The week the Supreme Court made the decision to uphold the late-term abortion ban consisted of a series of events that left me in a state of contradictoriness. It started the day before the decision was made. On that day, the organization I belong to, Vox: Voices for Planned Parenthood at Texas Woman's University, hosted an on-campus event called "Discovering Pro-Choice Faith: A Discussion," which was sponsored in part by Spiritual Youth for Reproductive Freedom. The event was a panel discussion between four local pro-choice clergy members who spoke about their faith's perspectives on reproductive rights. While the panelists represented different faiths, there was one thing they all seemed to agree upon: that the woman took precedence over the fetus. All of the panelists agreed that because of this it was ultimately the woman's choice of whether or not to have an abortion. The panelists used the same logic to defend birth control and emergency contraception. It was so refreshing to hear self-identified people of faith talking sense about abortion.

As the event came to a close, I felt a huge sense of optimism for the future of the reproductive rights movement. Our pro-choice student organization had just successfully put on one of our most enlightening and progressive events yet. However, the next morning, I was awakened to the sound of my cell phone alerting me that I had a new text message. It was an automated text message from what I later realized was Planned Parenthood Federation of America (PPFA) notifying me that the Supreme Court had just ruled 5-4 to uphold the federal abortion ban. I had completely forgotten about the case and had no idea it was to be decided anytime soon. For a second I thought maybe it was just a bad dream. But, as I soon found out, it was no joke; as we all know, on April 18, 2007, the Supreme Court ruled in favor of imposing a ban on what has been inappropriately called "partial-birth" abortions.

I wondered how any rational, nonbiased person (as a judge should be) would uphold a ban that is unconstitutional and just plain wrong for so many different reasons. In her post, Gloria Feldt makes two very good points about why it is wrong: First, it overturns the legal principle of the importance of the woman's health by not providing exceptions and second, it sets a precedent for medical techniques to be legislated. Even if the Supreme Court Justices didn't put their religious views aside, even though they should have, it is not an excuse for putting women's lives in danger. As I learned the day before, religion is not an excuse for being anti-abortion. The whole day I wrestled with the decision in my head, wondering what other sort of legal precedents it set for abortion related bills and at the same time thinking about how simple the argument for a woman's right to choose seemed just hours before.

The next day I attended an awards ceremony at school because Vox had been nominated to receive the Outstanding Organization of the Year award for 2007. Even before the Supreme Court's ruling I was skeptical about whether or not we would win the award. Although I thought we deserved it, I knew there were people who felt passionately that the very thing Vox stands for, reproductive rights, is wrong. But, at the ceremony, I suddenly heard the presenter describing a pro-choice organization and then announce that Vox: Voices for Planned Parenthood won the award for Outstanding Organization of the Year! It felt good to be acknowledged and accepted among our peers, especially at a time when it seemed like everyone was against us.

Later that night I was still in shock while trying to figure out what it all meant: the pro-choice faith event, the abortion ban, and the award. I still don't know what it all means or how it will all play out in the end, but I do know that this movement is important to me. It is important to me because it affects me; it is woven into my life in ways I never imagined possible. Since the Supreme Court's decision, the Texas legislature has been busy with anti-choice bills, but it is still hard to tell what the future holds for Texas in regards to reproductive rights. The good news is that on the same day the Supreme Court upheld the ban, the trigger bill in the Texas legislature (HB175), which would have outlawed abortions in Texas if Roe v. Wade was overturned, failed to make it out of committee. So, maybe there is hope, even if it is just a little.