volunteering at Planned Parenthood’s Rise Up for Reproductive Rights rally in Columbia, South Carolina. The rally hosted speakers from the Charleston area and Columbia. Many of the speakers shared personal testimonies and expressed gratitude for the services and work that Planned Parenthood does. Women should not have to share the most intimate details of their lives in order to rally support and get the legislature to listen but it’s where we are. Today in 2019, South Carolina legislators rarely listen when it comes to reproductive rights. Women’s rights are human rights and you would think that our government officials care about human rights.
Together, we can change the way our society speaks about reproductive rights but it will never work unless we do it as a collective. This is not an easy issue we are facing. There are several bills being brought to the South Carolina state legislature that would prevent safe, legal abortions. We cannot allow our government to force women into life-threatening back-alley abortions. As young women, it is crucial that we rise up and make our stance known. Staying silent on the issues that affect us as women restrict progress just as much as these new laws will if they are passed.
Don’t let yourself be silenced. Stand up and rise up. Whatever your beliefs are, make them known and be proud to have the values you do. The only way change will ever come is if we reach across both sides of the aisle and work together. Putting aside partisanship and working for the greater good is so much more important than the bickering and petty arguments that are taking place in Washington.
Rise up for your reproductive rights and be unapologetically you. You are valued, your rights are valued. Don’t let some old white man decide your future.