Full disclosure: I didn’t come up with the title for this blog. I stole it from a t-shirt.

I have always loved the 4th of July. My uncles, aunt, cousins, and I would go out on the river, swim, visit, and get sunburned. Then we went back to grandma’s for BBQ and fireworks in the front yard. Bottle rockets, Roman candles, and mortar shells. My uncles loved setting those off the best.

There is a great vibe to the 4th of July. Plus – chemistry! Who doesn’t love a good electron show?

This year is different for me. With the recent overturn of Roe, I am among the 167.6 million people with a uterus who no longer have full bodily autonomy. As a result, my ability to fully participate in the blessings of liberty is infringed without full bodily autonomy. In addition, based on the concurrent opinion written by Clarence Thomas on the Dobb’s ruling, I may also lose my right to birth control.

Today, I will walk in a parade to support pro-choice candidates who will work to ensure that my right to full-bodily autonomy is restored. I will skip all of the other 4th of July festivities.

I cannot celebrate independence day in a country that doesn’t treat me as a whole, independent, and fully-autonomous person. I cannot celebrate something that I no longer have. I simply want all the rights heterosexual, land-owning, white men have always had.

This is not too much to expect from a country that recites a pledge of allegiance that talks of “liberty and justice for all.”

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Below is a song written (lyrics only) and performed by Reina del Cid, a Minnesota musician. She absolutely captures the feelings and thoughts so many of us experience at this time.