an open letter to Alabama

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I do not know
what it's like
to have an abortion
but I do know
your chances

sixty-two percent
your chances
of being adopted
are at
sixty-two percent

and that is only
while you're young
before you have had
the chance
to become more grown

twenty-eight percent
your chances of
being abused in
the foster system are at
twenty-eight percent

and that's just
in New York alone

so you can imagine
those numbers are higher
because these children
have been taught
not to claim pain

or they will be
without a home

one in six
a woman's
chances of
being sexual assaulted are
one in six

statistically speaking
more men make a home
of a woman's body
than many foster children
have ever actually known

so who are you
to tell me
that He has a stronger claim
to my body
than my own
| l e d

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