I am still weaving to alleviate my anxiety over the state of things in my state and country these days. It had been on my mind frequently the abysmal women’s health care issues. South Carolina is one of many states determined to make abortion a death penalty crime for the health care provider and the patient. I feel strongly that reproductive health care should be between the patient and the provider and the government needs to stall the hell out of it.
To describe my feelings about this issue, I created Adele. I have written a little story about Adele as well:
Meet Adele. A single mom, two jobs, and a calendar carved into pieces just to make ends meet. She scrubs other people’s bathrooms while her daughter sits in a classroom across town, then pulls on her apron and waits tables at night—on the evenings her neighbor can watch the little one. It’s a life stitched together with exhaustion and love.
So when she finds out she’s pregnant, it feels unreal. No morning sickness this time, no slipping rules—she’s always careful. But after the second missed period, the test she bought on her lunch break didn’t lie.
Now what? If she had the money to travel to a state where abortion is still legal, she’d have the money to raise another child. The irony stings. And every time she looks at her daughter’s bright, trusting face, her heart tightens. Adele knows this new reality will land hardest on the little girl who already depends on her for everything.
She stands in the quiet of her tiny kitchen, test in hand, realizing that whatever choice she makes, life is about to change—and not just for her.
ADELE