June 24

Don’t touch my body.
It isn’t yours.

Not another man making choices about my body
That I didn’t consent to

The answer is no.

Before you tell me what I can and cannot do with my body
Let me ask what your body can do

Can your body grow another human life inside of it?
Can your body create life?
But maybe
It travels to the fallopian tube
And is now ectopic
And the baby will not survive
And someone else gets to choose if that unborn baby’s life means more than your life
And they say that it does.

But maybe
There was no consent
You said no
He said yes
With his body
With force
Without the sweet touch that used to exist
When he asked permission
Before he stopped caring if you wanted it or not
And took what was his.

But maybe
Your water breaks too soon
And you lose the amniotic fluid
And the baby will not survive
And you are at risk for infection
That will kill you
And they will not terminate the pregnancy
Because there is a heartbeat
And because whether or not your heart beats is irrelevant.

But maybe
There are complications 
And the baby will not survive
And you cannot lose your baby safely under the care of those who pledged to protect you
So you must bleed and bleed and bleed 
Until it’s gone
And maybe you are gone too.

Can you spend nine months carrying life in your womb?
Can you choose what happens to an embryo because that embryo exists inside of you?

The answer is no.
You cannot do any of those things.
So don’t touch my body.
It isn’t yours.