Day 31

Here it is, March 31, the last day of Women’s History Month, and the last day of my marathon. I made it again, and will return to my normal life tomorrow. (It seems a little precious to return to normal life on April Fool’s Day, but then, I have always been considered quirky.) Tonight’s story was inspired by some laws passed in Texas, and any number of other states. I think you’ll understand what i mean. I merely took it to the logical ending of such laws.

Thank you for sticking with me again this year, and I will promise to be back next year unless I shuffle off this mortal coil, or my hands fall off, or I get Alzheimer’s. None of those are immediately evident, but promising to be back next year reminds me that a lot can happen in a year. Maybe this year will be the year women all over the world achieve equality. Maybe we’ll wake up one morning and discover the past several millennia have just been a series of bad nightmares. I don’t expect anything like that, but hey, a woman can dream, right?

SURPRISE PARTY

Carlie pulled over as the red light flashed behind her. She glanced at her watch. Great. She was going to be late, and probably get a ticket besides. She wasn’t sure why; she wasn’t speeding. She rolled down the window and smiled at the officer. No use creating more delay by being angry or upset. She handed him her license.

“Ma’am, I’m afraid I have to take you in.” The officer didn’t even glance at her license. He put it in his pocket as she watched any hope of getting home in time for Sam’s birthday party vanish.

“Was I speeding? I was trying to watch my speedometer.” She smiled.

The officer wasn’t smiling. “No, ma’am. You were…” He paused as if unsure of what to say. “You are in violation of the pregnancy laws.”

“What?” That was the last thing she expected.

“We were informed by a credible witness that you have been diagnosed as pregnant. Now you are driving, suitcases in your backseat. We have you listed as a flight risk.”

“Flight risk? From pregnancy?” Carlie was perplexed. “I’m sorry, I don’t understand.”

“Where were you going?”

“Home.”

“With suitcases?” The officer glared as if daring her to lie to him.

“Those? They’re for a friend. I get a discount where I work, so I picked them up for her. I was going to give them to her tonight. She’s coming over for a surprise party for my husband. It’s his birthday.” Carlie felt like she was babbling, but she needed to get through this and get home.

“I have to take you in. We can’t be too careful.” He opened the door and asked her to step out. She did, not wanting to create more trouble. He snapped handcuffs on her wrist and shoved her to his car. “Back seat.”

“Aren’t you going to read me my rights?”

“You have no rights. You gave up all your rights when you became pregnant.” He slammed the door and slid into the front seat. He hit the lights and siren even though they were on a country road with no cars in sight.

Carlie asked a few more questions, but he refused to speak to her again. She thumbed her phone and sent a text to her mother, asking her to explain to Sam. If only Sam would give up his stubborn resistance to texting, she could have sent it directly to him. She closed her eyes, not able to watch the world go by at high speed without feeling nauseous.

The police station was the one closest to their house. At least that made it easier, Carlie thought. The officer escorted her to a holding cell and left her, telling her a woman cop would be in to search her in a couple of minutes. The woman cop was no more friendly than the first one was. She shoved Carlie to the wall and made her strip for the search. “Nothing.” She turned on her heel and stomped out.

The rest of the afternoon crawled by. At least they didn’t take her phone. She checked her emails, but the account had been locked. Her Twitter feed was the same, and her Facebook. At least she could still text. She exchanged texts with her mother, who promised to get Sam over there as soon as possible. She settled back to play Angry Birds. There wasn’t anything else to do.

An officer brought Sam back to see her. He was allowed to sit at the table in the cell, as long as she remained on the bed. He was not allowed to touch her. “Are you all right? Did they hurt you?”

“Mostly just humiliation…and confusion. Do you know what’s going on?”

Sam explained what they told him. She had failed to fill out the proper forms reporting her pregnancy, and when she was reported pregnant by an anonymous caller, they assumed she was planning to abort. He told them the child was their first, and they were thrilled, but no use. The law was the law, they informed him. Pregnant women weren’t even supposed to be driving. She would have to remain in jail until the judge decided her case. He put his arms out as if hugging her, and blew her a kiss. “I’ll see if I can pull any strings”, he promised.

