Today I do not march for women, today I pray and hope. That future generations of women will be taught to see that our unique capacity for tenderness and empathy, which the world sees as weakness, will finally be seen as our unique strength, and the reason why we are the heart of humanity. That each of us will be seen as a gift, and not as a trophy to complete a nuclear family, or a less desirable child because of our sex. That we will be respected from conception until natural death. That our daughters will know that their education and how well they ‘compete in a man’s world’ is NOT The measure of their value, which is far beyond any utilitarian measurements. That women’s differences from men are embraced and appreciated. And that our bodies are respected as an extension and expression of our personhood, a gift that is ours to give and NOBODY’s prize to take or win.

Our value is beyond measure, and our resilience is incredible. Embrace the complexities and depth of your femininity, or your 'feminine genius’ as Pope St. John Paul II called it. There is no weakness in tenderness.

I don’t care what percentage of Planned Parenthood’s services are abortion Or whether an abortion was late term Or whether it was due to a “morning after pill” abortifacient I care about the aborting mother’s circumstances because I love her, noting that her circumstances do not change the result  The result of every deliberate ending of a life in the womb, whether a zygote or a full term fetus Because guess what When the sperm and the egg unite  A life with unique human DNA is created

And I don’t believe I’m God I don’t believe that I can arbitrarily say  “you’re human now because you’re big enough you’re human now because you have a certain ability you’re human now because you have potential you’re human now because you have no disability you’re human now because you’re the right gender you’re human now because you are wanted you’re human now because you were expected you’re human now because your father is not a rapist you’re human now because you are independent you’re human now because you are loved.”

I don’t believe any human has the right to draw a line in the sand and assign other humans value.  Because as technology advances and enables them to keep younger and younger premature babies alive after birth, and your “viability” week line changes to 19 weeks, does that mean the worth of those children changes from worthless to worthwhile? Do they become human, these children of the future, when their ancestors at the same gestation were deemed non-human?

Any line we draw is arbitrary.

And I’d hope that, if someone is deemed human, it would automatically follow that it is wrong to kill them, no matter what. That they have rights, even if they cannot voice them, just as full term born infants have rights because they are human, even though they cannot voice them. Even though they are totally dependent on their mother to live. Even though they may or may not be wanted or expected. Even though they are small and fragile. They have human rights because they are alive.

No one contests that this entity in the womb is alive (except for the “parasite” camp, which most can see as the disgusting view that it is), nor do they contest that it is of the human species (as opposed to a cat fetus). What they contest is that this human life is equal to a “human being”, the loaded term that connotates a life with rights and dignity and equality with “us.”

Digging deep on the archives for my Surf At Lisbon Film Fest photo exhibition. Starting next thursday late afternoon at Cinema S. Jorge.