Giving up on a Poem-a-Day temporarily

Yes, Virginia, I am abandoning writing a poem-a-day for a brief (I hope) time.

I have done so because I am being forced to be political. My home state has decided to attack the rights of women and their autonomy over their bodies. I have to write letters and make phone calls so the people I helped elect get back to the business of business.

There are hoards of old, white men who are willing to do just about anything to keep women in this state from making reasonable, personal choices about having an abortion if they so desire. Sure, they wrap it in the hot button issue of state (and national) funding, but the truth is it affects all of us on more than constitutional levels.

I want women to be able to make the choice of their hearts, their religious beliefs, their conscience. I would no more refuse a woman an abortion than I would force her to have one. I would drive a young woman to another state and help her pay for one if she felt she needed to do so. I would also support her getting aid if needed to raise that child I wished she had not given birth to. I'm old enough to remember when secret phone numbers were passed among us, when the university I attended would give you antibiotics and buy a bus ticket to Mexico and take care of you when you got back so you didn't die from the horrible conditions.

Keep in mind- we will choose, legally or illegally. My own grandmother was so damaged by a backalley abortion in Texas in the 30's she never was able to have another child (plus other issues with her body). Other women will abuse and sometimes murder those unwanted babies you insist must be born.

We may consider ourselves a "Christian" nation, but we are not all one religion, certainly not all Christians. Consider your own conscience and I hope you can see my position. First give us choice, then get back to fixing the economy, making the job market larger, eliminating lobbyists and bringing on term limits.