If you enjoyed Amanda Palmer’s hastily composed ode to Boston Marathon bomber Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, chances are you’ll find something that touches your heart in “If My Vagina Was a Gun,” entered into the Texas senate record today during testimony on S.B. 1. Hundreds of women and men have been testifying both for and against the legislation, which would restrict most abortions after 20 weeks gestation.
Update: A woman testified against #SB1 by reading a poem called "If my Vagina was a Gun." Read poem on our live blog: http://t.co/4qIc9LZqcA
— The Daily Texan (@thedailytexan) July 8, 2013
The poem, by Katie Heim, was a hit with opponents of any abortion restrictions and has been reblogged extensively:
If my vagina was a gun, you would stand for its rights,
You would ride on buses and fight all the fights.
If my vagina was a gun, you would treat it with care,
You wouldn’t spill all its secrets because, well, why go there.
If my vagina was a gun, you’d say what it holds is private
From cold dead hands we could pry, you surely would riot.
If my vagina was a gun, its rights would all be protected,
no matter the body count or the children affected.
If my vagina was a gun, I could bypass security,
concealed carry laws would ensure I’d have impunity.
If my vagina was a gun, I wouldn’t have to beg you,
I could hunt this great land and do all the things men do.
But my vagina is not a gun, it is a mightier thing,
With a voice that rings true making lawmakers’ ears ring.
Vaginas are not delicate, they are muscular and magic,
So stop messing with mine, with legislation that’s tragic.
My vagina’s here to demand from the source,
Listen to the voices of thousands or feel their full force.
If My Vagina Was a Gun poem = brilliant #sb1 testimony. Listen—it will make your day: http://t.co/EoDdzkN2fp
— TEA Fund (@TEAFund) July 8, 2013
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There are some discrepancies between the live performance and the transcription; it might be best to wait for the definitive version before having it tattooed on your body.
AWE. SOME. RT @BOR: UPDATE: Full text of @katieh1022's "If My Vagina Was A Gun" on our liveblog: http://t.co/VVpF2uYlZN #txlege #swtw #sb1
— Katherine Haenschen (@KathTX) July 8, 2013
I'm going to need the full text of this "If My Vagina Was A Gun" poem. TO TATTOO ON MY BODY. Or just post on @BOR. #swtw
— Katherine Haenschen (@KathTX) July 8, 2013
Today’s testimony wasn’t all poetic, though there was plenty of hyperbole and metaphor.
"With this bill, We are quite literally enslaved. We are owned, not simply by men, but by politicians." @TexasTribune #sb1 #women #abortion
— Stacy Lemery (@StacyLemery) July 8, 2013
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