A QUESTION OF CHOICE | a book

A twenty five year old woman argued the famous Supreme Court case ROE v. WADE and this book, 'A Question of CHOICE' is her story. This woman's name is Sarah Weddington and she wrote this book about twenty years after the ruling. A lot of people are unaware of Weddington and her notably young age during the trail, in the new millennium we were all very proud of Lena Dunham for directing an HBO show but forty years before Sarah Weddington was the same age as Dunham while she argued a case in front of the highest court in the entire country. It's time we give Sarah Weddington her kudos by educating ourselves about her work, she is a lawyer, an activist, a former elected official, she published this book in 1992 and I read it in 2017; This story is more important than ever for everyone in the United States to know!

I have said it before and I will probably say it a million more times but I love shopping for books at thrift stores! They offer a weird and satisfying glance into what people in the area have read. I could not be more glad that somehow this book caught my attention in a second-hand store because reading it added a fuel to my fire that was perfectly timed.

The story this book tells is heartening. It's full of set backs and the human realities of being an activist, a lawyer, a young person, a woman. This story gave me energy, hearing about Weddington's early, unsuspecting, involvement and life long dedication to this and other causes is reminiscent of the labor of love that got women the right to vote, a struggle that took over 70 years of hard campaigning! Weddington didn't get involved in this because she wanted to become some public figure, she wasn't looking for recognition or fame, she wanted to give a group of woman volunteers piece of mind. There was a group of women who volunteered answering phones, giving out information about where to obtain safe health services. They wanted to know what legal trouble they might be inviting, enter Sarah Weddington - deciding to help find the answer to that question is the simple act that would change her life forever and imbed her in this struggle for reproductive freedom. 

The content of this book was honestly life changing for me. I knew that women had fought for reproductive equality, I definitely knew that we needed to continue fighting because currently the momentum is headed in the direction opposite of equality and reproductive freedom. I knew that Roe v. Wade was important, but I did not know just how the whole thing began or how it came to fruition. The details of the case are everything, they tell a story that will motivate women for years to come. The copy of the book that fell into my hands that fateful day, I believe, was signed by Sarah Weddington herself - WHICH IS FREAKIN' COOL AS HELL! It is dated 7 years after the book was published but who other than the author wold write their note to the receiver, of this book, across the title page with such flourish? 

I obviously can't say for sure it was her but if it was... I have so many questions, who is Carol? I am inspired by her being an educator and she worked with the the American Association of University Women, very cool! How did Carol let this treasure slip out of her book collection? Did she mean to donate it or was it lost? ugh. So. Many. Questions. I will probably never have answers but I will cherish this book, recommend it to men, woman and students alike! It's story is a story we need to take with us into the fight for reproductive freedom, because in 2017 we aren't far from where she was in the 1990s when this was written. We need to continue this work with the dedication of Sarah Weddington, FOR SARAH WEDDINGTON and FOR THE FUTURE GENERTATIONS OF WOMEN WHO DESERVE TO BE RESPECTED & GIVEN THEIR HUMAN DIGNITY UNDER THE LAW.

RELATED CONTENT:

- Salon Article about new reproductive rights documentary

- Dr. Willie Parker's Twitter Feed or his book 

- ​PODCAST: Toward reproductive sovereignty, not reproductive rights

People please, get educated about women's fight for reproductive freedom, talk to anti-abortionists and establish strong arguments against the sexism that leads to legislation that is dire to women's health and equality. This fight is crucial, your knowledge surrounding the subject can not be minimal. This brings me to a very serious point, if you voted for Donald Trump despite the face that his Supreme Court picks would put Roe v. Wade in jeopardy I am finding it very difficult to forgive you. WOMEN, how could you put other women's right to deciding their fate at risk like that? Your right to tax breaks, or border walls, or whatever reason you selected to justify your vote, is not more important than this. Women's ownership of their own bodies hangs in the balance here, we already see it in the hundreds of restrictive laws that have been pursued and past in the last decades. I must acknowledge the privilege that the women who voted for Trump showed. These women didn't feel that their rights were at risk, they have money to get top-secret abortions from fancy doctors, they have health insurance and IUDs in place, they've already had their abortions and are now fat, happy and rich with their nuclear families in the burbs, the women who voted for Donald Trump for President said FUCK YOU to all of the other women in this country. I, personally, am not ready to forgive that, but I can say definitively that I will never forget that. 

PLEASE, take this issue as serious as any and don't vote for any person in any position that isn't PRO-CHOICE. Because being PRO-CHOICE is PRO WOMEN, is PRO EQUALITY, is PRO HUMAN, is PRO LOVE!

xox, katia

PS STEP 1, buy this book from this link or go to your local independent book store!!