Time To Retire “Hands-Off ” For The Reproductive Rights Movement
Our hands and their actions are not theirs and theirs alone. Our hands are controlled, in full, by our brains. When saying “hands-off my reproductive rights”, “hands-off my body”, and even “hands-off my choice” we are inadvertently giving those opposed to us, and opposed to our need for autonomy and equal personhood, an out. What I mean by this, is this: It is our mind which creates action for our hands, not the hands which house a brain of their own. Because of this, it is about time we dig-up the root of the issue and expose it to the light.
It is known that one is not lead by their hand towards decision-making or agenda-building action. It is about time people become painfully aware of their, personally-flawed, attempts to withhold others’ personal choices, lifestyles, and affairs. So, instead of identifying hands as public enemy number one, let’s turn our attention to the mind which causes these matters in the first place.
The one who holds such deep-seated antipathy for their fellow human, who makes countless attempts to hinder their love, liberty or life, must be held responsible on just as much of an intimate level as that of the injustice itself. — Joseph, S.
A hand is visible, public, and an easy scapegoat. The mind, however, is personal and daunting. “Keep your minds off of our bodies” and “keep your minds out of our reproduction” has a powerful, analytical, and breaching feeling that is both necessary and, mildly, invasive.
While minds should remain focused on funding research, securing advancements, and engaging in broader education, the mind need not to wonder what choices another makes when provided said information. In short, this means: Keeping minds on advancements and answers is critical, but keeping them out of the personal choices that come from these pieces of information is also critical. Similar to the old saying regarding a horse and a drink of water. “You can bring a horse to water, but you can not force it to drink”. While one may be fiercely one way versus the other, it is not our job, nor should it ever be, to dictate the personal affairs of others — even in the face of countless, and contrasting, sources and ideologies. What is an administration’s job, however, is to provide opportunity, resources, and evidence-backed answers for others to decide what to do with said insight. It is their job, after all, to lead us to water or means of prosperity, but it is also our governing members’ job to then relinquish control over how we engage with said water or prosperity. After reaching these medical, economic, and social milestones, we can all definitively say, “Keep Your Minds Off!”.
If, once I have provided them explicit directions, I should no longer hold my student’s hand (figuratively), then our administration should not, once providing it’s citizens with well-rounded resources, hold onto our cervix. Decisions, and personal ones at that, remain in and for the mind which dictates them alone. Resources are communal, reasoning is personal.
