When i was young i used to dream of the names i would give to my twins that i would have;
Luna and Saul,
my little sun and moon.

But life happened
And the cruelty and harshness of the world
Lay heavy on my chest
Making me want to claw my uterus out
To save those innocent clean slates from a lifetime of hurt and suffering

Then came Roe versus Wade
I worry now what will happen to the women like me
In a world where our choice is being taken away
Knowing that it will not stop abortions but just make them unsafe again

I worry what will happen to the Luna’s and the Sauls
What an unplanned pregnancy will lead them to do
Backalley abortion clinics and suicide notes
Their lives taken in turn for a clump of cells those who oppress call the ‘unborn’

‘But you might change your mind’
‘A child is a blessing’
‘What if your partner wants a baby’
‘But aren’t you glad that you were born’

The answers given to the questioning of motherhood
The stares of concern
The constant psychoanalysis when we say we want to be sterilised
As if we must be broken for wanting a different life

When I say abortion saves lives
I don’t say it lightly
I say it knowing the cost
I say it knowing that taking this choice away will leave us with forced motherhood and lives taken too soon
With more children up for adoption
More lives filled with the knowing they were never wanted

If my choice had been taken away
Saul and Luna would’ve been 10 by now
And like so many others who’s choice has now been taken from them
I would have been forced into living a life that I never wanted for myself
My body governed by a rule on paper made by white men in suits