Shacks Filled with Babies Redux

Usually on my blog I stay away from politics.

But sometimes a deeply held conviction compels me to publicly take a stand.

One of these times is now.

My 4th blog post ever, published on October 22, 2012, was "Shacks Filled With Babies."

I'm returning to this subject.

Now, people may disagree with me, and that's okay.

Each person has the right to stand on one side of an issue or another.

I am expressing my unshakeable beliefs

that a woman has the right to control her own body

and to make informed decisions about her medical and reproductive health.

I was devastated when the Supreme Court overturned 

Roe v. Wade, 410 U.S. 113 (1973), on June 24, 2022.

The Roe v. Wade decision in 1973 ruled that "the Constitution of the United States

generally protected the right to have an abortion." Wikipedia

I knew what could happen to women without this constitutional protection.

Protests at the Supreme Court of the United States on the Day Roe vs Wade Was Overturned

Photo by Ted Eytan ~  License

June 24, 2022    Washington D.C., USA

I am old enough to remember the cost of unwanted pregnancies:

I remember young women being forced to marry against their will.

In one particularly horrific situation that has never left me, 

a 14 year-old-girl was forced to marry the town drunk

who was over a decade older than she.

Of course, the marriage didn't last,

and the girl was left with a young baby and no high school diploma.

Meanwhile her "unfallen" older sister graduated from university.

The father of the two girls was a minister.

I remember the humiliating and life-altering label of "ruined."

If a girl or young woman was known to have sex outside of marriage, she was ruined.

If a she was raped, she was ruined.

If she became pregnant as a result, she was doubly ruined.

If she bore a bastard child, she and the child were both tainted.

In another particularly horrific situation that has never left me,

a girl was raped repeatedly by her father and forced to give birth to his child.

She toiled in her father's restaurant to support the child in a tiny community.

I had to eat in that restaurant a number of times, and I'll never forget

how my skin crawled when I saw the father barking orders at his daughter.

I remember the horror of back alley butchers 

where desperate girls and young women went to end pregnancies,

sometimes losing their lives or their ability to have children in the future,

the callousness of the fathers of the babies who abandoned them,

handing them a few dollars and saying, "Get rid of it," and "Don't come back to me."

We've all seen the consequences of overturning Roe v. Wade in the news.  

Before the overturning, the U.S, already had the highest rate

of maternal deaths in industrialized countries. (Propublica)

Tracking the maternal mortality rate in the US is difficult

for a number of reasons, but it is certainly rising

because of overturning Roe V. Wade.

There are many other unintended consequences;  

mothers forced to carry babies that will die before or shortly after birth,

mothers being denied care for miscarriages or other medical emergencies,

mothers unnecessarily losing their ability to have future children,

parents with fertility issues unable to access fertility treatments,

and mothers and healthcare professionals facing possible criminal prosecution.

I was never in the dreadful position of having to decide

whether or not I would end a pregnancy.

I was a "good girl," a term I hate almost as much as "ruined."

I don't know what I would have chosen to do in that situation,

but I know this absolutely:

I will stand up for a woman's right to bodily autonomy and to receive medical care.

However, I am also concerned about access to birth control. 

I've been saying for decades that if Roe v. Wade was overturned by anti-abortionists, 

the next target would be birth control.

Anti-birth control rhetoric is on the rise, 

along with increasing pressure on women to have more babies.

Women who are childless are derided by some people.

I don't have to look farther than the GOP Vice Presidential candidate JD Vance

who has said troublesome, offensive things about childless women in the past, such as 

"Democrats were promoting an 'antifamily' agenda led by a bunch of childless cat ladies

who are miserable at their own lives and the choices that they’ve made

and so they want to make the rest of the country miserable, too. ...

People who don’t have kids don’t have “a stake” in this country."

(Tucker Carlson interview during Vance's 2021 Senate run - The Hill) 

I won't go into JD Vance's comments on

the purpose of post menopausal women or childless teachers.

As a childless, non-cat owning, post menopausal, retired teacher,

I am outraged at the idea that I don't have a stake in our country's future.

