I have chosen not to receive the COVID vaccine. This decision is not based, as some have insinuated, on my political beliefs. It is not based on “misinformation”….it is based on how I have made all the decisions in my life. I observe, I educate myself, I listen, and I think through the pros and cons. I trust my instincts after I have finished this process. And my gut tells me not to get this vaccine. I don’t trust it, I don’t trust those telling me I need it, and I certainly don’t trust anything that is being forced down my throat.
The call to arms, “My body, my choice” used to be seen as coming from liberal, right wing women. It was a mantra about birth control and the right to decide whether or not to fulfill a pregnancy. It became a major platform for one political party in the 80s and 90s.
Now, that same call…that same ideology, has become a bullseye for bullying, for determining where I can go, whether or not I can receive an education, or whether or not I am considered worthy to know or hire. By the same political party that used that phrase to win elections for decades.
Let me clear……I am a well educated, well spoken, independent woman. I think for myself and have never bent to someone else’s beliefs or views. I believe strongly in our Constitution, and I believe in the common good. And I used to believe the rights laid out in our founding documents were solid.
But they are not invincible. They must be protected and upheld and fought for. I have the right to speak, even of you don’t agree with my words. In fact, the exchange of words and ideas by different points of view helped found our country and is one of our core strengths. But now, I don’t have the right to say what I think. Different points of view are no longer valued. I don’t have the freedom to even use the written word…..they are now seeking to censure my texts and posts and tweets.
And now they are saying it’s NOT my body and my choice. That if they are wrong and I have a complication to a vaccine that is still being tested on millions of willing subjects, well…. it’s for the greater good. My life and health, if damaged or extinguished, was a small price to pay. And those freedoms we all used to enjoy as Americans? White privilege and nothing more.
Woman on a Soapbox 