Poet and activist Amanda Gorman, who rocketed to nationwide fame after she read her poem, "The Hill We Climb," at President Joe Biden's inauguration, is making waves again, this time for her thoughts on abortion bans across the United States.
In 2019, Gorman, the first person to be named National Youth Poet Laureate, filmed a video for NowThis News in which she shared eight reasons why Americans should "stand against" abortion bans.
The video resurfaced on social media this week, reported by NowThis after a leaked draft opinion indicated the Supreme Court's ruling on Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization will move to strike down Roe v. Wade, the 1973 landmark decision that protects a person's right to choose reproductive healthcare without excessive government restriction.
You can watch it below.
Gorman's words are especially relevant given how much of her work focuses on issues of oppression, feminism, race, and marginalization.
She offers the following eight reasons why Americans should take a stance against abortion bans and efforts to limit women's reproductive rights.
The first:
“When the penalty for rape is less than the penalty for abortion after the rape, you know this isn’t about caring for women and girls. It’s about controlling them.”
The second:
“Through forcing them into motherhood before they’re ready, these bans steadily sustain the patriarchy, but also chain families in poverty and maintain economic inequality.”
The third:
“Pregnancy is a private and personal decision and should not require the permission of any politician.”
The fourth:
“For all time, regardless of whether it’s a crime, women have and will always seek their own reproductive destinies. All these penalties do is subdue women’s freedom to get healthy, safe services when they most need them."
The fifth:
“Fight to keep Roe v. Wade alive. By the term ‘overturn Roe v. Wade‘, the main concern is that the Supreme Court will let states thwart a woman’s path to abortion with undue burdens.”
The sixth:
“One thing is true and certain: These predictions aren’t a distortion, hypothetical, or theoretical. Women already face their disproportion of undue burdens when seeking abortions."
"If the sexes and all people are to be equal, abortion has to be actually accessible and not just technically legal.”
The seventh:
“Despite what you might hear, this right here isn’t only about women and girls. This fight is about about fundamental civil rights."
"Women are a big part of it, but at the heart of it are freedom over how fast our families grow goes farther and larger than any one of us. It’s about every single one of us.”
And the eighth:
“This change can’t wait. We’ve got the energy, the moment, the movement, and the thundering numbers.”
Gorman's words resonated with many who have felt especially vulnerable–and angered–by the news out of the Supreme Court and they praised her for phrasing the fight for abortion rights in such eloquent fashion.
Gorman finished the video with a reminder that the alt-right's "biggest blunder is that most Americans aren’t under their impression that a woman’s body is up to them to decide."
She adds:
"So when you’re outraged, these lawmakers are terrified. They want our tide to lose hope, to back up, pack up, and go home, so don’t. We won’t. We are never alone when we fight fire with feminism."
“So go, be unafraid. We will not be delayed, we will not be masquerade to the tale of a handmaid. We will not let Roe v. Wade slowly fade because when we show up today, we’re already standing up with the tomorrow we made.”
Although the Supreme Court is poised to dismantle abortion rights, polls indicate that the majority of Americans support upholding Roe v. Wade.
According to an ABC News/Washington Post poll, 57 percent of Americans oppose a ban after 15 weeks; 58 percent believe abortion should be legal in all or most cases; and 54 percent think the court should uphold Roe.
Comparatively, just 28 percent of Americans believe Roe should be completely overturned.
