My heart is so heavy. My twitter feed is full of stories showcasing the type of decisions that are and will be made in the USA with the current government. Even though I’m an Australian citizen, I lived in the USA for 10 years. I completed my Physical Therapy degree there and worked an additional 5 years. I love America and I love Americans (I married one 🙂 ) Watching women march around the world a few days ago was so inspiring. I know many people criticised the events for various reasons but to me it symbolised a moment in time where women (and some men) found their voices. I’m hoping this is the beginning of many many more moments where women stand up and be heard.
On one of the last few days I was in Nepal I had the opportunity to speak with a Nepali lady who was working for a reproductive health NGO in Nepal. It was the first time I thought about the global impact of Trump being in office. She expressed concerns that the USA would cut funding to her NGO and similar organisations in developing countries. Her organisation provides contraception, pap smears, prenatal check ups, medications, counselling and educational services. It also provides abortions….
Over the years my opinion on abortion has changed and it doesn’t really matter what I or you think about it. I am a privileged white female living in a developed country where I can access any healthcare service at my fingertips. I am literate and ‘wealthy’ and have the luxury to form opinions and express them out into the cybersphere. I know I have absolutely no place to have an opinion or form judgement on a woman who has NOTHING. The fact that a white rich man in a suit can form any sort of judgement on these women is horrendous and makes me feel so sick.
During my field trip in rural Nepal this past November, I met the most beautiful Nepali woman. She was 65 and had never been to the Doctor her whole life. Her five children were born at home and she had never been to school. Not only was she illiterate with no education, but her husband was physically violent towards her. Through a translator, she disclosed sneaking out of the house that day so that she could come and see me. She said she didn’t care if her husband found out and ended up beating her. As I was holding back tears hearing this, she was thanking and blessing me for seeing her that day. I couldn’t grasp how vastly different her life was compared to mine and how gracious her spirit was.
We have no say over where we are born, into what family or what health services we will have access to. As educated and privileged members of our world, it is our duty to show empathy, kindness and generosity to those who were born into dire circumstances.
That is my rant for the day 🙂
Delena-Mae PhD 
You are right, it’s so easy to pontificate on the morality of abortion when you are living in the first world. People don’t seem to understand or care about what it means for a woman in poverty, in developing country, to have an unplanned pregnancy. I’m so disgusted by Trump, Pence etc right now.
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