I'm breaking my own flow to post here a letter I sent to my local representative—one of the Democrats who voted against the Stupak/Pitts Amendment on Health Care Reform Bill. My rep probably won't read it; maybe one of you will find some meaning here . . .

Congressman Carney,

I have come to expect nothing, from the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, in the three short years I have lived here, after relocating from the far more liberal and enlightened West.

I am a woman of color—a Latina, of Mexican descent, second-generation in this country. While single-parenting three children, I completed my doctoral work at Stanford University, wrote my dissertation, became a professor, and went on to build the first publicly chartered college prep high school for teens at risk of dropout and failure in the Boulder Valley School District.

There has never been a time when I have wanted or would have chosen an abortion. Then, too, I have never experienced an unwanted pregnancy: though I am a very typical Latina "statistic," in that I never completed high school; was pregnant as a teen; have a history of child abuse, poverty, and substance abuse; I have been sexually assaulted more times than I care to recall . . I have had the great good fortune to never have been placed in the position to choose to end a pregnancy.

That being said, I am also biological grandmother to a brilliant, stunning, five-year-old girl, who has lived in my home, since conception; I have had sole legal custody of her, since she was 16 months of age; two years ago, she chose me as her mamí. Her birth mother is my eldest daughter, a troubled girl who became pregnant at 16, as the result of a violent crime: gang rape. My daughter elected to continue the pregnancy, but she refused all forms of counseling. 

Given the fact that you voted against this bill, I won't give you enough faith to tell you more of my personal life. I will not entrust the details of my beloved children.

The very insistence of this lack of faith is what many women are experiencing, today, as we recognize we can no longer turn to our national leaders, the Democratic party, and least of all "our men." 

We are, once again and singularly, completely on our own, in darkness, crowded with shame and the inability to make safe, legal decisions for ourselves, our bodies, and our families.

This is, perhaps, where you expect us all to surrender. 

We have not, and will never, surrender to the will or law of man.

In my culture, we say, "Mejor llegar a tiempo que ser invitado."  (It's better to arrive on time than to be invited.)

We are tired of inviting you to reason. 

It's time you and our national leadership arrived. You are already tardy; let us hope you are not too late. The children who are dying may be your daughters, just as they are ours.

Canela A. Jaramillo, Ph.D.