Ayse E.

WHY I'M BOWLING

I'm lacing up my shoes and polishing my bowling ball to raise money for the Carolina Abortion Fund. Every day, more than 20 callers reach CAF's 24/7, volunteer-run helpline seeking financial assistance for abortion care, which isn't covered by Medicaid or military insurance in NC. 

I am a monthly sustainer of the Carolina Abortion Fund because at their current small budget, the CAF can help just over 10% of those who call the helpline.

I support reproductive rights because when the babies in my life were born, the word we all reached for was "miracle." They were born happy, healthy, without complications to parents who wanted them, to an extended family and community who were beside themselves, and into a world of resources, opportunity, care, and comfort. It is a miracle.

I support the Carolina Abortion Fund (and Planned Parenthood) because I want this for all families. I want a safer, more equitable world, where women are trusted and families are chosen and children are wanted, where personal sovereignty and physical integrity are basic human rights. 

I believe with every fiber of my being that no one, nothing, no institution, no government, no husband, no father, no mother, no family, should have power over the mind and body of a competent person of free will.

Torture, rape, forced pregnancy, forced abortion, forced sterilization, human trafficking, and genital mutilation are crimes against humanity. Vasectomies, tubal ligations, sterilization, birth control, egg harvesting, egg donation, sperm donation, surrogacy, and abortion are the private decision of the person on whose body they impact. This is so basic as to be radical.

Reproductive rights areradical to me: essential, elemental. And, for me, the baseline measure of human rights is dignity, agency, and self-determination. 

I will choose what enters me, what becomes flesh of my flesh. Without choice, no politics, no ethics lives. I am not your cornfield, not your uranium mine, not your calf for fattening, not your cow for milking. You may not use me as your factory. Priests and legislators do not hold shares in my womb or my mind. If I give it to you, I want it back. My life is a non-negotiable demand.

-- Marge Piercy

With your help, we can make an immediate difference in the lives of vulnerable women. Every little bit helps, especially with the Carolina Abortion Fund. Because it's a completely volunteer-run organization, more than 95% of donations go directly to women in need. 

xo, ae