NaPoWriMo 3/31 - A Cage

Here is my poem in response to the 3/31 prompt on NaPoWriMo.net

I wrote a sijo in response to building a poem with a title that starts with A/the Cage.

A Cage - Sijo

I was born a girl.

Half the global population is

born with limbs, breasts, a womb.

I gave birth to a daughter. Look still:

All these hate crimes against girls

we rewrite them as just a crime.

***

This poem comes from a place of rage, it comes from my want for freedom for all women and girls across the world.

A hate crime assumes violence, but the actual definition of a hate crime does not have to entail a direct act of violence. Also, when discussing abortion rights within the US, the more and more I read, and the more women who are denied their fundamental rights of being a human being, I realize that by denying abortion and basic women's healthcare, our legislators and supreme court have committed a hate crime against women based off their gender and having a womb.

By allowing bans at a state-wide level, women are dying and will continue dying. Maternal healthcare, including abortion, can save a woman's life, and abortion has already been denied to multiple women who are seeking abortions to evacuate a dead or dying fetus.

The US legislature and supreme court are allowing women to be murdered based on abortion bans.

The definition of a hate crime as per the U.S. Dept of Justice:

"Hate Crime: At the federal level, a crime motivated by bias against race, color, religion, national origin, sexual orientation, gender, gender identity, or disability."

Abortion bans are a hate crime against women.

Photo credit: Emily's List (Fighting for women's access to abortion by electing pro-choice women into political office)