The Same People Policing AOC’s Fertility Want to Police Abortion, Too

If you’ve seen Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez’s posts about freezing her eggs on Instagram, you’ve likely heard about the backlash she’s facing from folks who have called her, at turns, hypocritical, insincere, selfish and, at 36, too old to be a mother.

Funny how we didn’t hear such outcry about age when Jon Hamm announced around the same time that he’s becoming a father at 55. Or when Alec Baldwin, Robert De Niro and Al Pacino—and believe me, I could go on—welcomed new children at 64, 79 and 83. Or when Second Lady Usha Vance, at 40, announced earlier this year that she was expecting.

None of us deserve an explanation from AOC about why she is making the choice she is making. That’s the whole point: It’s her choice, and we have the right to make the choices we want about our bodies and our reproductive lives. Full stop.

And there’s power in talking about it, on our terms. That’s why so many women are feeling seen and reflected in AOC’s posts, and why it’s so empowering to have her make this decision out loud.

The post The Same People Policing AOC’s Fertility Want to Police Abortion, Too appeared first on Ms. Magazine.