Carlie was in jail for three days before the judge heard her case. Her attorney brought numerous witnesses to testify that Carlie was delighted to be pregnant, and didn’t plan any harm to her baby. She wanted to protest. She should have the right to decide what to do with her body, even if she did plan to abort. The attorney told her not to say anything. “The only way to get you out is to convince him you are taking care of yourself and not planning to leave the state for an abortion. Once you’re out, you can be a firebrand feminist, but until then, keep your mouth shut.” The look on her face assured Carlie she meant it. She kept her mouth shut.

The judge did not accept any of the testimony. He was convinced by the state’s case, which consisted of nothing more than her not having filed the paperwork to report her pregnancy the second she walked out of the doctor’s office, and the fact that she was driving a car with three empty suitcases in the back seat. He asked her over and over where the contents of the suitcases went. She told him the same story, but he didn’t accept her explanation, even after Leah testified that she gave Carlie money to get the suitcases for her.

Her sentence was brutal. She would be placed in a state hospital until the baby was born. If the baby was born healthy, and she was able to bond with it as a mother should, he would reconsider her case. If the baby was ill or died during pregnancy, she faced the possibility of spending the rest of her life in jail. She held on to Sam until the police officer dragged her away to take her to the hospital.

The days were long when there was little to do. She persuaded the nurses to allow her some books and crossword puzzles, and they left her phone with her so she was able to keep up with the news and in touch with family. Sam’s birthday party had been postponed indefinitely, until she was released. She followed news of the pregnancy laws avidly, something she should have done when they were passed. She never thought they would enforce something so stupid, and so draconian. Sam agreed with her.

Her stomach grew, in spite of the barely adequate food they brought. It was as if they were trying to ensure that the baby was born malnourished. Mom brought her food whenever she visited, and Sam made sure he always had something. Between them, Carlie was able to get a healthy diet. They wanted her home as much as she wanted to be home. Sam did as many of the expectant father things as he could, putting his ear to her belly to listen to the heartbeat, and feeling the baby kick. It was difficult, because neither of them were sure where this would end.

Mom brought swatches of cloth for her to look at, and paint colors. She was helping Sam put the nursery together, but they wanted Carlie to be part of it. “I’m writing letters everyday”, Mom said. “We’ve got more than ten thousand signatures on an online petition to free you, and one to repeal the pregnancy laws has over two million signatures.” Carlie listened, pointed to one of the swatches and one of the paint colors without really looking at them, and retreated into her shell. “Carlie! Those clash horribly. The baby will be traumatized.”

“You pick it out, Mom. You’ve got great taste.” Carlie’s voice was listless. She didn’t have the lively tone she used to have. Mom was worried, and Carlie could see it, but there was nothing she could do. She had no more will to live. She was sure she would never be released.

The whole ward knew when the baby was born. Every woman watched every other woman, hoping they would get to go free. Carlie delivered right in the room; no one ever left the room until they were released, or sent to life in prison. She delivered a baby boy.  “Seven pounds, six ounces.” The nurse handed him to her and he wrapped his fingers around hers. He went to sleep against her chest. She fell in love with him immediately. “Do you have a name picked out?”

“Sam and I want to name him Marshall”, she answered. Sam nodded, too choked up to speak. He held his wife’s hand in one hand, and his son’s in the other. Mom hovered, eager to help, but there was nothing for her to do.

The judge agreed to hear testimony from the nurses and doctors. He listened as they described a woman who behaved perfectly, never did anything to harm herself, and arranged to get more food than was provided in order to ensure the baby was healthy. Marshall bonded with both his parents, and they adored him. The judge agreed, with obvious reluctance, that Carlie should be released. “She will have a case worker who will check in with her every day until the child’s first birthday, then every week after that.” He wasn’t willing to let go. Carlie learned he never believed the woman in any case.

The house was lit up and festooned with decorations when they got home. Leah greeted them at the door. “Surprise!” she shouted. “Happy Birthday, Sam, eight months late. Welcome home, Carlie, also eight months late.” She relieved Sam of Marshall. “We want to pass him around for a few minutes. We’ll bring him back.”

There was a bigger surprise waiting. Carlie was given the first gift; it was an envelope. She opened it slowly, hoping it wouldn’t be bad news. The document was a copy of an order to repeal the law that almost put her away for life. “We won’t have to report pregnancies to the government anymore, and they can’t jail us just for driving while pregnant”, she told Sam, her eyes filled with tears.

“They still didn’t repeal that damn anti-woman abortion ban”, he growled.

“Give me time”, Mom said. “Those lawmakers haven’t seen what happens when a woman gets mad.”