I wrote this poem in 2014, in response to a decision made by the Supreme Court. The majority of the Court struck down the buffer zone around clinics in Massachusetts that provide abortion. The decision was issued from inside the Supreme Court’s buffer zone.
Because of the Supreme Court…
So called “sidewalk counselors”
Can harass women who want to enter a clinic.
They can walk right up to women
Who are on their way to see a doctor
And try to hand them “literature”
That is filled with lies and misinformation
They can claim they are providing “counseling”
Even though they don’t have a degree
In psychology or social work
And despite the fact that no one
Who comes to the clinic
Has asked for their “help”
Because of the Supreme Court…
People who enjoy carrying signs
With images of bloody fetuses
And screaming at the top of their lungs
At women
In an attempt to shame them
For the decision they have carefully and thoughtfully made
In an attempt to terrify them so badly
That they are afraid to come to the clinic
To get the health care they need
In an attempt to make it even harder
For women to access a medical procedure
That the Supreme Court itself
Decided it was legal decades ago
Can go ahead and use
Their so-called “freedom of speech”
Which they think means
“freedom to harass and terrorize women”
To prevent women from their own right
To access health care
Because of the Supreme Court…
The “buffer-zone” that protected women
Who need to go to a clinic
And the staff and doctors
Who work in a clinic
And the clinic escorts
That bravely wade through the protestors
In order to help women
Access the clinic
Are no longer protected
From the people who want to repeat history
By bringing their guns
And shooting at people
Who are at the clinic
Because of the Supreme Court…
People who think that
The way to provide “counseling”
Is to yell
“Don’t kill your baby!”
Is to invade a woman’s personal space
Is to stand in front of cars
That are trying to enter the clinic’s parking lot
Is to block the door of the clinic
With their bodies
Have absolutely nothing
Legally stopping them
From behaving in
An ungodly manner
While believing their despicable
words and actions
Are what their god desires
Because of the Supreme Court…
People who have nothing
But hate in their hearts
And a deep desire
To control the lives of complete strangers
Can harass women
Who have miscarried
Or whose babies are stillborn
Because of the Supreme Court…
Women across the United States
Will worry about
Having to push through protestors
In order to see a doctor
About birth control, Pap tests, and cancer screenings
Because of the Supreme Court…
Women seeking birth control
Will consider ones
That last for three or more years
Attempting to lessen the danger
Of multiple trips to a clinic
Because of the Supreme Court…
It is now that much more dangerous
To be a woman in the United States
And for women
To make their own decisions
Regarding their bodies, their health, their lives
Because the Supreme Court…
Made and announced their decision
From safely inside a courthouse
That is protected
By a “buffer zone”
Because of the Supreme Court… is a post written by Jen Thorpe on Book of Jen and is not allowed to be copied to other sites.
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