When people are pointing out the hypocrisy of Congress and their treatment of people who need abortion rights, you have to specifically talk about cis women because the people and institutions who want to prevent people from getting abortions are specifically talking about cis women. Congress and insurance companies and everyone who wants to prevent people from having abortion rights are creating legislation to block cis women and spreading rhetoric to prevent cis women from getting those rights or having those options. The conversation around who should be allowed to have an abortion should include nonbinaries and trans men, but the conversation surrounding pointing out the hypocrisy and stupidity of everyone trying to prevent abortion rights should be about cis women, because they are targeting cis women.
Including trans men and nonbinaries is important in the movement for abortion rights, and it’s not like including them is a disservice to cis women or something, but fighting back against anti-abortion movement should put more emphasis on cis women seeing as that the anti-abortion movement is putting all of their focus on cis women.
No, they are not targeting cis women.
How many times do we have to say this?
THEY ARE NOT TARGETING CIS WOMEN.
They are targeting people who can get pregnant because they only allow that those people are all women and all women are those people.
This is directly and intimately cissexist. This is a direct and intimate denial of trans people’s existence, lives and our realities.
This actively erases us and makes it harder for us to get any reproductive health shit at all let alone abortions because all the fucking rhetoric assumes cis woman status without actually only dealing with cis women.
You do not get to ignore us, sweep us away and erase us just because the fucking anti-choice anti-reproductive health lobby do.
We matter. Our lives fucking matter. The fact that WE ARE ALSO FUCKING AFFECTED BY THIS FUCKING MATTERS.
Also fuck you for saying ‘them’ like the people you are responding to are not the very fucking people you are talking about. Address us when you crush us underfoot, asshole.
But this is exactly the idea about general discussion about abortion rights, and then fighting back against the GOP’s stance on abortion rights, which are just not the same conversation at this point.
For example, my home state Virginia (woohoo) introduced a bill demanding that everyone getting an abortion requires an ultrasound. And the language in the bill, yeah, does specifically target cis women:
“Abortion; informed consent. Requires that, as a component of informed consent to an abortion, to determine gestation age, every pregnant female shall undergo ultrasound imaging and be given an opportunity to view the ultrasound image of her fetus prior to the abortion. The medical professional performing the ultrasound must obtain written certification from the woman that the opportunity was offered and whether the woman availed herself of the opportunity to see the ultrasound image or hear the fetal heartbeat. A copy of the ultrasound and the written certification shall be maintained in the woman’s medical records at the facility where the abortion is to be performed. This bill incorporates SB 279 (Smith).”
The answer of course, is that all legislation preventing anyone from getting an abortion should be stopped, duh. I think there should be legislation introduced allowing anyone who can get pregnant to have an abortion for whatever circumstance. But when specifically combating legislation like the Virginia bill, something that’s language and rhetoric is about what the GOP’s idea of someone who can get pregnant, it’s cis women. How can we combat that rhetoric when the GOP does not acknowledge the existence of people can get pregnant other than cis women? Abortion is a human rights issue, but I don’t know how to frame a conversation about it to include everyone when the other side only wants to talk about one group.
What on earth are you saying here?
Are you actually seriously claiming that because the legislation specifies “pregnant female” and “woman” that trans people who are not women would not be affected by this? Really?
It does not specifically target cis women because as far as the fucking GOP is concerned, I am a cis woman. As far as the GOP is concerned all people who can get pregnant are cis women.
Except when it is convenient for them to acknowledge otherwise (IE: the legislation specifically attacking and controlling us), trans people simply do not exist.
You are supposed to know better. You are supposed to acknowledge that we exist. You are supposed to point out that the GOP’s policies are inherently misogynistic and sexist and also inherently cissexist because of what their understanding of what ‘woman’ is.
THE OTHER SIDE IS NOT JUST TALKING ABOUT ONE GROUP. IT IS TALKING ABOUT ALL OF US, AND ATTACKING ALL OF US.
JUST BECAUSE THEY CALL US ALL BY THE SAME FUCKING NAME DOES NOT ACTUALLY MEAN THEY ARE ONLY ATTACKING THE ONES WHO THEY NAME.
It just means that the rest of us are IGNORED AND ERASED, EVEN AS WE ARE CRUSHED.
It is because they refuse to acknowledge us that you must acknowledge us and that we must speak out about that refusal.
They only want to talk about one group because they only acknowledge one group. Don’t you dare do the same fucking thing.
Alright, RE-spect. I guess my hesitations lie in figuring out how to really talk to the GOP about it when they don’t even acknowledge trans people and nonbinaries, but yeah, true, you only don’t exist until it’s convenient for the GOP to marginalize you; like damn, that makes a lot more sense. Sorry for the cissexist logic, I just wasn’t sure how to stand on this, but I think it’s all cleared up!
(Source: owsposters)