Donnie, Me, and Roy on the Steps to Our Second Story Apartment

in a Community That Had a Lifetime Impact on Me

Atholville, New Brunswick, Canada

1956

© M. Louise (MacBeath) Barbour/Fundy Blue. All Rights Reserved

There is a misogynistic undercurrent in too much political talk right now.

It really bothers me.  

I was, still am, someone who advocated for the failed Equal Rights Amendment.

If it had passed, the U.S. Constitution would have been amended

to invalidate many federal and state laws that discriminated against women. (Google)

I profoundly believe in the amendment's main principle

that the rights of men and women should not be determined by sex.

I've been harmed far less by using unisex bathrooms 

than by being a second class citizen because I am female.

I worry, because I have already seen established rights for women stripped away.

I am apprehensive about what else could happen.

As for "Shacks Filled with Babies," I want to share my memory

of the most powerful lesson my mother ever taught me.

I learned this lesson when I was six years old, 

and it was branded on my mind, heart, and soul.

It shaped me as a girl, a teenager, and a woman,

and it formed a bedrock belief that I will never abandon. 

My mother fixes my hair before I blow out the five candles on my birthday cake.

My sister Donnie is in the lower right.

I don't have a photo of my sixth birthday

Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island, Canada

March 18, 1955

© M. Louise (MacBeath) Barbour/Fundy Blue. All Rights Reserved

Twilight deepened over the Restigouche River, 

and lights winked on in the small village along its southern bank.

Supper was over, the dishes done, the kitchen tidied. 

My mother said, “Come on, Louise. Let’s go for a walk.” 

I think we lived on Notre Dame Street. It was along time ago. 

But, I can never forget the pervasive smell of the pulp and paper mill across the street. 

Something else I can never forget is the shacks filled with babies. 

Donnie with Her Dolly in Front of the Pulp and Paper Mill

Atholville, New Brunswick, Canada

1956-1957

© M. Louise (MacBeath) Barbour/Fundy Blue. All Rights Reserved

We walked the quiet streets, and my mother pointed out home after home. 

“You see that shack, Louise? 

Seventeen children live there.  And sixteen there.  And eighteen there. 

"The man who lives in that two-room shack over there; he has a good job at the mill. 

He’s a chemical engineer, but he’s got too many children. 

That’s why he lives in a shack. 

People can’t afford to have baby after baby after baby.” 

We walked on in the warm night, and my mother continued, 

“But this will never happen to you, Louise!

You won’t be forced to have baby after baby. 

You see, the most wonderful thing has happened! 

They’ve invented a pill. 

Scientists have invented a pill that stops women from having baby after baby. 

"That means that you, as a woman Louise, can be who you want and do what you want. 

You can go to university, get a good job. 

You can stand on your own two feet. 

You will never have to live in a shack, 

because you will never have to have a baby you can’t afford.” 

These startling words branded my six-year old mind. 

I might not remember the name of our street, 

but I will never forget the shacks filled with babies. 

Grammie Pushes Barbie in a Stroller Accompanied by Roy and Donnie

My mother was very sick then.

Atholville, New Brunswick, Canada

1957

© M. Louise (MacBeath) Barbour/Fundy Blue. All Rights Reserved

I learned unforgettably that a woman's right to control her own body determines her life.

That is my most important consideration as I cast my vote in November.

My Mother, Sara Margaret (MacDonald) MacBeath

Circa 1950

© M. Louise (MacBeath) Barbour/Fundy Blue. All Rights Reserved

Location of Atholville and Smith's Cove

Canada

Google Maps  Map Data 2018

Location of Atholville, New Brunswick

Canada

Google Maps Map Data 2018

The Best Possible Mother with Her Lucky Daughter

Smith's Cove, Nova Scotia, Canada

Summer 1952

© M. Louise (MacBeath) Barbour/Fundy Blue. All Rights Reserved

Because of the personal nature of this post, I am not linking to other blogs this week.

Have a great weekend! 

 Till next time ~

 Fundy Blue

 

Standing Into Danger                                    https://selkiegrey4.blogspot.com

 Copyright ©2024 – All rights reserved.

My next post will be 

Wednesday, September 4th 🤞 

On the Bay of Fundy
© M. Louise (MacBeath) Barbour/Fundy Blue
All Rights Reserved