VJJ Follow-Up

by Ashley Weeks Cart

It’s been satisfying and overwhelming to experience the response to this post.

Who knew a little plush uterus could garner such attention?

But that’s the point, right?

I received a number of emails this weekend asking me more about the project, including what I had said in my letter to Senator Brown.

Below is a copy of what I sent to the Senator. I was torn between sending a long winded document versus a short-and-sweet STAY THE HECK OUTTA MY BODY, BUDDY! And, P.S., encourage your fellow Congressmen to do likewise.

I tried to strike some middle ground between the two:

Dear Senator Brown,

I knit you a uterus of your very own.

Please stay out of mine.

What a woman chooses to do with her body has no business in the hands of the government or male legislators.

I urge you to remember that women make up 51% of the population.

We do not need government interference with our doctors or our healthcare.

We do not need government probing our vaginas to help us make decisions about abortion.

We do not need government to give us guidance about whether or not to take birth control.

We do not need misogynistic pundits calling us sluts and prostitutes.

We are over half of the population and we will not be treated as children or a disenfranchised minority.

Sincerely,

Ashley Weeks Cart
Mother of two daughters, wife, Massachusetts resident, voter

So what if you don’t knit or crochet? Look what my friend Cortney made to send off to Senator Brown. I do love those googley-eyes! And speaking of Cortney, she wrote a comment on this post that had us all standing in applause. She nailed it. And I want to open mouth kiss each and every one of you that shared similarly thoughtful, brave responses. With consent. Of course.

Also, I encourage you to join the Government Free VJJ group on Facebook as the community there is regularly sharing great articles and information about all things related to women’s health and the government. It’s how I first saw this video.