Everything Is on Fire, so What Should You Do?

Did you come here looking for something serious? Because it will be, at some point, with resources for where to donate to abortion funds and what you need to do in the wake of news that the U.S. Supreme Court is going to severely cut into reproductive rights by overturning Roe v. Wade, but also, at this point, I’m in such a rage about cisgender men constantly putting themselves and their views above anyone and everyone else that I just want to have some fun for a bit.

Right now, you’re probably wondering what to do. For me, I came out of a movie (Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness) where, at one point, a woman is doing something pretty horrific and exclaims that’s her being “reasonable,” and while I was initially worried about how the internet would treat her for that, I have since decided that it will be my entire new personality since the Supreme Court has decided that birthing people have no right to their own bodies.

I do not want to get into SCOTUS’s awfulness. I’m sorry, but that’s honestly not where I want my headspace to be today. Instead, I want to talk about what we can do today to try to take a breath and relax and just take a moment for ourselves before entering into our own villain era.

Prepare your villain attire

You’re probably thinking to yourself: Rachel, why would I need to prepare an outfit when I’ve already been ready for my villain era? And you’d be right. But some of us had hope that things would be better and that’s on us, honestly. So take some time today to do a little shopping for your villain look as we prepare to burn it all down to the ground. We have to look our best when fighting those who think that they have a right to take away someone else’s choice!

Fight a cisgender man on the internet

Why not!? They’re the reason we’re in this predicament—them and women like Amy Coney Barrett, and so, I’m ready to be a keyboard warrior and get to fighting! Doesn’t have to be about the ruling to overturn Roe V. Wade. It can simply be about anything. Angry about their take on a movie? Fight ’em! Did they say something at all and you want them to be quiet? Great, time to fight!

Watch some TV

Maybe you just need to check out for a bit, and that’s fine, too. If that’s where you’re at, watch some TV. My comfort show is always Parks and Recreation, and that feels almost too on the nose because Leslie Knope would be marching to Washington herself right now, but hey, maybe that’s the energy I need.

Donate to abortion funds

It’s simple: This is how we start to try to protect the rights of birthing people who are not in liberal states and won’t be fine. We have to protect each other right now, and if that means doing the least we can and donating (if we have the means), then so be it.

This is an attack on all birthing people, and it’s something that we need to push back on. The news isn’t that we learned about this ruling through a “leak” and “norms” talk about protecting the sanctity of SCOTUS. The news is that we have a government that is willing to put their personal views over the right of birthing people to their own body.

Last night sucked. Today sucks. And we have the right to take a moment to try to unpack, but then we have to fight for those who aren’t in a liberal state or can’t afford to drive to one for healthcare. We have to fight for birthing people everywhere.

(image: Marvel Entertainment)