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#001: State of the Uterus

Well folks, I had a whole launch planned for this podcast in July but since Americans just lost the right to decide what to do with our uterus we’re doing this now. Now presenting the 2022 State of the Uterus.

The Brutal Uterus Show

00:00 / 11:25

Show Notes

Well folks, I had a whole launch planned for this podcast in July but since Americans just lost the right to decide what to do with our uterus let’s do this.

Trigger warning – mention of abortion, miscarriage, and rape.

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Full Show Notes

Hey I’m Natasha and my uterus tried to kill me so I decided to kill it first and now I’m sharing my experience to help other people learn how to survive their uterus.

So what does that even mean?

Surviving your uterus looks different for everyone.

For me, it meant digging that thing out and tossing that shit in the trash… or what you probably know as a total hysterectomy.

Now before you come at me, I’m not advocating that everyone go out and get a total hysterectomy to solve their painful periods.

There are plenty of ways to survive the myriad of issues that being born with a uterus entails that don’t HAVE to end with ripping the thing out and dancing on its metaphorical grave. There are plenty of reasons to have one as well, from chronic illness and disease, to life-affirming salvation.

For many, these types of impossible health decisions are a regular part of life.

The Brutal Uterus Show is here to give a voice to the many facets of living with a reproductive system that feels more like a battlefield.

Welcome to the 2022 State of the Uterus.

It’s a hard time to have – and care about people who have – a uterus.

This year more than any other in decades.

On May 2, Politico published a leaked draft of the Supreme Court majority decision in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization that would explicitly overturn Roe v. Wade and remove the federal protection for abortion access.

On June 24, 2022 the federally protected right to privacy regarding your medical care was overturned.

On top of that, there’s a tampon shortage, and a baby formula shortage.

For those who are in chronic pain – if you’re lucky enough to get a doctor to take you seriously, you still have to navigate a world that ignores invisible pain.

And if you’re faced with a surprise pregnancy or an unexpected complication the decision on what happens next should be an informed one between you and whoever you choose to share that decision with, not one that’s made in a courtroom.

If you’re here, you’ve probably had to make your own hard decisions about your body and what’s going on inside of it.

Maybe you’ve made the type of decisions that Roe protected.

If you’re a parent – you have.

Because the choice to have a child is in as much danger as the choice to end a pregnancy.

When and how we get pregnant is at stake.

When and how we miscarry will be a gray area, and a dangerous position many red state people will find themselves in.

Maybe it feels reactionary, to assume that contraceptives will be next but I believe this court will push it as far as possible over the next few decades if we don’t expand the courts and stop them. They’ll come for marriage equality as well.

And friends – I am here to fight for it all.

I’m just a white girl in the middle of America but I’ll do whatever I can to help you survive your uterus and live your life.

This is a safe space for anyone who has been marginalized and demonized by society.

I know women aren’t the only people who have a uterus.

All loving people are welcome here, whether you currently have a uterus or you are a survivor of your uterus.

You deserve love.

And peace.

And to feel at home in your body.

When I was struggling with daily, insurmountable pain, I felt like a passenger in a broken vehicle.

And I wished I had someone to hold my hand through it.

Which is why I ultimately decided to do this show.

I’m an introvert by nature and so putting myself out there in such a publicly controversial way should feel harder than it’s been but I’m so passionate and pissed off because we should be funding research into women’s health issues but instead we find ourselves fighting to cling to basic human autonomy over our bodies.

It shouldn’t be controversial to say “people with a uterus” but I know that it’s going to raise the hackles of many assholes.

And you know what, you can come for me on that.

Because not all people with a uterus are women, and not all women have a uterus.

Women’s health issues have always been low in funding and attention and now we’re facing dire circumstances as we lose the federal protection to even make our own choices regarding our health.

This court wants us barefoot, pregnant and too stupid to want anything but that life.

We won’t let that happen.

So we fight.

For my kid with a uterus, and yours.

Trigger Bans and Abortion Islands

The state of the uterus in 2022 is learning about things like states with the wrong kind of trigger bans and abortion islands.

You’ve heard about this stuff right?

Well if you haven’t, let me tell you.

For 13 states in America, the laws have already been passed so when the federal protection ends, these trigger states will ban abortion.

