The State of the Uterus

My Fellow Women.

I wish I could come here before you today and tell you that the State of the Uterus is strong.

But at this time in our history, in this country – I worry for each and every one of my sisters out there, for each and every uterus out there.

The State of the Uterus in America is not well, my sisters.

We have become divided. This division has etched deep chasms in our bodies, our psyches, our souls and our purpose. And when our purpose becomes divided and weakened, how easy it becomes for others to assail us.

We’ve let our guard down.

My sisters, we have become divided at the navel, a thick Belt of Politics wrapped around our waists, cinching tighter and tighter until we can no longer draw in a breath.

We’re forced to make a choice between our breasts and our wombs, as if somehow, they are mutually exclusive.

But my sisters: how can we thrive and prosper as Whole Women if we are being strangled by someone else’s politics?

Shouldn’t we be asking ourselves: from where did this belt come and why have we become so complacent to letting the buckle catch tighter and tighter? Have we become dizzy from the lack of air, from the lack of reason?

My sisters I want to exhale a sigh of relief, to fill my belly and lungs with that invigorating inhalation of promise and opportunity. I have Women’s Work to do.

When two pro-women’s organizations are thrown into the ring like fighting dogs, it makes me wonder: has our orchestrated downfall become a spectator sport? And to whose entertainment does our in-fighting benefit?

My sisters, the State of the Uterus is tired and weak. We have faced relentless attacks, we are constantly doubted and I wonder what ever happened to trusting women.

When did Women’s Intuition become a threat?

We are each powerful, beautiful, strong creatures. We are intelligent. We are loving. We are sensual and emotional and capable of boundless, fierce love. Such love.

And yet, we simply can’t be trusted to do what’s best for our bodies. Can’t be trusted that we know what’s best for our bodies. Can’t be trusted to have full ownership of everything that makes us powerful, fierce, unique and beautiful. Can’t be trusted to cherish, celebrate and protect our bodies.

It shouldn’t matter where you get screened for cancer. It shouldn’t matter for what cancer you’re screened. What matters is that we keep women healthy, we keep women alive.

What matters is that every woman in this country deserves equal access to healthcare.

Because all this politicized bedlam only obfuscates the greater conversation, being held behind closed doors and even openly on the floor of Congress: there exists a movement in this country to strip women of their rights.

My sisters, I fear for the State of the Uterus in America.

And you should too.

We need to set our politics aside, we need to stop navel-gazing at this Political Belt that would sever us in half if allowed. We need to free ourselves from this political shackle and unite in one Voice:

Trust women.

Trust us.

Trust. Women.

Sisters, I come before you with such fire in my belly, such spirit in my womb though it be barren, such utter desperation and exhaustion. It’s not about party lines. It never has been. It’s not about key players and titles and positions and politics. It’s not about drama or controversy.

I come before you sisters – as I have in every post and word and effort I have ever given to this blog – with one purpose:

To serve you as my sisters.

I seek to empower every woman, infertile or otherwise, to be her most authentic, strong, brave, beautiful self. To raise my voice when you can’t so that we are ALL heard. To ensure that every one of you gets the support you need – and has the access to do so.

My heart has room for every one of you, my sisters. Because we matter.

Because YOU matter.

Because women’s health matters.

We must come together, as Whole Women calling for change. Demand that we be trusted. Shout that we may be heard.

It is our duty to preserve for our daughters – for the next generation of American Women – to preserve the foundation laid for us by the women who came before us. We owe it to them. And if we don’t unite to protect women, all of the things our mothers and grandmothers and great-grandmothers have achieved for us will begin slipping away through our fingers.

And soon, we will be left desperately reaching for the rights we once had.

I for one, could never look my mother in the eye knowing I had a chance to make a difference – a chance to stand up for myself – and didn’t. And I fear the kind of nation my country is becoming for my someday children.

And so I ask you sisters, to join me.

To join me in standing up for women. To join me in standing up for your sisters and mothers and daughters and aunts and nieces and grandmothers.

To join me in making a commitment to protecting women’s rights and women’s healthcare in America.

To leave your titles and politics at the door and come together in common purpose, in empowered sisterhood, and in numbers so great there’s no way we can be silenced.

Because we have Women’s Work to do.

This blog post was selected as a BlogHer 2012 Voice of the Year and was featured in the 2012 Voices of the Year Anthology, available from Amazon and iTunes. I am deeply honored and humbled to have been recognized in a field of truly outstanding submissions and bloggers. Please take a moment to click the links and read the posts from the other honorees.