This song was originally written in response to the Texas "heartbeat law" enacted in the fall of 2021. The threat to women's safe medical procedures was further undone by the US Supreme Court decision in June 2022 to overturn Roe v. Wade.
Lyrics
You had your way against my will; then shame & guilt kept my voice my voice still
Unfit to speak or tell a soul I’d been ripped in two # where I once was whole
I broke away from your grip yet I still feel your hand silence my lips
My red bandana got left behind - keep it, I don’t need the remind
My body, my voice; my life, my choice
Keep your laws off my womb. There just isn’t room
Don’t try and take my voice away - I won’t be silent, not today
Now that night I live again as you declare your ‘legal win’
Your self-righteousness be damned; I won’t give up the life I planned
You ban support or relief # For the life you caused to be
Then flaunt your strength but have no will, and hide behind misguided bills
My body, my voice; my life, my choice
Keep your laws off my womb. There just isn’t room
Don’t try and take my voice away - I won’t be silent, not today
You care not for the babe or me; I see through your hypocrisy
“No favors I ask for my sex; but your foot belongs # not on my neck”*
Raging women take to the streets against these laws of men’s deceit
Make good trouble - we won’t go back to metal hangers and back alley hacks
Our bodies, our voice; our lives, our choice
Keep your laws off our wombs. There just isn’t room
Don’t try and take our voice away - we won’t be silent, not today
*Ruth Bader Ginsberg
Don’t try and take our voice away - we won’t be silent, not today