Abortion rights activists during a Bans Off Our Bodies rally and march to the Supreme Court on May 14, 2022 in Washington, DC.
I knew immediately what one might think. Her name is Lillie and her story motivates my work as an obstetrician-gynecologist and as an advocate for sexual and reproductive rights globally. She would say that history is repeating itself after learning little from its past.This is the year Lillie delivered her first child. She was 17 and her child did not live to see his 20th birthday. Lillie experienced at least 18 pregnancies during her lifetime.
Like Lillie, I did not always have a choice about which men touched my body. From the man at a shoe store who groped me when I was out of my mother’s sight, to men on crowded public transportation who touched me with anonymity, to the hotel employee who tried to force himself on me in my hotel room. As a poor Black girl in America, those assaults were a daily reality.I do not know if Lillie was conceived through rape.
From family conversations 100 years later, it is clear the effects of reproduction without consent linger on my family’s psyche across generations.Although Lillie’s life opportunities were limited, access to family planning options might have afforded her some important benefits.