"Wow! How old is your baby? Is this her first March for Life?"
"It's her second!"
If you have a teenager, teach teenagers or are a teenager, you know that water bottle stickers have been all the rage recently. They are a means for a person to silently describe to others how he or she likes to be perceived. Being a high school teacher, I hopped on the bandwagon and decorated my hydro flask (*tsk tsk tsk* trust me, I am far from being a VSCO girl) a few years ago. Among my stickers that proclaim my love for nature, hiking, teaching, Canada, and Jesus, there is one sticker that I put right at the top "Pro-life=Pro-woman." Having gone to an all girl's high school and now teaching in one, I felt that I needed to state that my feminist perspective includes being Pro-Life (not just at the prenatal stage, by the way). It is a most unpopular perspective, especially as evidenced by the media, but I stand firm in my conviction.
After discovering that the theme for the March for Life was "Life Empowers: Pro-life is Pro-woman," I knew I had to get there this year. I have gone almost every year since I was Sophomore in high school. My family has a very long history of supporting the Pro-life movement. It is in my blood and soul. But how was I going to juggle going and caring for my infant daughter? A myriad of scenarios ran through my mind until I settled on this: I would go with my dad and some of his KOC brothers and bring my baby girl. There was no question that she would come with me. She may be only 6 months old, but she will be a strong female icon. And so we suited up, packed the diaper bag a little more than usual, and headed down to DC on the morning of the March for Life.
The year before, I marched with my students and fellow colleagues while being about 4 months pregnant. This year, I was a baby-wearing mama with a 6 month old baby girl. I shamelessly fed her at the cathedral on a bench in the crypt which faced the altar during Mass. I snuggled her all day long as I carried her about 4 miles, rode with her on the train, navigated the crowds and pointed out to her every neat DC tourist attraction we could see. But then we stood on Constitution Avenue for about two hours, waiting for the March to begin. It was here that I found myself having so many beautiful conversations.
Perhaps my two favorite comments were the above quotation and another, "you don't even need a sign; she IS THE sign." I have always been so staunchly pro-life. But after feeling the growth of another human being in my womb, I find it so hard to understand this world we live in where life in the womb is not respected. I question how people can advocate for those at the border, for the environment, for the poor and homeless but not for life in the womb. I question this because those who are Pro-Life are often questioned if they, too, would stand for these things. The answer is yes. And some times I find myself saying, "I am pro-life, but not just for babies..." as if I have to defend why life in the womb is worth advocating for. I hear far too often that life in the womb isn't life. But I can tell you first hand that the child within is so full of life.
Our dear daughter was so full of life in the womb and even more so now. I will forever vividly remember the first time I felt her move within me - I was sitting on the couch in our apartment, awaiting a snow day announcement. There she was making bubbles in the womb. Then again, when I saw her move on our ultrasounds. The technician kept telling us what a wild child we had, that she wouldn't stay still or move into the right spot. And later in our pregnancy when I got to listen to her heartbeat for an hour every week. I could do nothing more than sit in amazement as I watched my belly dance and I listened to her heartbeat simultaneously. She was so much alive in the womb. And she is so much alive now, today. I listen to her breathing, her laughter, her coughing, her coos and her giggles. She is happy and so incredibly alive.
After the experience of carrying the gift of life within me for 9 full months (thank you, punctual on time, child), I can only continue to advocate life in the womb even more. Pregnancy has empowered me than any other experience I could imagine. I was able to do things like I had never been able to do before. I was able to feel strong, whole, powerful, glorious and more. Motherhood has empowered me even more - my body is one that provides for my child, nourishment, comfort, safety and more. By bringing life into this world, I have been empowered. I am woman, hear me sing.
Attending the March for Life this year was a life-changing and a life-affirming experience. Not because of any political agenda addressed, but rather because I walked with my father, my mother-in-law, my sister, my parish family and above all, my daughter. I walked with her because as a result of her life, I have been empowered. I walked so that she grows to know she is powerful. I walked so that she speaks up for those who cannot speak. I walked to bear witness by my body that life is real and true in the womb and out of the womb.
I have been simmering on my reflection on the March for some time now; almost three weeks. But after this weekend's Superbowl, I felt extremely compelled to write. It is no coincidence that the underlying message of the Superbowl this weekend, was also (supposedly) female empowerment. I have seen many a feminist address the issue from both perspectives, both sides giving legitimate perspective. However, I will say that for me, I saw this as a direct attack on women. With each commercial I watched that was supposedly promoting female empowerment, I felt like my intelligence was being insulted (i.e. the olay women in space commercial). And when I watched the halftime show, while holding my daughter, sitting next to my mother in law and husband, I had lots of questions. I wondered why scantily clad clothing was being promoted on national television but I can't breastfeed my baby in public without having to jump on the defensive. Tell me why we there was such purposeful outfit differences between the two headliners, the male back up singers and the children. From my perspective, this was not a few hours dedicated to the empowerment of women, but rather an attack. After feeling so empowered as a woman, a life-bearer and a mother, I then felt disgusted with the fact that I will never look like that a 50. But I don't want to. I want my body to show that it has born and given life to many children.
Society tells women today that in order to be empowered, we need to wear whatever we want, put on a show for others, bear children only at a designated time and place (and by all means, they must never inhibit our careers), and fight other women over things that are supposedly empowering. I am exhausted by having to defend my choice of motherhood, my choice of nourishing my child, my choice of bringing life into this world in the middle of my career, my choice of raising my daughter with feminist ideals that support the pro-life movement (and you can believe me that I will raise my sons this way, too, if God should gift me them). But the devil never makes any fight worth fighting an easy one. So with the might of the greatest feminists who have gone before me (my grandmother) and those who stand next to me (my aunts, my sisters, my students), I will fight for a pro-life nation that protects the life of the womb - the unborn, the obgyn healthcare for women, the mothers. We live in a world we cannot afford to be anything but pro-life. Our female empowerment depends on it.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XwBRj5-HJN4