These laws will go into effect immediately after Roe v Wade is overturned. In those 13 states, Arkansas, Idaho, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, North Dakota, Oklahoma, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, and Wyoming, it will become illegal immediately or in very fast order to obtain legal abortion access. These laws vary from state to state but, in many cases they will make it a felony offense to have an abortion and to perform one.

Even though there are only 13 trigger states, according to the Guttmacher Institute 26 states are likely to pass legislation that further limits access.

Even though it used to be a popular talking point for the right, most of the laws restricting abortion do not make exception for rape or incest.

For citizens left to drown in these backwards states they will have to rely on abortion island states like Colorado and Illinois. These are states that are expected to double down on preserving our right to abortion access, and are surrounded by states that will outlaw or restrict abortion.

For many of these people, safe access to abortion care will be out of the realm of possibility.

Between negotiating time off, transportation, child care, and funding, many people will simply not be able to access abortion care.

This means people will find themselves forced to accept the dangers of carrying a pregnancy to term.

There are too many risks involved in bringing a new human into the world to force the decision on anyone, and far too many reasons a person may find themselves with an unwanted pregnancy that go way beyond failed contraceptives.

The United States has the highest maternal mortality rate among developed countries, which systemic racism and provider bias makes even worse among marginalized communities.

Black and Indigenous women’s maternal mortality rates are 2–3 times the rate for White women, and 4–5 times as high among women aged 30–39 than among younger women.

We regularly have to contend with terrifying and tragic circumstances, and even the smoothest pregnancies will drain your body and change you inside and out.

There is no room for the government to legislate these circumstances.

We will keep pushing forward.

I’m here to hold your hand while we cry, shout, and resist as they walk back our rights.

I’m here to support and commiserate with you as we push for funding and education and the right to make the best decisions for us and our families, whatever that looks like.

My fight began years ago. I had endometriosis, which is a condition that causes painful lesions made up of cells similar to those that your uterus sheds every month to grow outside of the uterus. It attaches itself to everything, gluing your organs together in the most painful way.

I was in constant, debilitating pain in between periods and I was mostly bedridden for 5 days a month, every month. I had multiple surgeries to remove these growths before finally giving up and having a total hysterectomy.

A drastic decision made from a place of deep and chronic pain.

A decision I knew was not even a guaranteed cure.

And if I’m lucky, I’ll spend the vast majority of my (now shortened) lifespan without hormones in an effort to keep the endo (and the pain) away.

At this point, for me, it was a cure. I’m pain free, I’m healthier because I can move again, and I can enjoy a happy life with the family I chose to have.

But endo is far from the only chronic issue that comes with having a uterus.

From PCOS, to fibroids and cysts, to adenomyosis and pelvic floor dysfunction, no matter what, we’re taught that periods are supposed to hurt.

That it’s all normal.

But here’s the thing –

Crying through your period is NOT NORMAL.
Your lower back being fused to a heating pad every month is NOT NORMAL.
That uh…battlefield in your underwear every month might be, but really it probably is NOT NORMAL.
Hurting from your tits to your knees is NOT NORMAL.

We’re conditioned from birth to believe that periods are an uncomfortable fact of life but the fact is women’s health issues are under-diagnosed, under-funded, and under fire.

I believe there is no room for the government in our bodies.

And that legislating these decisions is going to kill far more people than conservatives think they’re saving.

Because these issues affect far more than one organ system.

It affects our mental health.

Badly.

It affects our careers.

Badly.

It affects our relationships and our families.

Badly.

So, what comes next?

Here we are, in 2022, in the fight of our lives.

We should be researching these diseases.

Finding different, better treatments than major, life-altering surgery.

Instead, we’re fighting for the same rights our grandmother’s mothers fought for us to have.

Turning to philanthropy to support women’s rights.

Planning routes to abortion islands.

Trying to make sure we can all get the help we need, when we need it.

It feels insurmountable.

It’s going to be hard.

Good people are going to die from preventable things.

But we don’t give up hope.

We’ll expand the courts, and secure the right to make healthcare decisions for ourselves.

We’ll grow our cause and fund the research ourselves.

We’ll hold our elected representatives accountable by becoming a bigger force to reckon with than they can ignore, and we’ll vote them out in unfuckwithable numbers.

And I’ll be here with my virtual bullhorn and a growing legion of people who are ready to get loud and turn this shit around so that we can keep moving forward.

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Share with a beloved family member or friend and together we’ll fight to secure the right to live comfortably in our own bodies, without having to justify our decisions to anyone but our damn selves.