My grandparents immigrated from India 55 years ago so that I could get a good education and be anything I wanted. Today I’m just a freshman at George Washington University skipping class to freeze my ass off on the steps of the Supreme Court. On May 19th, Governor Greg Abbott signed a bill banning abortion as early as six weeks. Today the Supreme Court is hearing arguments on the law. I am writing this from the steps, extremely outnumbered. Hardly anybody is here. The people lining the barricade in front of the court right now are pro-life Ken Paxton super fans. The hustle on the hill continues and my college campus, less than three miles from the court, remains unchanged.
Texas women are holding our rights like water in our hands. For all three hours of argument, I sat next to a 68-year-old woman wearing a visor and a sensible vest. She told me that when she was my age, she had an abortion. She told me that she wished my generation wouldn’t have to live through this too. Together, we listened to Justices condescending the counsel fighting for our rights. We cried. We hugged. We mourned. We grieved for the living. And then argument was over. We got up and I promised her I’d see her December 1st, same spot, for Mississippi.
From my time spent with my new friend and sitting on the cold concrete, I have gathered two things. First, that people are giving up on Texas. While our rights are being written away, our allies across the country are growing weary. Imagine how tired we are. It is easy to write Texas off as a red state. A lost cause. But when we choose to stop showing up, we are choosing to abandon our menstruators in Texas. Don’t leave us behind because you think it’s too hard. There are 5,259,126 Texans that voted for Biden and to protect the right to abortion in every state in the U.S. If you think there is nothing you can do, think again. I couldn’t stand before the court and argue myself so I went to mourn my loss with others who are losing. Give to an abortion fund. Donate to progressive candidates in Texas. Do anything, just don’t give up. Second, someone needs to run for governor. It is embarrassing that at this point, after all the destruction that has happened this session, that Democrats do not have a single person in the race. I cannot sit here and beg others to fight for Texans if Texans won’t even fight for Texas. Why are we waiting? We have everything to lose.
I am paying too much money to go to school here to skip class every time something monumental happens. I need you to step up for Texas too. After today, there is a possibility that the Supreme Court may allow a challenge to the abortion ban. Until then, it is our responsibility to put the pressure on. I’ll see you in the streets.
