There are many, many reasons why the Supreme Court’s reversal of Roe v. Wade is a harmful and backward-thinking decision. Among the most galling is the lack of respect it shows for women to make decisions about their own bodies — something that is definitely not new and definitely not limited to discussions of abortion.
In “Fight to Make It,” a new single released via Bandcamp, Margo Price brings this perspective to the fore. She’s got some help from some phenomenal collaborators: the great Adia Victoria and the one and only singer and activist Mavis Staples. Their contributions to the track emphasize how much more of a struggle it is for women who aren’t white to have their rights recognized, much less to get the care they need.
As the ’60s-soul-inspired song grooves along, the lyrics offer a little reminder of how this whole mess brims over with contradictions. Price sings: “I remember sitting on my daddy’s lap / I was 4 or 5, something like that.” Victoria chimes in: “I’ll never forget what he said to me.” While Staples brings it home: “Honey, you can be anything you want to be.”
“Every day I see more of our rights stripped away in America,” Price writes in notes accompanying the track. “The right to reproductive health in this country has become a luxury for the wealthy. The United States has the highest maternal death rate [of any] developed country. Black women in particular experience maternal mortality two to three times higher than that of white women. Tennessee now has stricter abortion laws than the Taliban. This should not be a political issue, or a religious issue, this is a humans rights issue.”
Take a listen to the track below and click through to buy it. All proceeds benefit the reproductive justice nonprofit Noise for Now, which organizes musicians and other entertainers to address the issue.
