AOC Thanks God for ‘At Least’ Having ‘A Choice’ To Get Abortion After Being Raped
On Friday night, New York Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez addressed a crowd of protestors targeting the Supreme Court’s reversal of Roe v. Wade to recount her own experience with sexual assault and how grateful she was that abortion was an option for her if necessary.
Talking to the crowd, she said: “I myself, when I was about 22 or 23 years old, was raped while I was living here in New York City. I was completely alone. I felt completely alone. In fact, I felt so alone that I had to take a pregnancy test in a public bathroom in midtown Manhattan,” she said.
She continued, “When I sat there waiting for what the result would be, all I could think was thank God I have, at least, a choice. Thank God I could, at least, have the freedom to choose my destiny,” adding, “I didn’t know then, as I was waiting, that it would come up negative.”
The Supreme Court ruled 5-4 to overturn Roe v. Wade, and 6-3 to reverse Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization the same day that Ocasio-Cortez took to Union Square to make her remarks.
A vocal minority of anti-abortion activists have been celebrating the decision, while thousands of people have taken to the street in protest of the Supreme Court’s ruling.
Attorney General Merrick Garland has been outspoken in his disagreement with the ruling and has stated that the Department of Justice will work to ensure reproductive freedom for all women. “And we will not waver from this Department’s founding responsibility to protect the civil rights of all Americans,” he said, according to CNBC.
Ocasio-Cortez appeared on MSNBC’s “Meet the Press” on Sunday to continue discussing Roe v. Wade. Responding to Arkansas Governor Asa Hutchinson’s decision to sign a trigger law that bans all abortion, with the exception of saving the mother’s life, Ocasio-Cortez said, per an article in Fox News:
“The state of Arkansas and Governor Hutchinson governs over a state that has the third-highest maternal mortality in the United States. 71% of the women who die are Black women as well. This is a state that has 26% child poverty, where one-in-four children are… living in poverty in the state of Arkansas.”
New York Rep explained that overturning Roe v. Wade will only increase the levels of maternal mortality, child poverty, and inadequate child healthcare in states like Arkansas.
Ocasio-Cortez also took to Instagram on Sunday to do one of her trademark Instagram Live talks, which she’s known to do multiple times a week.
Over the course of nearly one hour, Ocasio-Cortez detailed a plan of action for reversing the Supreme Court’s decision. She made it clear that, while voting is a necessary part of social change, it’s not the only thing that needs to be done.
In an attempt to combat the hopelessness that has accompanied the reversal of Roe v. Wade, Ocasio-Cortez laid out a plan of her own on both an electoral and social level, encouraging grassroots organization and community action to change things on the local level and beyond.
