Does “My Body, My Choice” Apply to You?

Within the last decade, the phrase “my body, my choice” has become a rallying cry for reproductive justice and access to abortion care. It’s an applicable slogan, but if you aren’t a person with a womb, you might not think it applies to you. I don’t believe that is the case.

In fact, I think that “my body, my choice” applies to a lot of us in more than one way. Isn’t our labor a product of our bodies? Our time? Let’s take a look at how “my body, my choice” might apply to you.

Class

There is a certain group of wealthy people who feel entitled to your labor, your time, and your property. Our physical and intellectual labor is a product of our bodies, minds, and time. Depending on the type of labor you do, your body can be at a higher risk of injury or illness. Our minds can also be at a higher risk of harm through work that exposes us to trauma or vicarious trauma. These wealthy people seek to enrich themselves by claiming some of the benefits our labor, time, and property produce. They also demand deference, which is defined as humble submission and respect to a superior or elder.

Gender

Men from all demographics can feel entitled to the time, labor, emotional labor, property, and access to the bodies of people around them. This can even be true for men who support a woman’s right to choose when it comes to reproductive rights.

Cisgender people, especially of the religiously conservative group, can feel entitled to restrict how queer and gender non-conforming folks dress, act, or modify their bodies in a gender-affirming way. It’s important to note that their desire to have us hide who we are for their comfort is another form of deference.

Race

There are white people of every economic status who feel entitled to control the bodies of people of color in many ways, including police violence and restricting where they can live. These white people may also feel entitled to the time, labor, emotional labor, and property of the people of color around them.

Sexual Orientation

Just as many of the conservative religious groups can feel entitled to control gender identity, they can also feel entitled to control queer folks through sexual orientation as well. They may want to control who we can love, who we can marry, who we can live with, and who we can have sex with. They may want to control whether we can live comfortably in our true identities. This is also an instance where folks can feel pressured to hide who they are and who they love and to show deference for their safety.

These beliefs are not always overt policies or harmful laws. They can be subtly ingrained into our culture, and many of them are. Have you ever heard someone say, “I don’t judge if someone is X as long as they don’t shove it in my face,” or “I don’t care if someone does X as long as they don’t do it in public?”

Reflect on the many ways you may be controlled or feel controlled by laws, policies, organizations, and cultural norms that impact your self-expression and bodily autonomy. If “my body, my choice” applies to you, then join the struggle to allow all people the right to control their own bodies as a basic, centrally important human right.

Change starts with us. If any of the above circumstances or identities ring true for you, “my body, my choice” applies to you. Reflect on your biases and areas where you have power versus those where members of other groups are trying to control you. Listen to and uplift marginalized voices. When we listen and work together, we can make big changes that secure rights for ourselves and our communities.